A message from our co-founder

 My desire to help start Partners4People, and where I believe the nonprofit can go, is in large part influenced by the story of the starfish...

A little girl came across countless starfish washed ashore from a storm. Overcome, she began to pick them up and throw them back into the ocean, one by one. It wasn't long before someone approached her and, taking in the apparent impossibility of the situation, asked her, "Why are you doing this? You can't save all these starfish. You can't begin to make a difference."

The little girl paused for a moment, then picked up another and threw it back into the ocean, saying, "I made a difference for that one."

Overcoming universal challenges like homelessness and food insecurity can seem insurmountable. The number of lives impacted is staggering. That's all the more reason to start at the grassroots level, showing up in your community with open arms and open hearts, focused simply on doing the next right thing, helping the next person in need. Partners4People has shown that these efforts make a meaningful difference for each individual life impacted, and likewise the power groups of people and organizations have in coming together with that shared purpose. 

 The primary reason I believe in the mission of P4P is knowing that any contribution in that mission impacts peoples lives for the better. 

All food insecure people in our community know that they have a partner who is for them. 

Fun fact:  I've seen "The Dark Knight" so many times that I believe I qualify as being Batman.

I am the co-founder of Partner4People.  P4P was founded in 2022 with the mission of coming alongside our neighbors in our community that are facing food insecurity and/or are unsheltered. 

 I like to think of my role as the “Chief Generosity Officer”.  In other words, I am responsible for:

• Giving the money that we raise/products that we have bought and collected, away to our community 
• Connecting with other non-profits to learn about their needs
• Volunteering with non-profits that are focused on our core areas.

I believe that access to food and housing is a basic human right!  

Fun fact! In my 20’s, I was working for Macy's Special Productions in New York City.  My role during the Thanksgiving Day Parade was to watch to see if any of our hot air balloons were failing and losing air.  SO I know when someone is full of hot air….

After getting invited to volunteer at a P4P event almost two years ago by Tim, I got to see firsthand what happens when people put their heads and hearts together to truly better their own community. Though my experience with nonprofits is limited, I was asked to join the board and I couldn't say yes faster. I was given the opportunity to be part of an organization with ambitious and driven people who are just as desperate as I am to leave this world a better place than they found it, so how could I even consider saying no?

Why did I join a nonprofit, let alone P4P?

Well, to the question I just posed for myself, here’s a cheesy answer: to actually help the homeless community.

People so often write off the homeless community and the homeless epidemic that has a grip on our nation. There’s a level of separation in our culture between the homeless community and everyone else and there's a key fact of our society that I think a lot of people miss: the homeless community IS our community. They are people who deserve just as much patience and respect that we give to those at the upper echelons of society. They are people just like us who got hit hard by life in one way or another or weren’t even given a chance to have the life we have.  

Fun fact: I've met the former president of Karabakh, an ex-territory of Armenia.

Nonprofit and volunteer experience: A&M Breakaway "Shalom" fundraiser, Boys and Girls Club, Dell's Environmental and Social Governance organization, and food drives for various ministries 

Meghan Keaney is a second grade teacher residing in Salem, Oregon - More bio to come!

 I am the Co-Founder and "Chief Insane Idea" Officer of Partners4People.  Leading the group through its start up stage on a steady diet of dad jokes and uncomfortable icebreakers during board meetings, 

Tim brings 20+ years of non-profit volunteering, board development and unique perspectives to Partners4People.

"In a country where we can be anything, why are people underfed and unhoused?  If we can dream of solutions to seemingly everything, then surely we can find solutions to help people who are truly hurting.  Every child that goes to school hungry, or neighbor that sleeps outside because of a lack of housing, is a failure - by all of us."

What do I dream about for Partners4People?  "What gets me going is when we have delivered on the promise.  When people are fed.  Imagine an Austin that doesn't have an underfed population?  We are going to be present and invest in solutions, while also delivering tangible results:  Food to the underfed"

Fun Fact:    I have seen Lyle Lovett live at least a dozen times.  "I'm not from Texas, but Texas wanted me anyway" - Thank you Lyle Lovett!

Other stuff:  I have been part of multiple non-profits including the Boys & Girls Club, Austin's Genesis Drum & Bugle Corps and many others.   

Giving back feels like a Super Power.