“She jogged past a pregnant woman asleep on a bench. What she did next will help hundreds.”

The Miami Herald wrote a beautiful story about the first Global Gift Registry which was in partnership with Lotus House Homeless Women’s Shelter in Miami, Florida.  Jacqueline Nickelberry birthed this community led gifting movement after once chance encounter with a homeless women who was 8 months pregnant: “We spent two days taking care of this woman, bringing her food and supplies and also working to secure safe shelter. Frustrated by the lack of resources available to the homeless, Jacqueline was led to gather her girlfriends far and wide to help with the problem.   The Global Gift Registry was founded in the belief that all women and families should have access to the basic necessities to start life off right regardless of their circumstances. 

Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative says that “there is power in proximity:” To truly help those less fortunate: 

Get close to the people and communities who are at risk — and stay close. We don’t have to have the answers; instead, we have to want to get close. From far away, we can’t create meaningful solutions or hear the nuances and the perspectives of people who we want to collaborate with and advocate for. When we step into the places where there is despair, neglect, and abuse, that is where we are informed, energized, and feel the empathy that drives us to change the world.

Bryan Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative

Click HERE to read the Miami Herald’s article about how Jacqueline’s up close encounter with the issue of homelessness sparked a movement where a global group of women worked together to create a “baby shower gone large.”  In a record 12 days, they showered Lotus House with over $35,000 gifts including baby supplies, non-perishable food, personal care products and gift cards.  These essential items went directly into the hands of women and children. A proximate experience created actionable and repeatable results.