By a landslide, Monai Village was voted by Thank You Ma’am’s members as the deserving winner. They received the approximately $14,000 raised this quarter.
Patricia Artis founded Monai Village. After realizing she won, Artis stood up with tears in her eyes, both hands over her mouth, unable to put her gratitude and excitement into words.
“I am basically in shock. It’s kind of unheard of that you come the first time and your name is pulled out of the hat and then to get the money,” Artis said.
Monai Village focuses on helping youth aging out of the foster care system.
For example, the non-profit helps with paying for rent, groceries, and continuing their education.
“Monai Village is my vision for better outcomes for this very vulnerable group of young people, a safe place to acquire the skills necessary to be successful contributing members of our community,” Artis said.
Before starting the non-profit, Artis fostered kids for three and a half decades. But she knew there would come a time that she’d have to stop.
“You know, I'm older, my husband's older, and, it was just time to not have young children that we had to be responsible for. And I was like, ‘Well, what do I do next?’” Artis said.
She then worked towards making Monai Village a reality. But she said it has not been an easy feat.
Since starting it a few years ago, funding has been an issue. The money she will be receiving from Thank You Ma’am is a great help, Artis said.
“I believe it will enable me to secure those apartments for our use so that there won’t be other people that can take them,” Artis said.
Each Thank You Ma’am meeting involves a five minute speech from the non-profits.
Empowered Youth, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Monai Village and Sierra Nevada Journeys were this quarter’s contenders.
In the end, Monai Village stood out because of its low funding and unique cause.
Monai Village’s cause is heartwarming, said Thank You Ma’am co-founder Tracy Ceragioli.
“That’s a population with more need than resources and I think that the work that she wants to do is life changing easily,” Ceragioli said.
Ceragioli is also happy to see the connections made by the other non-profits during the meetings.
“At the meeting, Project 150 which donates clothes and hygiene items and things like that for high school kids who have a need for some of those things and Our Center which serves [the] LGBTQ community were talking together about putting on a special shopping day at Project 150 for trans youth,” Ceragioli said.
Mignon Lagatta, co-founder of Thank You Ma’am, encourages other women to come to a meeting. Thank You Ma’am doesn’t need the help but she said there are a lot of other non-profits that do.
“A nonprofit may not win, we all are better for learning about them and what’s going on in the community,” Lagatta said.
For Artis, receiving the funding feels like a miracle.
“What I want to do is build a sense of community for these kids. So I want them to support each other. I have visions of, if I live that long, you know, where the kids that graduate from the program are there to help the ones who are coming in new,” Artis said.
She has seen foster kids get older and end up in jails, without homes or uneducated.
She said she created Monai Village to be a support for those who don’t have it.
