Just Human Foundation | Giving Hope by Creating Home
Founded by April Hinkle & Caitlin Flood, Just Human Foundation is a community effort that collects, stores, and redistributes curated home good donations to families escaping domestic violence in Hudson County, New Jersey.
Photo by Just Human, artwork by The Purple Thread
The mission of Just Human Foundation is to build a community that collects, stores, and redistributes curated home goods donations to families transitioning out of homelessness and escaping domestic violence.
By creating this community, we are able to support the families’ emotional well-being and housing stability and, ultimately, disrupt the cycle of family violence.
Share a little bit about yourselves.
April, Co-founder:
I've been working in social justice and victim services since I moved to NYC in 2014. My educational background is in Psychology, but I consider myself a creative person with a particular interest in startups and community building. I've recently relocated to California with my toddler and fiance where I currently lead a small but mighty team behind two 24/7 crisis service programs in San Diego.
Caitlin, Co-Founder:
I'm an attorney for a criminal justice reform nonprofit in NYC. I'm a former public defender and the proud older sister of 5 awesome siblings.
What problem do you strive to solve?
By instilling hopefulness, we strive to disrupt the cycle of family violence and housing instability. Intimate Partner Violence thrives on isolation, separation from resources, and negative self-image.
When we bring community members together to execute a setup with donated goods, we create connections, show the family that their community is a resource, and remind themselves and their children that they are worthy of a safe and comfortable home.
The Process
First
Locals donate gently used home goods (lamps, textiles, curtains, artwork) or shiny new essentials (linens, candles, throw pillows). Donations can be picked up if within Hudson County, NJ.
Second
Local service providers submit profiles of each family’s needs. We ask: What are the children’s interests? What is most important to the family unit? How do they like to spend time together? What belongings do they already have that can be incorporated into the design?
Third
We sift through our curated inventory and select items that match these profile needs. Create a home that these families can truly love!
What is new and good in your world that you’re eager to share?
We are consistently and graciously accepting donated home goods through our Amazon wishlist.
We are also eager to create some Just Human merchandise that we can include in our setups and also sell to raise funds.
Our storage capacity is contingent upon donations that come in, and as a small community group without tax-exempt status, that flow of funding is pretty inconsistent.
Branded merchandise allows us to continue doing the work we do while letting people represent the really beautiful connection they make with our community.
Keep an eye out for merch on our website!
What is a defining moment that drew a clear before & after line in the sand for you? How did it “light the way” for you going forward?
I think we are in that very moment right now.
Seeing people work so hard to create safe spaces for themselves and their families truly inspires us to make their journey a little easier.
What do you consider to be healing?
We consider action and accountability as an approach to Restorative Justice, to be healing.
Each move you make has an impact on somebody or something.
Deploying community members to participate in the healing within their own community is a pillar of Transformative Justice.
We are very intentional about how we coordinate our services so as not to cause more harm to families who have already experienced a lot of trauma.
We recognize that these individuals are not only survivors of family violence but have many other identities that should be honored during the process. This may look like a choice in color schemes in their home or how we approach entering and transforming their space.
There is also a strong effort to keep donations within the community they came from. If artwork is donated from Hudson County, we do our best to place it into a home within Hudson County. Similarly, we bring Bronx volunteers to Bronx setups and Jersey City volunteers to Jersey City setups whenever possible.
How do you make time for what matters to you, deciding what to focus on, what can wait, and what can be let go of entirely?
When Caitlin and I decided to become co-founders, we did so with the understanding that we will go at our own pace. I have days where I feel like the pinnacle of productivity and days where I want to be a homebody. If Caitlin wakes up with all the energy and time in the world, she can make decisions and take actions to fulfill that, and if she wakes up feeling depleted and tired, as the world so often makes us feel these days, she doesn't have any obligation.
It may go against every entrepreneurial advice book ever, but we are so productive on our good days that a down day is one hundred percent permissible.
Since Caitlin and I are the driving forces behind this, we have to consider what is sustainable for us as individuals and as a team. Also, our different strengths guide who is best suited to tackle a particular task.
What currently inspires and empowers you?
Our Families
They have made have made our impossible imaginations doable.
I think our families have been the biggest backing for all of our wild ideas. Caitlin and I can have a brainstorm session for an hour and come up with some really big, lofty ideas. We cosign each other on these ideas which definitely makes each of us feel like the idea is possible. Then we lean on our families for support.
My fiancé Victor has watched our young son on so many rainy Saturdays while Caitlin and I ran all over NYC for setups, or I drove all over Jersey to pick up donations. Caitlin's siblings have helped on storage unit hauls on more than one occasion for nothing more than a breakfast sandwich and Caitlin's DJ skills in the minivan.
Caitlin's mom has consistently donated items from our Amazon wish list but tries to do so incognito which is super cute and heartwarming.
What seems to be a current lesson that the universe is trying to teach you?
There are always people looking to help as long as you're willing to ask.
What is something you’re really interested in/curious about right now?
We’re both really interested in the ideas of Restorative Justice and Transformative Justice. It applies to the work we do in our day jobs but also to Just Human and how we bring community members together to help heal and ultimately, to hopefully create a space where violence is less possible.
Which books do you think others would benefit from reading?
Leave us with a ray of light. A simple reminder that grounds you or helps you through.
Just because the world feels heavy for so many right now does not mean that it is any less heavy for you. You deserve support just as much as the next person does. This is a difficult concept for caregivers, including me.
Allowing somebody to lift you up in these times can help immensely, even if just for a moment.
All photos provided by Just Human.