This multi-campaign is borne out of years of observing students, faculty, and communities struggle with achieving basic success and wrestle with attaining the dignity that is every sentient being's to have.

Our neighbours' problems are our problems. If everyone can have a good quality of life, then there is more wealth generated in communities and their larger societies. If the starving artist, poet, professional instructor, or student is relegated to the ranks of the undeserving, then how does humanity survive? Several cuts to spending involve the Arts-- instrumental and vocal performance, theatre, music, visual arts, dance, and so much more while many neighbourhoods across the globe have become more dangerous as a result of the theft of said human endeavours that allow youth and their elders to aspire to embracing the natural beauty that resides within themselves as a result of the beauty that they experience without. How does living without that which makes the human human contribute to humanity's edification? How does robbing neighbourhoods of beauty, of garden spaces, of community gardens, of recreation areas within which to play games such as Go, Chess, Mancala and its variants that follow, Wari (West African variant played in Haiti and many West African nations), Bao (East African Wari variant), Ayo (another Mancala variant), Yoté, Shogi, Osselets (Oslè in Haitian Creole), Gonggi or Salgu (Korean game similar to Oslè), Yut Nori, and Mahjong, and of fundamental resources like fresh greens, to name some, help individuals to thrive?

Thoroughbreds, Super Yachts, and Luxury Collectibles have their place. Those who own them worked hard to get them, and if they did not do so certainly are working hard to maintain them-- and it is their right. It is within the right of all humans to have their hearts' desires to the extent that said desires hurt no one. Greed, however, hurts others.

As a result of greed, I experienced couch surfing because as an adjunct faculty member with no health insurance, I could not prove that my health had deteriorated as a result of the black mold that had been growing in the bathroom ceiling from the faulty setup of a Jacuzzi tub that had been installed in the apartment above by a previous tenant who also had been an employee of the proprietor-- his plumber to be precise.

To be clear, I tried insurance under the Affordable Care Act and made too little to be able to afford the Bronze level payments but made too much to qualify for State Aid in the form of Medicaid. At some public colleges, getting health insurance depends on faculty either having a full-time position or teaching at least two classes per semester; many faculty who qualify are on state assistance.

I fell between the cracks; hospitals would not test me without insurance despite numerous visits to the emergency room. For the highly recommended follow-up tests, the health institutions refused to take cash.

Since I could not live in the apartment without being ill and could not get the legal system to help me since they wanted test results that I did not have, I had to relinquish the apartment along with a neighbourhood in which I had lived for 35 years (four different rentals in that time since my college years) and which was all that was left of my deceased mother and her niece who was my godmother.

"How and Why?" "How could this happen?" These are the questions that ran through the minds of everyone who heard the story, or witnessed it. The proprietor would not perform the gutting and mold remediation; the repair personnel kept scraping the ceiling or breaking it to apply plasterboard and then in either case painting over the work in order to "fix the problem" -- a problem which required intensive and expensive mold remediation; therein lay the problem. When landlords spend, they expect the tenants to pay in some manner. A $250 new refrigerator on sale in the 1990s suddenly becomes an improvement that costs the tenant $14 monthly for the rest of their tenancy. So, in our case, the superintendent quickly informed the proprietor that we were getting a new refrigerator delivered and that afternoon another custodial team was in the apartment installing the new refrigerator at the behest of the proprietor. Money is the rule of the day-- not logic, not compassion.

