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I don’t know about you, but I’m fired up. I have spent the last 24 hours talking and strategizing with leaders across the country and we know there is hard work ahead, but we’re ready to take it on. After all, I started this organization after the 2016 Presidential election. I’m ready, and I hope you are too. We are already seeing, incredibly, consequences to the election as organizations and agencies begin to prepare for anticipated changes. Housing agencies are closing applications for winter housing in case Federal funding dries up, and foundations and donors are putting out warning signs that they may pack up their toys and go home in fear of imagined retribution. But that’s ok. We don’t quit, and we don’t run away. And, luckily for us, we have been working on a 2025 strategy for months now, encompassed by this one phrase:
An ID for everyone. Everywhere.
For the last almost eight years, we have been working to help as many people get IDs as possible. To date we have helped over 13,000 people obtain IDs. I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of that. It has not been easy. In fact, it has been really really hard, but we have changed 13,000 lives and, in the meantime, we have become the nation’s leading experts on IDs, documents, and, crucially for the future, training. We have acquired most of those IDs on the ground but in recent years we have been building a new strategy, training partner organizations to build their own ID programs so that we can scale across the country and serve as many people as possible.
That’s where the next phase comes in.
After years of working on the ground, directly with clients and partners, we are ready to branch out. We will still, always, work directly with clients. BUT, in 2025, we will be launching or expanding programming that achieves one big goal: to increase the number of organizations that are getting IDs.
We have never wanted to be the only national ID obtaining organization in the country. We never want to be the only ID organization in most of the cities and towns in which we operate. There are 26 million American adults who need IDs. We can’t do this alone. So, starting in January, we will be working to create as many ID organizations across the country as we can. We’re doing it in three ways:
Project ID Incubator [ [link removed] ]- Starting a nonprofit is hard. Running a nonprofit is even harder. Trust me. So, if we want more ID organizations across the country, we have to do the work to help them get started and stay strong. Starting today, applications are open for the Project ID Incubator, a 12 month program that will teach experienced applicants how to start an ID nonprofit and how to run a smart and sustainable organization. Visit the PIDI page [ [link removed] ] for more information and please share!
50 State Coalition- A few months ago, I spoke at probably the first ever ID summit hosted by the probably first ever statewide ID coalition, both in Missouri. I was in awe of the incredible work they have done and by how effective their coalition is. I also realized immediately that we need this in the other 49 states. So we will be committing significant time and resources to building statewide coalitions across the country, ensuring that ID organizations have support, resources, joint funding opportunities, and community in the coming years.
HUBS- Our brilliant partnerships director, My’Easha, came up with the HUB idea years ago and it has been absolutely fantastic. She finds major homeless services centers in cities and towns across the country and trains them to get IDs. They then not only get IDs for their own clients, but become the central ID organization for their town. This allows us and other homeless services organizations to send clients their way, where they can not only get IDs, but also be connected to a central organization that can help serve their needs. We already have HUBS in several states but starting next year we will be working to build HUBS in all 50 states along with our statewide coalitions.
These three initiatives build on the skills and experience that we have developed over the last eight years, and I believe they will allow us to reach more people in more regions of the country than ever before. This is our Project ID 2025.
I believe in this new phase. I believe in our team. I believe in you.
We cannot do this without you, and right now we have to succeed more than ever before. The most vulnerable Americans are always the people who suffer first, and the most. Accessing services and support may be more difficult than ever in the coming years and an ID will be the biggest obstacle to attaining whatever help is available. We are more committed to this mission than ever before. I hope you are too.
Over the next two months we will be working to raise $500,000 to get the New Year started off strong. We’ll be asking you to contribute, to donate monthly and become a Hamer’s Hero, and to share our message with your friends and family so we can build our community. 2025 will be tough, but we are tougher.
I believe that this will be our most effective year ever. I hope you’re with us. We can’t do it without you.
Ready to be the light in the darkness,
Kat
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