 Hey, y'all!
We will be unavailable from March 17 through March 23, 2023. Our Founding Keeper is taking a much needed mental health break in Georgia. Because she usually monitors this email address, it will likely not be monitored during this time. However, all messages will receive the necessary attention when she returns. If you would like to schedule an appointment with her when she returns, you may do so here: https://calendly.com/iamskmemphis/30min. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. We look forward to Keeping you soon!
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The blog may be a little heavy this week, but it is what it is.
After I wrote to you all last week, I received an early morning phone call on Thursday (4am to be exact) that a friend I've had for nearly 30 years had passed away in her home. Kendra was only 41 years old, y'all. Of course, this sent me reeling because she was my friend and I love her, but also because she was so incredibly young. I am certain she had things she planned to do, places she planned to go, and conversations she planned to have. She will not have that chance. This put so many things in perspective for me and I'd like to share them with you. We always think we have time. Time to reconnect, time to apologize, time to go back to school, time to get in shape, time to get a therapist, time to be a better parent, etc. But the reality is, we don't. Life is not promised to any of us. I don't say this to make you sad or to dampen your day. I say this so that you can decide, today, to stop putting off what you think can wait until tomorrow, next week, or next month. Seize the day! All of the days. Love on your friends (and your enemies), make amends where need be (whether you think it was your fault or not), sign up for school (even if it's one class at a time), go walking today (don't think about tomorrow), schedule one therapy session (you won't know if you like it if you don't try it), and spend some uninterrupted time with your babies today (those phone notifications can wait). The passing of my friend also reaffirmed my belief in community. Kendra was a part of my village for a very long time. Having a village growing up helped me to understand the role of community in one’s life. The village we have created through I Am My Sister's Keeper is a similar village. People need people. All of us do, no matter what we’ve told ourselves. I am asking you to support I Am My Sister’s Keeper 4th Annual Fundraising Bruch w/ a TWIST so that we can continue to provide this village for those who need it. Please buy a ticket, whether you choose to attend or not, to help us continue to be the people that people need. As always, I thank you for reading these emails. I hope this one, in particular, reminds each of you to choose to seize all of your days. Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper  Happy Wednesday, Keepers!
Hellllllloooooooo Spring! 😄💐 I know, I know Spring is not until the 20th but I am letting her know that she is welcome and needed. It is my sincere hope that this blog finds each of you doing well. I have just two updates, one announcement, and one reminder (w/aTWIST). 😉 Updates: 1. GiveCamp Memphis was a HUGE success! It was long and tiring and sometimes stressful, but it was absolutely worth it. Myself and our media coordinator (my middle baby), Camryn, learned a lot, met some really dope folks, and made some needed community connections! 2. Because of all we learned at GiveCamp, our website will be down for a few days. A week at the most. BUT when we come back, just know that it'll be better than ever! Announcement: 1. Tonight at 4 pm our Brunch DJ and I will be going LIVE on my Facebook page to talk about our 4th Annual Fundraising Brunch w/a TWIST! DJ Space Age has DJed (I had to look this spelling up-judge me if you want) for us several times in the past and she keeps coming back so we must be doing something right. I'm sure it isn't just for the money either, but we will find out for sure tonight. 🤗 Last week, we went live with the caterer. You can check it out here. Reminder: 1. BUY A TICKET TO OUR 4TH ANNUAL FUNDRAISING BRUNCH! Please. 😇 Not only will this event be a great time for all who attend, but the funds raised also help the moms in our village. We provide our moms with access to a pantry, funds for moving expenses, a savings match program, and emergency funds when necessary/available. Any funds we raise from this event and any of our others are used for the programs I mentioned. IF YOU HAVE READ ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE, YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A DISCOUNT ON YOUR BRUNCH TICKET!!! 🎉 Use the code TIX4MOM for $10 off. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Don't forget! Y'all can respond to these emails. Please feel free to share any thoughts or questions you may have. Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Email: iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com Business Phone: 901-505-1010  Hey, y'all! Happy Wednesday!
