Miracle Messages
Everyone is someone's somebody.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Relational poverty is a deadly, often-overlooked form of poverty that is pervasive among people experiencing homelessness, leading to nearly unimaginable levels of social isolation, stigma, and shame. Miracle Messages is focused on ending relational poverty, by rebuilding social support systems and financial security for our unhoused neighbors. As many as 1 in 3 people experiencing homelessness have lost their social support systems. Unfortunately, relational poverty is overlooked by nearly all service providers as a "nice to have,” despite being linked to: - better physical and mental health status and lower likelihood of victimization - being a tremendous asset when embraced in our struggle to end homelessness - being a primary concern of people actually living on the streets; as one client put it, “I never realized I was homeless when I lost my housing, only when I lost my family.” Without social support, people experiencing homelessness tend to stay homeless.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Miracle Messages (reunion services)
Our approach is simple and effective: a person isolated by homelessness records a short message to a loved one, often with the help of a local referral partner or volunteer. Then, our network of "digital detectives" attempt to locate the loved one, deliver the message, and facilitate a reunion.
To date, we have reunited over 500 families, with an average time separated of 15 years. 80% of delivered messages have been positively received, and dozens of reunions have resulted in getting a client off-the-streets, all at a fraction of the cost of other interventions.
Miracle Friends (phone buddy program)
Miracle Friends is a first-of-its-kind virtual buddy system for people experiencing homelessness. Miracle Friends matches 1:1 volunteers with unhoused "Friends" for weekly phone calls and text messages, to provide general companionship and support. Volunteers are welcomed to apply from anywhere in the world.
Miracle Money (direct cash transfers)
Miracle Money is a direct cash transfer program for people experiencing homelessness. In our proof of concept, we distributed $50K to 14 unhoused individuals, 50% of whom secured housing as a direct result of their $500 a month, in one of the first guaranteed income pilots for unhoused individuals in the United States.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsTotal number of clients experiencing homelessness
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Miracle Friends (phone buddy program)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
No one goes through homelessness alone. No one feels helpless on this issue.
- Reconnect families, friends, and loved ones. (Everyone is someone’s somebody)
- Connect unhoused neighbors with volunteers. (Everyone needs a friend)
- Generate support for unhoused neighbors. (Grow trust, empathy, $$, and self-image)
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our theory of change:
Relational poverty is poverty.
By embracing our neighbors experiencing homelessness as people to be loved, not as problems to be solved, problems get solved.
Two highly effective, underutilized ways to embrace our unhoused neighbors with love is through nurturing relationships and direct cash investments.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Miracle Messages is an award-winning 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that helps people experiencing homelessness rebuild their social support systems and financial security, primarily through family reunifications, a phone buddy program, and guaranteed income pilots.
Miracle Messages offers a humane, highly effective way to help end homelessness: strengthen social supports and financial security, shatter stigmas, and empower people everywhere to get involved. Our work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, SF Chronicle, Fast Company, CNBC, in a TED talk, and hundreds more. Our vision is to end relational poverty on the streets.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Reunion services: An unhoused individual records a short message to a loved one (or vice versa). Then, our network of volunteer "digital detectives" attempt to locate the loved one and deliver the message. To date, we've reunited over 700 families worldwide.
Phone buddy program: Miracle Friends matches unhoused neighbors with caring volunteers for weekly calls and texts, to provide general wellness checks and lightweight problem-solving support. To date, we've facilitated over 200 new friendships worldwide.
Guaranteed income pilots: Miracle Money is a direct cash transfer program for people experiencing homelessness. In our proof of concept, we distributed $50K to 14 unhoused individuals, 50% of whom secured housing as a direct result of their $500 a month. We are currently participating in a Los Angeles cash transfer program gifting $750 per month for 12 months to 55 individuals.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Miracle Messages
Board of directorsas of 01/21/2024
Kevin Adler
Miracle Messages
Term: 2018 -
Jen McClure
JEM
James C. Olson
JOSEPH & COHEN
Melissa Gregory
Scott Layne
Sakina Zaidi
Camber Collective
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/17/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.