Our Mission
Transforming communities and the world by empowering positive change in the lives of individuals through life skills, education, transportation, and housing.
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
-Proverbs 13:12 (NIV)
Why We Exist:
Almost half of Americans don't have:
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Affordable housing
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A car to get to their job
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A job that pays the bills
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$400 for health, auto repair, or other emergencies.
Most people suffer from some sort of prior life trauma that impacts their ability to thrive and be self-sufficient, happy and productive. Because people do face trials in life, NVF will equip the people that pass through NVI/NVF with the tools to handle them.
The New Village Foundation Approach:
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"Teach People to Fish” rather than “Give a Fish”
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Multiply donor investments and create self-sustaining support systems rather than annual donation requests.
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Generate a self-perpetuating family economy that thrives and can give back to others.
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Support New Village Initiative’s mission of vocational training, creating and placing people in jobs, affordable housing and supplying them with “Life Launch” tools.
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Enable people to live self-sufficient lives and contribute back to their community.
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Fill the gaps where our current economic and government systems struggle to keep up with change.
Our Four Key Steps:
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Life Skills
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Money Management
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Emotional Healing
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Mental Health Support
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Relationship Skills
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Equipping/Resourcing Centers
1. Equipping Life Skills
2. Scholarships
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Identifying high-potential students who cannot afford a trade school
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Post-graduate placement in skilled, high-paying jobs in underserved industries
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Single incomes large enough to support a family
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NVI Trade School Maintenance Vehicles
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Transportation to get to new career (46% of the homeless have jobs, but no vehicle to get to their job)
3. Transportation
4. Housing
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Transitional housing for recent graduates and the under-employed
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Financing plans
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Permanent affordable housing for the community
New Village Foundation equips life skills, empowers learning, and provides transportation and housing for those in need. This critical effort lays the foundation for NVI's mission of creating 2 million jobs by launching or rebuilding companies that help grow the local, regional, and global economy by optimizing circulation of new incomes.
It takes a village to raise a child
-Nigerian Igbo proverb ("Oran a azu nwa"). The Igbo also refer to their children "Nwa Ora" which means "child of the village."
The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth
-African Proverb. Without self-esteem, self-image, and self-worth to form the basis of social value, hope is lost and the consequences can be devastating, not just for the individual, but for the community and the world.
The popular African proverb goes, "it takes a village to raise a child." Needless to say, it is very true , but the opposite is also true. It takes a village to bring down a child. That is, it takes many contributing factors to cause a child’s destruction. Teen shootings at schools or burning down a school are not caused by a single act. Bullying, harassment, heckling, intimidation, abuse, peer pressure, name-calling, and character assassination are just a few catalysts of such reaction. But the irony is that all the aforementioned are symptoms themselves. At the root lies what is called self-concept or self-image depending on how one looks at it. It’s basically everything about the answer to the question: “Who am I?”
And a major player in the issue of who we think we are is acceptance. Never underestimate a child’s need for acceptance. If we as adults crave for acceptance, how much more does a child ? A child would do anything to disrupt or get attention. “Any act of violence or aggression from a child is a request for love." (A.S. Neil). When we don’t let people feel accepted, we risk them doing the unacceptable.
-D.O. Thompson