1 - What really struck me was this idea of going upstream

Instead of looking at problems in Portland, what if we take a few steps further upstream and figure out how folks end up in these situations? Of course, there are a lot of reasons that we struggle. But I have a background in public health, and we know one of the biggest determinants of health is social connection.

Where can we give resources that will go beyond just putting a Band-Aid on one problem and be able to prevent so many of these issues? That’s what Maybelle Center is doing.

2 - My family’s experience with social isolation

We’ve watched what our teenage kids have been going through over the last year and how it’s impacted their mental health. It hit home how being connected to other humans is as important to us as food, water, and shelter - it’s right up there with our basic human needs.

3 - We haven’t felt like we’ve really been investing in our own community.

A lot of the donations we made were at the national and international level. That’s been kind of bugging us. Becoming a monthly donor at Maybelle seemed like a perfect way.