Empower OneMama Health Clinic to Sustainability!

Most organizations call them volunteers… we call them OneMama Family Members!

As OneMama enters our tenth year as an organization providing services to the neediest women, children, and families around the globe, we are looking to engage people who are looking to find purpose and joy in their lives, and people looking to create social impact here at home through volunteering and becoming a member of the OneMama Family.

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” - H. Jackson Brown Jr.

OneMama Volunteers and Staff with OneMama Founder Siobhan Neilland at the 2017 UN Commission on the Status of Women

As the political and economical environment shifts the need to keep OneMama’s doors open increases day by day and we are always looking to create new options for OneMama family members. Opportunities where they can volunteer daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. We have opportunities that can be focused on your interest and skills. Some are solitary and social, some are team building and some are digital, yet all help build leadership skills and create impact around the world.

(Click HERE to read about how a hashtag changed the life of one of our long-term volunteers!)

OneMama founder and CEO, Siobhan Neilland, takes this very seriously and talks to every volunteer to make sure they are excited and engaged in their volunteering positions.

Being of service gives you back more than you can ever imagine. Studies have even shown that volunteering makes people happier giving their lives more fun and meaning.

“What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” – Aristotle

(Some) Benefits of volunteering:

• Volunteering connects you to others
• Can give you a unshakable inner joy
• Studies show its good for the body and mind
• Work along side an international leader for social change, Siobhan Neilland
• Increases your leadership, social and relationship skills
• Volunteering helps increase self-confidence
• Gives you a sense of purpose!

Here are just some of the ways you can get involved with volunteering for OneMama…

San Francisco Bay Area Opportunities

• Participate in our new program DonationPickUps.org
  • Daily pick ups services
  • Sorting and selling
  • Hauling donations
• Working and volunteering in OneMama.org fashion truck
• Specialty events for OneMama, ShaBoom Beauty, and Donation PickUps
• Back office volunteering positions
• Fund raising on the local level
• Long-term internships
• Volunteering for our Social Giving Impact Programs

Virtual Opportunities (roles that can be done wherever you are!)

• Social media
• Blogging
• Marketing
• Graphic design
• Sales
• Grant writing
• Program writing and design
• Locating and booking speaking engagements
• General back office for the OneMama Fighting for Joy Programs

Greater USA Opportunities 

Once a year, we look for volunteers to come to the United Nations and NY Fashion Week in New York City. This opportunity requires an interview and application process.

International Opportunities

Every year Siobhan goes to Uganda to work on the ground at the OneMama Clinic. Each trip, she hand picks volunteers and program development volunteers to come and assist with programs and funding for the clinic on the ground for six weeks. This also requires an intensive application process. (Limited number of people accepted)

An additional list of current volunteer positions:

• IT support
• Videographers and video editors

“Our generation has the ability and the responsibility to make our ever-more connected world a more hopeful, stable and peaceful place.” — Natalie Portman

OneMama is looking for YOU! We have positions that can fit your talents and skills or even give you the chance to try something new. We are strong team of people who understand the power of passion and purpose and want to help you find your place in our volunteering programs! Whether you are looking to branch out of your comfort zone or connect with a new group of people, OneMama has a place for you!

Become A OneMama Family Member

 

OneMama expresses our sincere condolences for the unexpected death of our beloved Ms. Atenyi, AKA Mama Dress

On behalf of the entire OneMama.org international organization, we send her family our heartfelt sympathy.

We at OneMama appreciate the honor she brought to our organization by her achievements. She will be remembered not only for the dresses she has been making to allow our organization to become self-sustainable and to bring joy to our OneMama community, but also for her willingness to share her time and expertise with us.

It would be difficult to measure the impact she has had on the many people’s lives she touched, personally and professionally. Her commitment to helping others and to serving OneMama and our community leaves a wonderful legacy.

OneMama has lost a mother, a friend, a committed worker, an honest volunteer, a reliable, passionate, flexible and irreplaceable person.

Please read OneMama.org founder, Siobhan Neilland’s, heartfelt message while remembering Mama Dress…

 

“Tears come down my eyes as I think of her smile…

Everyone called her Mama Dress. When you walked up to her, you would first notice her big, bright, shiny smile. Everyone felt welcome and taken care of in her presence.

I first met Mama Dress the year I started the OneMama Clinic. We were introduced by one of our directors as a means for finding funding for OneMama. We birthed an immediate, instant connection and began what was to be an amazing relationship, creatively and from the heart.

The OneMama Clothing Collection would never have existed without the design and expertise of this amazing seamstress and designer. Mama Dress was capable of taking any design I had and making it come to life. Since I don’t know how to draw, we would, in broken English, go through each idea of the collection with just words and hand movements. We would laugh and smile and somehow, out of each design, something beautiful came from it. Our collaborations were very intuitive and natural. Each piece seemed to come from such a deep place within both of us, collectively.

