one by one® story: Miriam’s Hope
Shelby, a mom with three young girls, searches in trash bins for food and clothes. She moves her small family for the eleventh time in one year. They’ve lived at homeless shelters, motels, friends’ homes, condemned houses—any place with a roof. For 15 years, Shelby struggled with a drug addiction. When she finally hit rock bottom, she found Miriam’s Hope, an organization that works to prevent children from entering foster care by helping struggling single moms. Small giveaways are used to get the organization’s name out to those who may need its services.
Saving moms, saving kids
When a single mom and her family are living in poverty or have very little support, the children are at greater risk of entering foster care. Oftentimes, these moms just need a safe place to live, a job, help getting a home, and a healthy support system in order to provide a good life for their children.
That’s where Miriam’s Hope steps in, by providing apartments and a year-long program that helps struggling single moms become healthier parents.
During their year at Miriam’s Hope, moms are supported in whatever areas they need help in, from learning parenting skills to earning their GED to finding their own home. Moms are also connected with people in the community who provide a strong, positive support system while they learn how to give their children stable, healthy lives.
Small giveaways provide big awareness
After Shelby’s year at Miriam’s Hope, things changed for the better. She’s now five-years sober, has held the same job for three years, and is taking care of her children in her own home. Her oldest daughter, who was in sixth grade when they found Miriam’s Hope and had missed 40 days of school, has been on the honor roll ever since.
Although Miriam’s Hope originally started in Hastings, Nebraska, the organization wanted to expand help to as many moms as possible. Miriam’s Hope was thrilled when it was able to open a location with more apartments in Oberlin, Kansas.
To spread awareness about their work and better meet the community’s needs, Miriam’s Hope hosted an open house. They wanted to give something tangible and useful that people could take home and remember Miriam’s Hope by. With help from a 4imprint one by one® grant, Miriam’s Hope ordered small giveaways, including pens, tumblers and mugs, to pass out.
“We were able to use our giveaways to easily spread awareness to the community that our new location was up and running. Since then, we’ve used our products for so many other things. During our speaking engagements and other fundraising events, we take our giveaways to hand out and help people remember us,” Corina Kliewer, Director of Miriam’s Hope, said.
A note from Cheryl
It’s an honor to help such a wonderful organization get their name out to the community with these small giveaway items. If you’re interested in learning more about 4imprint’s one by one® grant program, visit http://onebyone.4imprint.com.