To support the landlord's desire for more rental income, I was asked to take a new studio apartment in another neighbourhood where they had other properties. I explained that I did not know anyone in the other neighbourhoods other than the shops that I frequented there and that it was unjust when the matter could be fixed through mold remediation. The proprietor was bothered by the fact that I was paying almost $1600 for what he had listed as a two-bedroom but which was really a one-bedroom with a child's room or den (or junior two-bedroom) based on the plans for the building. I did not have $2600 monthly for the renovation that he offered. He called almost daily for a two-week period asking me to leave so that he could give the apartment to "a nice couple who wanted to pay $2400." I also did not have the $2400 monthly for an upgrade of "medium-grade materials" or $2200 for "not-so-good materials"-- all his words. I had gone from paying around $1100 for the studio next door which was on the same floor as the "two-bedroom" apartment so that I could keep an eye on my elderly family members, as well as help them, to paying almost $1600 when I asked to take over my deceased mother's apartment so that I could have room within which to review her and her deceased niece's belongings for the attendant donations and requisite distributions to family, friends, and neighbours. I had gone from a $500 plus increase in rent on an adjunct faculty member's unstable salary (our wages depend on the course load assignments from semester to semester) and still he wanted to add at least $600 more which I could not afford. I could barely afford the new rent payment; paying for both the studio and my mother's old apartment during the transition from one apartment to the next was also not part of my savings plan.

After moving out, I ended up couch surfing for six years with the first of those years being without employment, given that the mold had "done a number on me" to say the least. Upon returning to the classroom, my wages as an adjunct college instructor did not permit me to qualify for any place, including the YWCA Women's Residence in White Plains, New York.

Stress? I know it. Trauma? That too. This is the reason for this fundraiser. Many adjunct faculty and international students whose sponsors reneged on their promises are part of the working poor. Individuals who work hard to make ends meet within a framework that often does not take into account their special cases or their humanity.

For example, I attended a meeting for adjunct faculty shortly after the semester had ended. In it, faculty were informed that if they had not been given their course assignments before the semester ended, then they could apply for unemployment insurance. However, if their courses were posted on the registration list, then even if they could find no work or had no incoming funds or had depleted their savings, they would be in contravention of the rules if they applied for unemployment insurance payouts; others in attendance alluded to the fact that the academic institutions of which the faculty were a part or the overall system itself could retaliate, because the funds were coming from the institutions-- not the State.

For the adjunct faculty who had applied prior to that episode, many had to argue with their State about the fact that they are not pre-collegiate teachers on summer vacation but education professionals who were not offered assignments for the summer (or winter session for those who had had no winter session assignments).

However, adjunct faculty are not the only individuals who often find themselves in dire straits. Many international students come to the USA on student visas with the promise that their respective sponsors will house and feed them. However, I have met several students who were not even picked up at the airport. Some whose siblings had sponsored them were informed upon pick up from the airport that the responsibility of sponsoring them stopped right there and that the students had to find lodging and work within one or two weeks of their arrival. When an international student can only work limited hours at their academic institution and cannot let anyone know that they are working "off the books" somewhere so that they can pay for their room or apartment, transportation and food, it is hard to maintain the high GPA that is also required to remain in the country.

In another instance, one of my former students was diagnosed with a cancer. They underwent the necessary treatments but had to take time from their love of teaching and writing in order to make space to heal. They are not the only one.

Contribution to the fundraiser would allow me to help fellow adjunct faculty, international students, and former students who have faced life-threatening health challenges and who are at the end of their respective ropes by supplying them with mini grants or interest-free microloans, depending on the case. I have been the US born student on scholarship, and I have experienced being limited in the wages that I could earn. I have been an adjunct faculty member at institutions of higher learning and whose earnings did not permit them to meet their many responsibilities. I have been the ill faculty member who had to work while being sick because they had no choice. I have been the ill educator who cared for terminally ill family members and used their last cent to give them as good a quality of life as possible on pennies for wages (thankful for those pennies) before they died. I feel that I encountered those experiences because in having overcome them with the help of All Goodness, that it is my duty to help others in any way that I can within legal, ethical, and moral bounds. Most individuals do not know the plights faced by international students whose sponsors have reneged on their word, and too many people simply cannot believe that adjunct faculty do not earn as much as teachers who work for public schools. Yet still others do not believe that there are no established funds to help cancer-stricken faculty at public institutions. Within a brief period, I lost colleagues from work who had succumbed to 9-11 cancers. One was a part-time adjunct faculty member, and we raised funds to help. Faculty at public institutions-- public servants-- should not have to beg or borrow in order to live or try to survive.