Its hard to put into words when you have such a magical and creative relationship with someone across the world. Every trip to Africa, I’d only get to spend about a day with her. But in that short time, she was the one who brought all the designs to life and taught all the women how to make these designs.

I honestly don’t know how or if OneMama can continue its clothing line without her. Without her spirit always smiling and cheering us on. That’s why we call her Mama Dress. She really preferred to be called Mama Dress. Her designs, her work, brought to life a funding source through the clothing sales which quickly became the main means to keep the OneMama Clinic running. Without her, OneMama may have not existed as it does today. OneMama would have never created a clothing line without her creativity, inspiration, expertise, and heart of gold.

There really are no words to explain how gifted and amazing she was. Doing things internationally without internet and phone access, we created unique ways to communicate and build the clothing line while we were apart. This would have seemed comical to anyone outside of the western world, but for us… it worked. I could always count on her to make sure the designs were on par and that she trained the women to have the kind of quality that we had come to expect.”

If you have a OneMama Dress or Handmade Collection Item – we ask that you wear it this week in Mama Dress’s honor.We kindly ask that you help send healing thoughts of light to her family and to her spirit. Where ever she is… she is smiling and making all the angels dresses.Where it all began – The very first handcrafted OneMama Mama Dress dress!

 

If you’d like to donate to OneMama.org in Mama Dress’ honor, Donate here on Global giving OneMama page (please indicate your donation is in honor of Mama Dress in the “Order Notes” box during checkout).

To read the OneMama official condolence letter to Ms. Atenyi, click here.

      

We miss you Mama Dress.
Love and Light,
The Entire OneMama Community

The OneMama Clinic is in desperate need of reoccurring donations!<<Click HERE to donate!>>

Since the political change in November 2016, that flow of donations have stalled as more people pull their donations and put their money towards local resources to change the political narrative. We support the causes that our followers find important, but that does not change the fact that funds are not coming in for OneMama like they used to.

We fund ourselves without any grants and we are constantly trying to find creative ways to fund ourselves. When most charities get grants or rely 100% on donations…we create programs with the goal that they will come back and allow us to help fund ourselves. Since November, we have seen not only a drop in OneMama donations but also many of the NGO’s and charities that we partner with have also lost funding, some have sadly had to end their important work all together.

Let’s talk goals

Before the political shift, we were extremely close to hitting our 10 to 12 year mark to be self-sustaining as a NGO. We were there; the OneMama collection was selling, as was ShaBoom products. The US based operations and Uganda based programs were thriving. We’ve been working tirelessly to build out new ways to drive revenue in Uganda. In 2017, we built out 10 new programs. The thing is though, all of these programs need about a 1.5 years to bring money back in… and because donations have been slow we’ve not been able to pour into theses programs to see them get to a point of revenue.

We have more programs that we believe in waiting to come to life – investment in buying rabbits, supplies to build out more crops programs, new vision for the goods we sell, to name a few. Our goal was to have these ten new programs profitable by the start of 2019. If donations pick up we still believe we can meet this goal by the end of 2019.

In July 2018, Siobhan Neilland will be returning to Uganda and the harsh reality is this: we will be adding new programs to try and keep our goal of self-sustainability by 2020 or we will be closing the clinic down. That is how bad it is this time. With the help of our faithful supporters and the announcement of the Social Giving Platformand Donation Pick Up we are hoping this will not be OneMama’s reality come July.

“In all of the years I’ve been doing this, it’s always been a challenge, but I’ve never thought it would get so bad I would have to close the clinic.” – OneMama founder and CEO Siobhan Neilland

In the nine years OneMama has had it’s door open to the people of rural Uganda, we have helped thousands of families through our programs and health clinic; we’ve brought babies safely into the world with our maternal health clinic; we’ve seen women become empowered by the making of their own income, and we’ve given a voice to the voiceless on global stages like the United Nations. We’ve changed countless lives but the work is not finished yet.

Donations are slowly trickling in and this is giving us hope. We know you are out there. We know you care. We know you have the power to make a change. When you purchase something from OneMama.org or donate, its not just in the moment that you are investing in, you are investing in the long haul – the future of OneMama. OneMama has more work to do, will you join us?

March 8,2018 – International Women’s Day 

For the first time thirty women from the OneMama village in Uganda gathered together with a larger group of women within the local government to celebrate the empowerment of women. They joined  together with the community and the globe to honor the achievement of women all over the world.

The goal for this gathering was to celebrate the empowerment of women and to share ideas on ways they can support each other moving forward. This gathering was a chance to sing, dance, and share their stories about how they are creating change in their families and in their communities, so all women and girls have the chance to thrive.

“The OneMama women are excited. They’ve never eally branched out to other communities. What a great moment to start… by joining with other women to support and empower each other!”

– Siobhan Neilland, OneMama.org CEO and founder.

OneMama.org takes this day to recognise all the women that have come before us and be reminded of the goals we are still working towards for the bettering of the lives of women around the globe.

“Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”— Unknown.