It is my hope that this blog finds you all well and in good spirits like me. I feel good today, y'all! I just completed a 21-day Daniel(ish) Fast with my church and it has been a LIFE-CHANGING experience! Let me know if y'all wanna hear more about it and I'll be glad to share it with you. As promised, the last blog of the month will highlight one of our very special single moms. Since they are all special, we will simply be taking turns. This month, we will be highlighting Autumn Walters! Autumn is the baby of our village and she relishes every moment of it. Autumn is kind, loving, and absolutely adorable. She has two babies, Zaire who is 4, and Zion who is 1. These are my faux grandbabies, just so you know. Autumn also encouraged her mom, Erica, to join and now they both are a part of our community! I told y'all it was a family affair. Autumn and I had a chat this week to talk about IAMSK and here is what she had to say; Me: What do you love about IAMSK? Autumn: I could go on and on about the things I love about IAMSK, but what I love the most is the sense of community. I always feel included, like I can be myself with no judgment. I love being part of a real, active village of love, support, and even useful resources and learning. Me: What keeps you coming back to IAMSK? Autumn: What keeps me coming back is the fact that there are endless opportunities to learn and grow. I feel like being part of IAMSK is helping me to develop into the woman that I want to be and I love that for me! In one of our previous Zoom sessions ( you know, the ones we have every other Wednesday and every Friday?), Autumn shared with the group that she had been at her job for over a year and that she could not have done that without this village. Because Autumn has been provided with a safe space to discuss her work struggles and to be bestowed with the wisdom of her sisters, she was able to take away valuable insights and carry them back to her workplace. A 23-year-old staying on her job for a year is a BIG deal! Thank you for taking the time to read these emails. I hope you all enjoyed learning more about Autumn and the many ways IAMSK is a benefit to single moms in our Memphis community. Don't forget! Y'all can respond to these emails. Please feel free to share any thoughts or questions you may have. And let me know if y'all wanna hear more about the Daniel(ish) Fast. Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Hey, y'all! Happy Post Valentine's Day!
Yesterday I set out to type this super cute and insightful blog about love and the single mom, but the words just would not come. If you know me, you know that words are rarely my struggle. I sat and stared at this laptop, I typed a bit, then deleted a bit. Finally, my daughter suggested that I sit with it for a moment. I was tired so I decided to sleep with it. 😊 When I woke up this morning, it was abundantly clear. I could not write the blog I wanted to write because I was trying to write it using rose-colored words. Being a single mother isn't always "super cute" or "insightful". Being a single mother is often lonely and overwhelming. On days like Valentine's Day, single moms often feel discarded, unwanted, and possibly unloved. While we know with our heads that none of this is true, it is often hard to convince our hearts. Those in relationships post about what their significant other bought for them or did for them, while we often only receive gifts from our children and our parents. We realize that "love is love" and that all love matters, but sometimes there is another love we long for. The intimate (not always sexual), understanding, and adult love we are often missing. This is where I remind our moms (and myself-maybe you all too) that our focus may need readjusting. Many times we aren't blessed with what we seek because we haven't learned to appreciate all that we already have. There are often things we still need to learn and/or let go of to fully embrace the love we have currently been blessed to receive, and so that we may be fully prepared for the love we seek. My intention was not to make this a sob story about the loneliness of the single mother, only to shed a light on what sometimes goes on in our hearts and minds on days like yesterday. Oh, yes! I would be remiss in failing to remind you of how YOU can show your love to the moms of IAMSK by purchasing a ticket to our 4th Annual Fundraising Brunch w/a TWIST. Feel free to use the following link to do so: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/517259134997. 😉 As always, thank you so much for reading our emails. It means a lot. Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Email: iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com Business Phone: 901-505-1010  Happy Wednesday, Keepers! This email will be one of my shorter ones (enjoy it while you can). 