About six weeks from now, on November 19, we will have the opportunity to stand up for our city by participating in the Give Miami Day 2020 donation rally. As The Miami Foundation (sponsor of this event) says, “in every neighborhood in Greater Miami, across every issue area from mental health to the arts, we see nonprofits stepping up heroically to keep our community strong and resilient.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, NHSSF has been at the forefront of this effort, for example, delivering emergency workshops and counseling sessions to educate Miamians about how to financially navigate this crisis or guiding them through the available assistance programs for renters and mortgagers. As a community development nonprofit, housing instability is a serious concern, especially when low-wealth, low-income, and other disadvantaged people and communities are threatened by it the most.

Actually, NHSSF has been providing rental and mortgage assistance to more than 50 families in South Florida over the past five months. We have also reached out to stakeholders and partners to prevent a wave of evictions and foreclosures we fear could unwrap if we don’t address this crisis immediately.

As urgent as these actions are, they haven’t deviate us from our traditional tasks. We have kept offering a comprehensive and affordable set of lending options and educating families to help them become homeowners. Seeing the Jeans’ family getting hands on their dream amid this pandemic gives us hope and reminds us of South Florida residents’ strength and resilience.

Yet, as a nonprofit, we have felt the impact of this pandemic too. And more than 40 years supporting those most vulnerable across our city have taught us that asking for help is a sign of strength and dignity. We need your support now. Please help us help others.

On November 19, you can donate to NHSSF Give Miami Day 2020 profile. Your support will keep our programs and services available for all Miamians.

Stand up for your neighbors, join the Give Miami Day 2020 community!

Save the Date / Support NHSSF Cause!

Click here to add this event to your Google Calendar

Make your support matter! 

Sign up using the form on this page to receive an email reminder to early donate from November 16 – 18 or make your donation on Give Miami Day, November 19th!

Note: Give Miami Day 2020 will be a four-day-only online fundraiser. All donations will be managed by/funneled through the Miami Foundation, organizers of the event.

Honoring an Icon

One of the beauties of living in cities like Miami and DC is the numerous brushes with fame that you have. These cities are a magnet for both the famous and infamous. DC is unique in its capacity to make celebrities out of policy makers, politicians and yes Supreme Court justices. A few years ago as a coordinator for Grinnell College Fall Semester in Washington, DC interns, I attended a small group meeting with Justice Ginsberg. I must admit, I didn’t know much about her so to prepare for the meeting I watched some of the interesting movies and documentaries of her life and read a few articles. But nothing prepared me for her intellect, grace, and warmth. Before I go on about the actual meeting, I want to say that I arrived to the Supreme Court and not one of the students actually showed up. So frantically, I dialed the students who were in a guesthouse just a few blocks away. Maybe three of them sauntered over very unconcerned about being tardy and the warning we got that you needed to arrive early to guarantee entry.

I thought that because approximately half of our students were international students that perhaps they didn’t understand the honor and rarity of this invitation? In any case, I was quite disappointed. As I ponder Justice Ginsberg’s passing and lift myself out of this feeling of weariness and fear for this Country, it is clear to me that many of us take for granted the democracy we enjoy. It is my deepest hope that we all understand that blood shed to build and preserve this democracy. Throughout history those in the vanguard fighting to expand freedom’s franchise to minorities, women, sexual minorities and others did so while jeopardizing their jobs, income, careers, and yes lives. Freedom’s fighters believed so much in democracy they gave 100 percent to preserve and expand it. On November 3rd, we can say “thank you” by voting.

My brief hour or so in the Ginsberg meeting was magical. She pointed to the pictures of early American leaders and discussed how they shaped our country. Justice Ginsberg discussed modern day decisions of the Court. It was a very good day. As I meditate on her life my sense of weariness eases because she left us the gift of determination and perseverance. I believe in this Country and our constitutional democracy. I remain determined to continue working to make it better for everyone.