The people who are facing these issues did not ask to be in their respective situations and would rather be in a position where they can earn their keep (for those who were lost-- could have earned their keep). Those who remain would love to have solutions for their issues. Bootstrapping and Community Building are among the solutions that individuals like you and me can adopt in order to set the stage for a positive change. Systemic frameworks will not tend to change what may amount to being beneficial to them unless the powers that exist see that others who are outside of these systems care. Profit over People is an actuality.

This set of fundraisers is to help us help ourselves and one another. Perhaps, this initiative can become a model for positive change that allows individuals who wish to live away from society and its problems to do so while also letting individuals who have the right to a good quality of life to have it. Everyone no matter their worldview or socioeconomic status can be content and experience joy. This preliminary solution set permits everyone to live. It's a win-win-win. Let us all win. Please donate. Thank you.

Note: The non profit Community Changers Foundation is handling the funds which will be audited on a quarterly basis by a third-party accounting firm that oversees the financial affairs of non profit corporate bodies.

THE BREAKDOWN

Campaign Name	Focus	Goal
SEL App & Young Minds Center	Suicide Prevention & Youth Support Navigating Minds, Saving Lives Youth deserve more than survival—they deserve hope. Community Changers Foundation is launching a transformative initiative for children aged 10–16. We are developing an app grounded in social-emotional learning to help them thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. The app will be supported by a storefront center staffed by volunteers, providing real-world guidance and community connection. With an estimated budget of $200K, every dollar is a lifeline. Donate to help us rewrite the story for our youth—from pain to possibility.	$200K (startup & building purchase )
Blooming Garden Foundation	Pre-K to Baccalaureate-level Education Education for Every Stage Imagine a school that grows with its students—from Pre-K to Baccalaureate. The Blooming Garden Foundation offers core academics alongside culinary arts, carpentry, physical cultivation, and a focus on global awareness. With intimate class sizes and deep curricular rigor, we cultivate whole humans, not just test scores. Your gift invests in the future of education and seeds a new generation of thinkers, creators, and leaders. Join the revolution in learning—sponsor a future today.	$6M (startup, including building)
Microloan Initiative	Startup support for change makers in the USA (urban, rural, and developing communities) and Developing Countries (graduate students in Cameroon and Haiti) Planting Seeds of Change Big impact starts small—with a single prototype, a bold idea, a dream deferred no longer. Community Changers Foundation provides microloans ranging from $500–$1600 to aspiring entrepreneurs ready to serve, build, and uplift. It also offers grants to international students whose promise keepers broke their oaths to help. With funding to support three years of administrative infrastructure, this campaign is the beating heart of sustainable transformation. Be the reason someone starts—and succeeds. Give a loan, launch a legacy.	~$230K (first three years)
Adjunct Relief Fund	Debt relief for underpaid educators to be disbursed during the winter session and summer session Dignity in Academia Adjunct professors work tirelessly, yet many face crushing debt, low wages, and instability. Under our Adjunct Relief Fund, we offer interest-free mini loans to help educators at public institutions stay afloat—and keep shaping young minds. This fund is about restoring dignity and honoring service to learning. Support those who teach for love, not for wealth. Help us lighten the burden.	Donations Welcomed
Oncology Recovery Fund	Support for two former students in New Jersey Honor, Heal, Help Two brilliant students—resilient, tenacious, and recovering from cancer. They need us now. One will receive $75K, the other $50K, to rebuild and reclaim health. These funds will ease medical costs, restore wellness, help out with mortgage bills, and send the message: we see you. This isn’t charity—it’s a promise. Let’s honor their fight and fuel their recovery.	$125K

One Act at a Time

By Community Changers Foundation

One Act at a Time

Multi-campaign to change our worlds