Modest Needs is a small but ambitious nonprofit, founded in 2002. It has a three-fold mission;
- ·Provide responsible effective short-term financial assistance to families and individuals in temporary crisis
- Lessen the burden on state and federal agencies to care for the truly indigent by stopping at-risk households from slipping into a cycle of poverty
- Promote compassion and generosity in the United States and Canada by standing as an example of the power of kindness to make a difference in lives in the areas they serve
Also, it is noteworthy that their grants “come with no strings attached,” and never have to be repaid. No cash is provided directly to the individuals Modest Needs helps, rather these families/individuals are assisted in remitting payments directly to vendors/creditors named in the applicants’ grant request.
Modest Needs’ only request of the individuals they help is that they acknowledge and thank the generous individual donors that make Modest Needs’ work possible.
The organization describes their grant programs as “being designed for those that work hard and have nowhere else to turn, as well as those who give back to their communities such as public school teachers, first responders, veterans returning from service abroad and active duty members of military services.”
Modest Needs prides itself on showing donors where their money goes. They provide a readily available list of grants that have been funded as well as those the organization is working to fund. Donors actually browse open grant applications and make their choice of which to support and how much to donate.
Some of the current open applications include a worker who crushed his/her hand at work and is struggling with family bills, a dancer with HIV with medical bills that are keeping him/her from paying regular household bills, a dad of 7 with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and an insurance policy that won’t cover the cost of examinations.
And some of their successes include paying the mortgage current for a retired widow who fell behind while caring for her daughter post brain surgery, paying car repairs for a single mom who couldn’t get her children to school because car repairs were too expensive and keeping a family from being evicted when a husband lost his job during covid and the wife lost work due to a surgery.
Something that I found particularly outstanding is that, according to their most recent financial report, over 90% of donations go to programs and services and LESS THAN 5% to fundraising initiatives and LESS THAN 4% to management and administration. That is a very impressive report card compared to many large nonprofits that are household names. To learn more, or to get involved visit – https://www.modestneeds.org