😉 As shared last week, our office hours at the Shelby County Youth and Family Resource Center began yesterday so a Keeper is a little busy. Also in my email last week, I shared some single-mom statistics with you all. I also shared how important the work of IAMSK is to the single moms of Shelby County. This week, I want to ask you to lend a hand in our work by purchasing a ticket to our 4th Annual Fundraising Brunch w/a TWIST on March 12! 🎉 Purchasing a ticket for this Brunch enables IAMSK to continue fighting the good fight for single moms in Shelby County. We are honored to be able to host this event at the Junior League of Memphis (the location for our initial Brunch), to have the amazing musical talents of DJ Spaceage, the delectable eats from the Golden Pineapple, LLC, and the intriguing mixer activities by Dr. Lauren Norton ( our resident Planner Babe). This year's Brunch will be a bit different than it has been in the past. Rather than a regular, sit-down affair, we will have a mixer-style, networking event. It's gonna be cute and trendy. I know y'all will love it! Please share this email with anyone in your network who has a heart for single moms. Almost all of us know a single mom, someone who was raised by a single mom, or someone whose life was changed by a single mom. Join hands with IAMSK to change the lives of single moms today! As always, thank you so much for reading these emails. You can always respond if you feel so moved. ❤ Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Email: iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com Business Phone: 901-505-1010  DID YOU KNOW
As a way for YOU to help us widen our reach, we are offering a few volunteer opportunities. As you may or may not know, we have one outing each month for our moms and we like to feed them at these outings. This is where YOU come in! We would be so grateful if you all could prepare AND/OR send food items for our moms for these outings. There are about 20 of us and the dates are as follows; March (TBD)-Horseback Riding May 7-Mother's Day Outdoor Social June 18-Safari Park July 15-Axe Throwing August 19-Game Night September 16-Paint and Sip. Additionally, we would love it if YOU all sent in affirmation cards. You know, things like "you're doing great", "this world needs you", etc. Please feel free to make or purchase cards and include your own personalized message. We will distribute them to moms in our village (for birthdays, holidays, etc) as well as to moms we encounter at community events. Please feel free to reply to this email for more information about both of these volunteer opportunities. As always, thank you for reading these emails. I have been enjoying the feedback so keep it coming! Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Email: iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com Business Phone: 901-505-1010
 Happy Wednesday, Keepers! It is my sincere hope that this email finds you well. I am doing well too. Thanks for asking. Things are kind of quiet around here this week aside from meetings and regular organizational responsibilities. Here are a few items that may be of interest to y'all: 1. I was featured on a podcast this week and you can listen to that here 2. IAMSK will be a vendor at a Community Baby Shower on Saturday from 11-1 at the Raleigh Community Center. The flyer is attached for your information and distribution. 3. One of our newest moms had her first baby on Sunday! Congratulations, My'sha Mclain! This year, on the last Wednesday blog of each month, we will share the story of one of our moms. By doing so, it is our hope that you will not only learn more about the moms we serve but also learn why it is so important that we serve them. The mom we will be highlighting this month is Lanikia Williams (she is My'sha's aunt-she has a sister here too-it's a family affair ), a single mother of 6 boys. Lanikia is an awesome mom, a true joy to be around, she gives the most amazing hugs, has the brightest smile, and always has a kind word for everyone she meets. Plus, sis can throw down in the kitchen! Be on the lookout for those plates! (shameless plug) Lanikia is from New Orleans, LA, and moved to Sumrall, MS in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She and her boys moved back to New Orleans and then here to Memphis where I first met her. When IAMSK first began, she was one of our first moms. Due to familial circumstances, her family moved again to San Antonio, TX where they remained until last year (single moms often have to move around for various reasons-you'll learn more about this statistical fact in the coming weeks). However, now that we have her back, we are not letting her go! Lanikia and I had a chat this week about her experience in IAMSK and she had LOTS to say. Per usual. One of the things that Lanikia loves the most about IAMSK is the sense of community. She finds immense comfort in being able to relate with single moms from all different walks of life. "I love that I can be happy or sad, I can laugh or cry all without being judged for doing it or how I do it." When asked how IAMSK has benefited her life, Lanikia told me that even though we helped her to get into her own apartment (through our Mommy Move program) that is not the most important thing we've done for her. "IAMSK has aided in my mental health recovery and in my need for more consistent accountability." Lanikia also talked about how important it is to have access to our pantry for the tangible items her family needs. Thank you for taking the time to read these emails. I hope you all enjoyed learning more about Lanikia and the many ways IAMSK is a benefit to single moms in our Memphis community. Don't forget! Y'all can respond to these emails. Please feel free to share any thoughts or questions you may have. Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Email: iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com Business Phone: 901-505-1010
