It takes compassion, empathy, and a giving spirit to want to improve the lives of others. The needs in our world today are tremendous and many individuals are facing hardships and painful seasons. Nonprofit organizations play a vital role in enriching the community by helping the people who live in it through these tough times. Although our individual efforts may not solve the problems, together we can make a difference.
Read on to learn more about two compelling nonprofit organizations and their extraordinary missions to help individuals in need.
Fayetteville Urban Ministry
Fayetteville Urban Ministry has been a staple in the Fayetteville community since 1974. Throughout the years, they have continued to modernize and add more programs. The organization operates with four major programs that have grown throughout the community. The programs are:
- The Nehemiah Project: The project entails home repairs for low-income homeowners who live within the Fayetteville city limits. The City of Fayetteville has partnered with Fayetteville Urban Ministry and has given grant funding to hire contractors to execute home repairs in order to bring these homes up to living conditions. Some examples include HVAC replacements, wheelchair ramps, roofs, floors, plumbing, and more.
- The Adult Literacy and Education Center: This program does everything imaginable to improve the literacy skills of the homeowner or anyone in the home. It helps with GED preparation,
ESL classes, career readiness, job resume building, budgeting, and building an individual’s overall literacy skills. The program also matches people with tutors.
- The Emergency Assistance Program: During the pandemic, this program grew even larger because so many individuals were let go from their jobs. It includes a huge food pantry, a clothing closet, and provides financial support by helping individuals pay their rent, utilities, or mortgage.
- The Find-A-Friend Program: This program serves at-risk kids through interpersonal skills, life skills workshops, mentoring, and tutoring. A brand-new facility has been built for this program because it has grown so much. The goal is to match each child with an adult mentor. Background training is conducted, and the mentor is required to spend eight hours a month with the child.
“Between both facilities and the four programs, we easily serve over 10,000 people at this time,” said Johnny Wilson, executive director of Fayetteville Urban Ministry. “Due to the pandemic, in the last couple of years we have doubled to serving 20,000 people and we serve all of them free of cost.”
For every dollar that is donated to the organization, 93 cents of it goes back into the community.
For more information visit www.fayurbmin.org or call (910) 483-5944.
H.A.I.R. (Having Aunties in Reach)
In 2019, Tameka Shipman, founder of H.A.I.R., was thinking about the start of the school year and wondered how she could give back to the students. She knew that everyone usually donated book bags, but she wanted to do something different. Shipman reminisced about being raised by her grandparents, and her grandma did not know how to do her hair, so she decided it would be a great idea to braid female students’ hair free of charge for back-to-school.
“I wanted to do a back-to-school braid drive being that I am a natural hair care specialist,” said Shipman. “We braided 40 female students’ hair for free two days before school started and the organization has been running with it ever since.”
Shipman has been doing hair since the tender age of 12 and she wanted the organization’s name to have the acronym H.A.I.R. She had to strategically think about what words could stand for in H.A.I.R. The words “Having Aunties In Reach” literally rolled off of her tongue immediately and she stuck with it.
The nonprofit currently serves Wake County and Columbus County. They are looking to expand to other counties. Shipman’s ultimate goal is to have a chapter in every state so they can be a blessing to more kids.
H.A.I.R. caters to children 5 – 12 years old. They plan monthly activities for kids for 2-3 hours each month. Some of the activities or skills include self-esteem, early entrepreneurial skills, hair braiding tutorials, juice & paint, personal hygiene care, how to take care of your body, and more.
This past April, a 12-year-old entrepreneur came to teach the students how to bake and the pre-teen shared how she established her own cupcake business. In June, they will offer a look and learn for 15 kids. “I will teach them how to braid, do basic cornrows, or fix basic single plaits,” said Shipman.
“We have aunties, uncles, grandparents, and older cousins raising children so we can take them off of their hands for a few hours each month,” said Shipman. “We do this so the adults can have some free time to work on their mental health, go grocery shopping, or get the supplies that the kids need.”
Sponsors and donations are welcome. For more information call (919) 895-2642 or email havingauntiesinreach@gmail.com.
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