Episode 16: Simply the Basics

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Staff and volunteers creating hygiene bags and distributing hygiene products, Woman’s Empowerment Day

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“We work a lot like the food bank, but focused on hygiene care”

In this episode, our featured voice is Meghan Freebeck, the Founder and Board President of Simply the Basics. Simply the Basics is focused on providing access to hygiene for our fellow community members who cannot provide this most basic need for themselves and their families. Simply the Basics has created a unique National Hygiene Bank Model as well as piloting an Open Marketplace for people to list in-kind donations. These services are designed to make it easier for both individuals and other nonprofit organizations to better utilize the in-kind product donations to provide hygiene products for our un-housed and low-income community members and in turn, support their most basic core health needs.

Meghan Freebeck

Meghan Freebeck has a deep passion for providing people with their most basic needs and ensuring that every person feels dignified regardless of their income or housing status.

In 2016, Meghan founded the national nonprofit, Simply the Basics. As the current Board President, she now leads the nation’s largest hygiene bank which has been recognized in the Washington Post, SF Chronicle, and at the World Wide Women festival. Simply the Basics has a global reach with a model soon to be replicated in 25 cities.

Meghan was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Project Homeless Connect, a global nonprofit founded by Governor Gavin Newsom and now operating as an independent nonprofit that has been recognized by HUD as a global best practice.

In her work, Meghan is most proud to lead cost effective and community based nonprofits that have a direct impact on the effects of homelessness on a city and create long term pathways for reaching goals.

Meghan has been honored as a top “40 Under 40” in San Francisco for her leadership in nonprofit organizations. She has been recognized as a “Change-maker” at the United State of Women Summit in DC and is a 2015 “National Daily Point of Light” award winner. In 2017,

In 2017, Meghan was honored as one of 11 Most Inspirational Women in San Francisco.

Simply the Basics

Mission Statement
The Mission of Simply the Basics is to provide for individuals, organizations, and communities their most basic needs with dignity so that they can focus on bigger goals. We simply remove barriers, allowing people to have the opportunity to achieve.

Values
To improve the overall health and well being of the low income community, people at risk of losing their homes, and people experiencing homelessness.

To save nonprofits time and resources by managing, securing, and redistributing their in-kind and hygiene related needs, allowing them to focus their time on clients and their Mission.

History & Philosophy
In the winter of 2015, Meghan Freebeck hosted a donation drive of menstrual hygiene products for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. After only 48 hours, enough money and products were raised to provide for every homeless female (based on the 2015 Point in Time count) in San Francisco! It was clear how great the need was for basic hygiene products and how much the community wanted to to support this goal. It was decided to find a way to ensure that all people have their basic needs met, regardless of housing or income.

The most basic human needs are to feel safe and healthy. Simply the Basics is inspired by Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the philosophy that people are unable to focus on any needs higher than their current level on the following pyramid. If a person is unable to meet their needs at the very basic level (food, shelter, clothing, education, and hygiene), they will be incapable of moving up in the pyramid to reach greater goals (job security, sobriety, mental health, and self actualization).

BASIC NEEDS HYGIENE BANK improves health and well being of the community and solves great operational challenges faced by nonprofit organizations.

Donation / Volunteer

Donations received during this time are making a tremendous impact as Simply the Basics responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic. We are providing an increased amount of Prevention & Safety Supplies for homelessness providers, people in need, and families who have lost their income due to COVID19. Your donations will directly help us ensure we are able to continue providing life saving hygiene supplies!

You can make a difference.
$50 = 5 Hygiene Kits, including sanitizers and masks, for people in need
$100 = A months worth of hygiene supplies supplies for a family of 4
$500 = Provides supplies needed during a natural disaster to safe sleeping sites and recovery centers
$1,000 = Allows us to add a new Nonprofit Partner and cover their client’s hygiene needs for a full year!
$5,000 = Support An Entire Month of Simply the Basics Partners!

Make a difference today by donating to Simply the Basics and become a Monthly Donor to support Simply the Basics programs throughout the year

In addition to in person opportunities within COVID-19 safety protocols, Simply the Basics offers Virtual, at home volunteer opportunities for individuals, families, and large corporate groups! Volunteerism includes a virtual presentation from someone on the Simply the Basics team. You can learn more about these opportunities Here:https://www.simplythebasics.org/volunteer-activity

Videos

To find out more about Simply the Basics Hygiene Bank and its impact check out our videos:

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“When hygiene needs are consistently met and met in a way that provides exactly what someone needs at that time, it can really be life changing.”

— Meghan Freebeck, Founder, Simply the Basics

Our Sponsorship

We are fiscally sponsored by Intersection for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which allows us to offer you tax deductions for your contributions. Please consider making a donation to help us provide future shows just like this one. If you want to send us a check, please make checks payable to Intersection for the Arts and write [Voices of the Community] in the memo line of your check. This ensures that you’ll receive an acknowledgement letter for tax purposes, and your donation will be available for our project.