Tag: Social Entrepreneur

Over 20,000 Children Touched By HHI

I just received the training reports from India from last month and I gasped when I did the math. HHI just reached an astonishing tipping point! That is that in just over three years, with minimal staffing and a very modest budget, HHI has led 173 Trainings for 2,495 women, who are working every day to better the health and development of 20,301 orphaned and vulnerable children!

WOW! Beyond that, all I can say is “Thank You” to all of you who stood with us to make this possible. Miracles happen in small bits every single day, and taken together they add up to make our world a more loving place for all of us.


Announcing the Launch of ChangeXchange!

HHI is proud to be a part of ChangeXchange – check this out!


ChangeXchange, Springboard Innovation’s new online initiative, introduces emerging and proven social ventures to community members and funding organizations alike to allow them to help fill the biggest gap of innovation—seed funding. It also provides a pathway for citizens who want to make a difference. By exploring project profiles, users then “invest” in their chosen project. Their return? Social profit.

Sustaining the good: ChangeXchange unites the core values of Springboard Innovation– sustainability, innovation, and community – and provides a true springboard for launchers of social innovation. The idea is to provide seed funding only to nonprofit organizations that have integrated sustaining strategies into their business plans, building a new kind of change organization that won’t have to spend its time writing grants to make a difference. It can stay focused on mission.

Micro-philanthropy: ChangeXchange allows anyone, regardless of financial or social background, to become an investor in positive social change. This means that you can be a key part of the most cutting edge and innovative solutions to problems in your own community! Micro-philanthropy is now king.

HHI is the first organization to be featured for our sustaining strategy. I ask you to take a few minutes to read about our sustaining plan on ChangeXchange and then invest in HHI. Your investment will make you an investor who is committed to seeing HHI move beyond fund raising and towards greater financial independence. This allows HHI to focus our efforts on serving more women and children in need.

Reflecting

This expresses my wishes so eloquently…


“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do it whatever way I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. i rejoice in life for it’s own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” – George Bernard Shaw

 

Soroptimist International – Making a Difference for Women Award 07-08

On Friday Soroptimist International of the NW Americas honored me at their annual conference with their “Making a Difference for Women Award”. Soroptimist is an international organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the world. Almost 95,000 Soroptimists in about 120 countries and territories contribute time and financial support to community–based and international projects that benefit women and girls.

It was an absolute honor to be given this level of recognition from SI, they are a massive group of powerful women who are up to creating a better world for women and girls. Much of my time is spent in my small office, hunched over a laptop planning, designing and making good things happen in the world. I can sometimes lose sight of how amazing my life has become – what I have begun and what HHI has accomplished in only the last few years for thousands of children and women!

I spoke to the 400+ Soroptimist women and shared my story, which is now interwoven with Hands to Hearts’ story. I was given an award, a generous contribution to support HHI and I was showered in appreciation with a 3 minute standing ovation that left me teary eyed and humbled to the core. I really hit my stride talking and the women enjoyed it so much that when there was some free time at the end of the lunch, I was asked to speak again. I told them to be careful what they asked for, but I did speak again, sharing a more personal side of my journey and HHI’s fragile times. They had time to ask questions, offer ideas and again they overwhelmed me with cheers and applause. I had such fun! I feel like a little kid when I say – “I wanna to do it again!”


A Little Bit of Glory, Making a Difference Award for Women

Soroptimist International of Portland has awarded Laura Peterson its Making a Difference Award for Women, honoring women who are making a difference in the lives of other women. “So many women in developing countries are yearning for opportunities to learn new skills and contribute to their families and communities,” said Peterson. “When you give a woman the opportunity and tools to truly make a difference, she will without fail rise to the occasion, and the number of children the women of HHI have reached are a testament to this. I am honored to have Soroptimist International of Portland recognize all we have been able to accomplish.”

“Laura is a premier example of the power of one,” said Kathy Halfmoon, member of Soroptimist International of Portland. “Laura’s work has touched the lives of thousands of women worldwide, providing them with marketable skills that in turn drastically improves the care at-risk children in developing countries are receiving. We are very excited to recognize Laura for the great work she has done and is continuing to do.”

As part of the award, Soroptimist International of Portland also awarded HHI a cash donation of $3,000.