*This blog was originally sent out on January 18, 2023* Hey, Keepers! Happy Hump Day! I'm on time this week! Woot Woot! No need to praise me for it. I'm just celebrating each win. 😊 How are you all? This is not a rhetorical question. I would really like to know. You all know you can reply to these emails, right? Well, now you do. Please do so whenever you feel so inclined. I'd like to hear from you. For me, this week has been lighter than the first couple of the year and for that I am grateful. I am learning to be still whenever it is possible. Sometimes women, especially single moms, feel guilty for sitting in stillness, doing absolutely nothing. I am here to tell you that it is very necessary! We've all heard the saying "you can't pour from an empty cup" and we often shrug it off as a cliche when in reality it isn't. If I am not taking the time to care for myself, mentally and physically, everything that I "pour" will be tainted by tiredness, aggravation, impatience, etc. And who does that really serve? No one. Not the pitcher (me and you) or the glass (others). My daughter said something a few weeks ago that really struck me. She said, "animals hibernate in the winter so what can't we?" Now we all know that animals don't have to go to work and pay bills to provide for their families, but they do have the same responsibilities of care. Animals plan and prepare in such a way that allows them to hibernate (they don't sleep the entire time either. I could go into detail but I will spare you my nerdiness...this time) and to recharge. I realize that we can't all take months off to "hibernate" but we can create times of stillness in order to recharge. It is a must. So that's your homework! What can you take off of your plate to allow for some stillness? We ALL have something. I just know it. You can keep this "something" to yourself or you can email me about it. Either way, it'll get you thinking and that's the ultimate goal here. 😉 Thank you for taking the time to read these emails. We appreciate you. ❤ Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Email: iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com Business Phone: 901-505-1010
*This blog was originally sent out on January 13, 2023* Greetings, Keepers! **Click here to watch our 2023 Promo Video** I come before you head bowed and knees bent. I dropped the ball already. 😬 I knew I had to write the blog on Tuesday, it was in my planner to write the blog on Tuesday, it was on my phone's calendar to write the blog on Tuesday, and I STILL forgot to write the blog on Tuesday. So, here it is on Friday! This is the perfect segway to talk about a new thing IAMSK (that's our acronym, in case you didn't know) is doing! 📢We are holding monthly Accountability Sessions with our moms! Each mom in our village will have an initial meeting with me (the Founding Keeper) to discuss their goals for 2023. There we will decide, together, on the smaller monthly goals that will culminate into the larger end goals for the year. Each month, we will track progress, make adjustments, and add another piece to the puzzle. It's gonna be great! I am excited, the moms are excited (most of them anyway), and now you get to get excited too! You're welcome. I also want you guys to know that I wasn't loafing about while I was forgetting to write this blog. I was busy securing our new Brunch location, forming a partnership with Shelby County's Youth and Family Resource Center, completing two grant requests, being interviewed on a podcast, holding six Accountability Sessions, hosting our bi-weekly Wednesday night check-in, our weekly Friday night learning session, and AND being an awesome single mom who spent quality time with her children. 😊 Whew! Y'all tired yet? I sure am. This is why weekends are my favorite. Thank you for taking the time to read our emails. Please accept my sincere apologies for the tardiness of this one. Because I am human (hard to believe, right? 😉), I cannot promise that this will not happen again. I can promise, however, that I will always own up to it when it's late or forgotten entirely. Y'all can hold me accountable too. Signed, YOUR Founding Keeper Email: iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com Business Phone: 901-505-1010
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Located in Memphis, TN
iammysissyskeeper@gmail.com (901) 505-1010 |