We find changemakers everywhere, people with inspiring nonprofits who are working hard to reach out and build better lives for those in need. And the need comes from many places. In many cases these organizations help children survive from all kinds of poverty, neglect, injuries and danger.
When it comes to aiding women, they reach out to improve their job possibilities, make sure they get training and support them during difficult times.
We want to catch you up on four such inspiring nonprofits, whose leaders we have featured in the past. Their resilience is remarkable. Their accomplishments continue to amaze us. Although we know that they, their staffs, and volunteers face all kinds of obstacles and constant challenges, we hope they continue to succeed. Let’s see what BlinkNow’s Maggie Doyne, GMRF’s Elissa Montanti, Unshakeable’s Debra Isaac and Going Places’ Katie Blomquist have been up to.
Maggie Doyne–Co-Founder & CEO, BlinkNow
When Pat Caso interviewed Maggie last year, she was being featured in a new documentary Between the Mountain and the Sky. The movie had just opened and had already won awards. Her husband Jeremy happened to be a filmmaker and had recorded BlinkNow for many years. The film was a labor of love and finally available for all to see.
Since that time, Maggie has been busier than ever. She completed the tour of film screenings last fall, ending with the November premiere in Morristown, New Jersey near her hometown. She celebrated with her BlinkNow family and the community who has followed her journey since the beginning.
founded in 2010/Photo: CJ Karki
In November it was back to Kopila Valley to host their second annual NGO summit with other regional and national nonprofits in Nepal. BlinkNow showed off their green school campus as well as their environmental education curriculum. Their goal is to continue to create more open-source resources for others to use.
Maggie continues to win awards including the Anthem Award for Humanitarian Action and Services. Just last month her Kopila Valley School won an International School Award for their Futures Program. To date they have educated over 800 graduates at their Kopila Valley School. They await dates for their film’s theatrical release in the spring.
Our vision remains the same. “It is a world where every child is safe, educated and loved,” says Maggie Doyne.
2. Elissa Montanti–Founder, GMRF (Global Medical Relief Fund)
Each Valentine’s Day we give a TWE cake to one of the nonprofits we have featured. This year it went to Elissa Montanti and her Global Medical Relief Fund. Pat Caso last spoke with her when she brought Omar Abukwalk, a five-year-old victim of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, to the U.S. He had lost his entire family in the war in Gaza as well as his arm, suffering severe injuries to his body.
We are happy to report Omar and his aunt’s family were able to relocate to Egypt since then. That is good news. Currently Jessie from Tanzania is with her. He was born without his right leg and has web fingers. Recently given a prosthetic let, he is currently recovering from surgery and rehab he received at Shriners in Philadelphia.
Recently Jessie celebrated his 6th birthday. As Elissa says, “His smile is contagious. We just love him.” He will return each year like many other children who have come and gone and refit his prosthetic leg.
“The Dare to Dream House is truly a happy house of Hope and Healing,” says Elissa.
3. Debra Isaacs–Founder & President, UNSHAKEABLE
Our podcast host Stacey Gualandi introduced us to Debbie Isaacs and her Las Vegas, Nevada-based nonprofit UNSHAKEABLE two years ago. Its mission was to guide women recovering from trauma to return to the workforce and achieve financial independence. Then they would be able to proclaim, “I AM UNSHAKEABLE!”
Last year they served more than 140 new clients with 112 starting work for the first time in years. They have seen women get their first car, apartment and reunite with their families!
Debra shared with us the story of one client:
“Constance attended our I AM Series through our partnership with W. I. N. G. S. She previously was homeless and had no support. She started the first day very shy and fearful to speak in front of the group. She gained confidence throughout the day and by the end of the classes was able to stand up and share her statement to the room boldly: “I Am Resilient.”
She immediately went into coaching, and we began working on her resume and helping her build self-esteem…Through working with her coach and practicing interview questions along with interview prep and encouragement, Constance was ready and hired on the spot. Unshakeable continues to support Constance in her full time roll as a retail associate and on showing up to work well, helping her complete her benefits package, and growing in her confidence at work.”
an outfit in their boutique
Inspire, Teach, Empower is UNSHAKEABLE’s goal. As Debbie says, “Our mission is to guide women recovering from trauma to return to the workforce and achieve financial independence.”
4. Katie Blomquist-Founder & Exec Dir., Going Places
We last left Katie at her first Going Places out-of-state build in Chandler, Arizona where they built 830 bikes for kids at Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary. What a day it was, unpacking bikes, putting them together and then revealing the surprise to the astonished students at school. They had no idea what was about to happen to them. We were happy to surprise them with a Women’s Eye cake for all of Going Places’ unbelievable efforts.
Since then Katie reports that 2024 was a record-breaking year. In total they gave more bikes than they ever had in one year–1,294 bikes in a total of 3 bike reveals. They are still going strong and hope to do bike reveals at the end of this year. After their gala in May where they raise money for their reveals, they hope to know how many or which schools will be next.
Until then, Katie says, “We continue with our mission to provide disadvantaged kids with their most basic childhood right- A right to Joy!”
We’d like to give a big round of applause to each one of these inspiring nonprofits for their endurance, steadfastness and continued care for people in need. You can find out more about each one of them below.
SOCIAL MEDIA and HOW TO HELP:
Instagram: weareunshakeable
Facebook: weareunshakeable
Instagram: going_places_nonprofit
Facebook: goingplacesnonprofit
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