by Tricia
In 2002, a man named Keith (also known as Dr. Keith) started up a little website where he gave 10% of his income to “help working individuals and families to afford the types of small but necessary expenses with which others had assisted him in times past.” Today, it’s more than just a little website.
Keith’s vision turned into a 501 (c) 3 non-profit foundation that is dedicated to assist working families with small financial crises. This organization is called Modest Needs.
From their website, their mission is…
“- To prevent otherwise financially self-sufficient individuals and families from entering the cycle of poverty, when this might be avoided with a small amount of well-timed financial assistance;
– To restore the financial self-sufficiency of individuals who are willing to work but are temporarily unable to do so because they do not have the means to remit payment for a work-related expense; and
– To empower permanently disadvantaged individuals who otherwise live within their limited means to continue to live independently, despite a temporary, unexpected financial set-back.”
I think it would be great to help others make it through little financial binds in their life. What Modest Needs does is take applications from individuals and then they research to make sure the claims are valid. If they are valid, they are approved and Donors view the applications and rate them. The highest rated applications get funded if the funds are there.
I think Keith’s idea is a great one. I think all of us in debt have had those times where unexpected things came up and you ended up falling behind on everything. Then, things snowballed from there in a bad way. I see this website as really helping people, so I’ve signed up to be a donor and plan to give a little something next month. Through the end of 2006, there is a private foundation that is matching every donation dollar. So, if you can give $10 – that’s $20 that can go to help another family.
If you are interested in donating to Modest Needs or asking for help through them, you can find out more at their main site, www.modestneeds.org, and at their blog. You can also click on the banner on my left sidebar as well 🙂
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