About the Nonprofit
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As a community based non-profit organization, we have been instrumental in humanizing the experiences of every person we serve. In doing so, we have been able to foster meaningful relationships. The ability to serve with the highest level of integrity benefits those we serve with sustainable and tangible resources to live beyond past and present traumas. Past traumas are considered to create Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), especially in the face of the pandemic[i] in conjunction with civil and social unrest, violence, and rage as well as other traumatic events while present trauma is not PTSD, but rather, Persistent Traumatic Stress Environment (PTSE).]
Too often, the term resilience is used to highlight the strength one must have to adjust to the current circumstances of trauma, but are not given the proper resources, skills, and tools to overcome trauma. Touch Gift Foundation (TGF) has partnered with Purple Path to provide the solution to combating these ills through Education, Restorative Justice, and Restorative Practices.
TGF’s mission is to destroy the cycle of poverty by eradicating the poverty mindset and to empower individuals to want to change. TGF will cultivate these individual changes by providing the necessary tools and resources. TGF's vision is to create a resourceful alliance that governs a community, empowers people, and influences changed behaviors. Behaviors that may have stemmed from poverty, trauma, everyday life challenges, disparities, and ongoing violence that has impacted our communities tremendously. TGF works diligently with our participants to promote mental health, employment, independence, self-sufficiency, literacy, professional development, financial growth, and sustainability.
“There is no limit to what we can achieve when we look at our city through lenses of possibilities and focus on uplifting incredible talent in our most underserved communities.[ii]” TGF’s Impacting lives Through Literacy Program equips individuals with the tools needed to become successful.
Through program offerings, such as:
- Hunger & Homelessness Relief assistance,
- Workforce Development
- Supervised Job Search and Training,
- Workforce Readiness Training,
- Career Exploration,
- Education
- Adult Education (Basic Education),
- Digital Literacy,
- Restorative Justice, and
- Mentoring.
TGF was founded on the precepts of bridging the educational gap and poverty barriers conceptualizing that opportunities exist through education, career exploration, mindset transformation and mentorship. Our organization has provided services within the Chicagoland area and have supported individuals through these roadmaps. Our goal is to share a space that we all can learn and become the bridge to someone next. TGF has been the connector of resources in the community. Our participants are better prepared to leave the cycle of poverty behind and settle into a more productive, stable lifestyle. TGF have supported the Austin, Woodlawn, Greater Grand Crossing, South Shore, Englewood, West Englewood, New City, Washington Park, and Near West communities with resources and services.
Our community has felt an immediate impact by the work of TGF since the day it began in 2018. In that short time, TGF and its founder, Keona Owens, have been recognized for outstanding achievement - receiving eight (8) humanitarian and community service awards by the National Urban League, Chicago Urban League, Metropolitan Board of Chicago Urban League (MetroBoard), DePaul University, Chicago Jobs Council, the National Council of Negro Women (Chicago Sector), and Taste for the Homeless. She has been identified as the Connector, connecting individuals to resources, by the McCormick Foundation.
[i] Marzilli et al, 2021
[ii] Beth Swanson, CEO A Better Chicago, December 2021