Feel Good Friday - The Doe Fund: Ready, Willing & Able

Ready, willing and able for what you ask? Read on, my friends.

Last week Feel Good Friday took us to New York City and the inflatable couches of FreeConvo. Since this is the city that never sleeps, it's no surprise there's another fabulous organization in town to profile, this one The Doe Fund.

The summary of their work from their Twitter profile - "breaking the cycles of homelessness, incarceration, and substance abuse." You can watch a 30 second spot on the group here.

A bit more detail can be found in their mission statement, as written on the website. "To develop and implement cost-effective, holistic programs that meet the needs of a diverse population working to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism. All of The Doe Fund's programs and innovative business ventures ultimately strive to help homeless and formerly incarcerated individuals achieve permanent self-sufficiency."

The organization was founded in 1990 by George McDonald and Harriet Karr-McDonald. Moved by the story of a homeless woman who froze to death outside Grand Central Station where she was not allowed to spend the night, the McDonalds wanted to create change.

The flagship offering of the organization is Ready, Willing & Able. This 9- 12 month program "provides homeless and formerly incarcerated individuals with transitional work and housing, case management, life skills, education assistance, occupational training, job readiness, and graduate services." They also have a non-residential version of RWA, a veterans program, affordable housing, supportive housing and an initiative focusing on youth.

You can learn more about the various offerings and meet some of the program graduates by reading  this article by Patty de Llosa from Parabola.

The Doe Fund serves over 1,000 people a day and their website is filled with success stories! Videos can be found on their YouTube channel and if you'd like to support them you can always make a donation, shop at their store, like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @TheDoeFund

Start spreading the news!