The man behind Mission Philadelphia is Steve Grosswald, who has always had a concern for poverty. He recalls in the late 1960s, his grandmother, Francis Snyder, would gather used clothing from Wildwood, New Jersey and send the clothes to Piney Woods, a core-black boarding school in Mississippi. His interest grew exponentially in 2017 when Congress enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which reduced funding for the lowest income and the underserved. Sadly, Philadelphia is ranked #1 in the top 10 largest cities in America in terms of its share of people living below the poverty line. The Philadelphia region has over 300,000 people that are food insecure and over 5,000 homeless living on the streets that need help.
Steve volunteered for Philabundance to help package COVID-19 Care Boxes for over 1,200 Families. Shortly thereafter, he read a Philadelphia Inquirer article about a Montgomery County plumber, Tom Frey, who has been distributing Blessing Bags (Gallon zip-lock bags with water, a day’s worth of calories and a pair of socks) prepared by St. Miriam Parish and Friary in Flourtown, PA. For the three years prior to COVID-19, Tom delivered up to 1,000 bags per month. During the Pandemic, Tom and his crew have delivered over 1,000 bags/week by working up to 6 nights/week usually from 8 PM til after 1 AM. Steve read that this nonprofit needed help and he joined Tom and 2-3 others, delivering hunger relief to the homeless. Despite the depressing realities of meeting hundreds of people living in extreme poverty, Steve was energized by the exceptionally high level of gratitude expressed by virtually all of the underserved people upon receiving food to eat and a clean pair of socks.
There are over 50 churches and other charitable organizations in this great city that are all trying to alleviate hunger during these difficult times. While it varies by nonprofit, the supplychain for many of these organizations can be incredibly inefficient and/or inconsistent. As a result, the impact of their well-intentioned commitment and great deeds can be significantly limited. Steve recognized that he could leverage his 30+ years of sales, operations, and leadership experience at technology and healthcare solution companies. Steve has played a pivotal role in the sales, service and/or delivery of over $2.5 Billion in solutions to the Fortune 100 and Healthcare organizations (but, with the financial bottom line being the “recipient” of his tireless efforts).
Steve envisioned bringing greater corporate (profit-focused) effectiveness and disciplines to the non-profit world:
“Why only feed 1,000 people per week when you can feed 5,000 per week? Why pay $5 for a case of water when Supply Chain Optimization for Charities (SCOC), via a CGPO (Charitable Group Purchasing Organization), can provide organizations across the region with water for $2.00 per case?” This is an example of upcoming initiatives that will maximize Return On charitable Investment (ROcI).
Central to this important effort, ROcI, is the basis for asking some very important questions that will become the foundation for the unprecidented value delivered by Mission Philadelphia:
What if charitable effectiveness could be increased by 5x or 50x, through educating donors on ROcI and by offering a plethora of exciting and value-based opportunities to help?
What if a free, new smartphone app could facilitate a 3x to 10x increase in the number of volunteers ready, willing and able to help 50+ hunger and homeless nonprofits?
What if we created a Mission Internship for college students by offering valuable, real-life, resume-building internships? MissionInterns can serve over the summer, during the academic term, or as a COVID-19 Gap Year.
What if every food desert can be “irrigated” and what if every willing family was educated on shopping for health foods and healthy cooking?
What if we partnered with all private and public K-12 schools to ensure that every child has a healthy breakfast and lunch 365 days a year?
What if regular testing for High Blood Pressure, Glucose, Cholesterol, etc, were free and readily available for every person in Philadelphia?
What if food waste generated from hunger relief efforts was decreased by 60 to 90% via the use of collaboration and new technology?
What if all nonprofits doing food distribution to these underserved recipients knew where the homeless population would be located, at any given moment, based on time of day, day of week, weather, etc?
What if nonprofits could reduce the amount it pays for donation processing costs by 50% and receive funds donated via credit card in the nonprofits’ bank accounts in under 24 hours vs. days, weeks, or months?
What if we leveraged Analytics and Data Science to best meet the needs of every person in poverty?
What if we could inspire and effectuate a significant increase of available homes for the vast majority of the homeless that want it?
What if we created housing units for the homeless by hiring and training them to renovate abandoned houses into their homes, with materials donated by manufacturers and retail organizations with a public/private partnership for funding?
What if every abandoned home in Philadelphia is converted to a viable single or multi-family residence and every vacant lot is converted to a vegetable garden or park?
What if all Philadelphia Hunger and Homeless nonprofits could truly partner with City/State/Federal agencies AND the private sector to cut Philly’s poverty rate by 5%, 10%, 25% or 50%?
What if we developed, via public/private partnerships, a program that enables the creation of thousands of new jobs that provide a true, living wage?
What if EVERY person in Philadelphia eligible for SNAP and Medicaid could actually receive their benefits (even if they don’t have an address for the cards to be sent to)?
What if we partnered with all Philadelphia Health Systems and other healthcare providers to proactively and assertively assist the homeless in receiving Medicaid coverage BEFORE they visit the ER and, thus, facilitate preventive care to improve their quality of life AND the financial sustainability of our local Healthcare Heroes?
What if every person who was ready to seek inpatient or outpatient substance abuse/recovery treatment could actually get treatment at their time of need?
What if underserved people in Philadelphia could have a free and easy-to-use smartphone app (leveraging the existing Pennsylvania program for no-cost phones for those in poverty) allowing for comprehensive, REAL TIME access, literally at their fingertips, for ALL available Hunger, Homeless, Social Service, Medical, Legal, Substance Recovery, Veterans, LBGTQ, Veterinarian support, etc, etc.. from every nonprofit and agency was available to help the underserved?
What if area corporations, Philly sports teams/players, Philly-born celebrities, etc., could “adopt” an area of the city, a specific program, or a particular demographic (ex: Homeless Veterans or minors/K-12 students), etc?
What if the area Law schools, in conjunction with area attorneys, could become an army to best protect the countless thousands of Philadelphians at risk of being foreclosed upon or evicted in due to job losses from COVID-19?
What if area Universities are truly united in a cause to do evidence-based research, leveraging Analytics and Data Science and the Best Practices utilized across America and the world, that have been proven to significantly reduce poverty?
What if, via a public/private partnership with Septa, we were able to dramatically improve the quality of life for the hundreds of homeless "living" in our subway stations AND provide free fares for the food insecure in the city's "food deserts" to get to food stores, panties, donation sites, etc?
What if, a public/private partnership with the VA (Veterans Administration) we ensured by July 4th, 2021, NO Veteran, who has served this great nation, the city was homeless or food insecure?
What if we could actually PREVENT homelessness BEFORE it occurs?!?
This all leads the ONE MAJOR QUESTION that really matters and must be asked:
What if ALL stakeholders could be engaged and inspired to intelligently and tirelessly collaborate and achieve the vision of Ending Hunger and Homelessness in Philadelphia in time for America’s sesquicentennial celebration on July 4th, 2026?
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but, in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.
- Michelangelo
Comments