Welcome Home: TOOF!

On May 12, we gathered at The Other Ones Foundation to celebrate the opening of Peace, Love & Happiness Village — 50 cabins for unhoused folks looking to stabilize and live in community.

When we first visited, the location was just inhospitable asphalt. People camping there had died from heat and cold exposure. The TOOF folks showed up and began providing services and listening to residents about what they needed and wanted. John Paul was one of the first donors to stand up and commit to a whole village - a place to with a roof over their head a door that would lock to help them feel safe.

Being there, seeing each home full, porches full of plants or with a dog out front, really made our hearts sing. John Paul and Eloise served lunch, there was an old school ice cream truck and a great band. The ribbon cutting was symbolic, because people were already living there. The community was open. People had even moved out or were on their way out to permanent housing, which we love to see. Meeting folks where they are is such an important part of seeing them succeed, and we are so proud of the TOOF team and the Esperanza residents.

Here’s some local news coverage:

A Night for Patriot's Hall

It was such a great night in Dripping Springs, Texas when we all gathered at a ranch to raise support for and celebrate veterans. Matthew McConaughey was there (!) sharing about his life and films. Ret. U.S. Army Chad Fleming shared his hilarious and touching story of being the first veteran amputee who returned to combat. His determination to help create and build community for veterans is shaped by personal loss and the all-too-common reality that veterans return to a lack of opportunity. Patriot’s Hall will be a home, an opportunity, for veterans, and we are so glad we got to be a part of this great night!

Meet our Cutest Partner

We got to visit the folks at Austin Wildlife Rescue this week and, while we love all our partners, we have to say, these are the cutest :) Their dedicated team rehabilitates 9000 animals a year - many of which need to be fed around the clock 🙃. From birds to reptiles to baby foxes to birds of prey, we met so many animals who had been brought in by concerned Central Texans.

Things you can Do to Help!

  • If you encounter a sick, injured or orphaned animal, they have an intake center off MLK.

  • With all these rehabilitated animals, they need land to set them free! You can let them know if you are able to be a wild release site.

  • They are also always accepting funds to help rescue, house & feed these precious 🦨🦉🪿🐢🐍.

  • Oh, they also take old 👖 for the 🐿️ ! ❤️

You get a Van! You get a Van!

We recently purchased vans for two East Austin nonprofits working with the unhoused. Hungry Hill Foundation uses their van to get clients to job sites, helping them move through their level one to level three workforce development program. We Can Now uses their van for weekly community meals and their programs that help divert unhoused folks into homes.

Both of these organization’s founders, Chase Wright and Antony Jackson, lead from lived expertise being from the communities they serve. Each organization has a slightly different focus, but both are achieving great things for people struggling with homelessness with the ultimate goal of health, housing and wholeness for the neighbors they serve.

Spring 2023 Roundup!

We love spring event season! It’s been so fun to be out and about at events that are connected to mission and purpose in Austin. From raising funds for children’s health to art to an established district honoring the history of Mexicans and Tejanos to business in Texas, we love our city!

Mack Jack & McConaughey Gala

BLANTON GALA

MEXIC ARTE CINCO DE MAYO LUNCHEON

Outstanding First Responders Award

Today, John Paul and his friend and fellow co-founder of the Peace, Love & Happiness Charity Ride, Gary Spellman, received Outstanding First Responders Awards from 100 Club of Central Texas. Every year on John Paul’s birthday, their PLH ride raises funds for fallen firefighters, law enforcement officers and has for more than 20 years. 100 Club, an organization that provides immediate financial and emotional support to first responders and their families, especially after a line of duty tragedy, has been the perfect partner for many of those years.

John Paul and Gary are so proud and honored to receive this award from some of their heroes. They are committed to continuing to support law enforcement and thank them for their continued service.

Power of Love 2023

John Paul and Eloise attended the 2023 Power of Love Gala with friends in Las Vegas over the weekend. John Paul was presented with the Community Leadership Award! Here’s more from Cleveland Clinic:

Keep Memory Alive hosted a prestigious lineup of entertainers at the 26th annual Power of Love® gala on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, at MGM Grand Garden Arena, including Sammy Hagar, Paula Abdul, Alice Cooper, Kevin Cronin, Nikki Glaser, Chad Kroeger, John Mayer, Michael McDonald, Sam Moore and Rick Springfield.  

The evening raised crucial funds for Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to provide quality care, resources and many no-cost support and education services to patients and their caregivers as they fight brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, multiple system atrophy and multiple sclerosis (MS)…

The Ruvos then presented the Community Leadership Award to entrepreneur and philanthropist John Paul DeJoria, who was at the original memorial dinner for Lou and wrote the first check that inspired Keep Memory Alive and the annual Power of Love gala.

DeJoria thanked the organization for the acknowledgement, saying, “Through all the decades I’ve been around, what I’ve found is when you do something for someone else and ask absolutely nothing in return, especially someone you know nothing about, you get the greatest high you will ever get in your life.”

Camille Ruvo then surprised the audience by presenting a second Community Leadership Award to Eloise DeJoria for the depth of her philanthropic endeavors as well.

Love this event and love all these folks that came together to raise support for patients and caregivers!

Eastside Kings Festival 2023

John Paul is a longtime supporter of music in Austin, particularly the blues. Eastside King Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promotes the cultural heritage of African American Blues, Jazz, and Gospel. Their initiative focuses on largely unknown African American musicians and aims to give them opportunities to showcase their music in live performances in Austin and around the world. Preserving the best parts of Austin, as important now as we are growing as ever, means preserving the culture and music of East Austin. We are thrilled to be returning as the presenting sponsor for 2023’s Eastside Kings Blues Fest later this year!

A Trip to Mali

For the first time in our nine years of partnership, we were able to visit some of the schools and water projects we built with Empower Mali. John Paul met founder Yeah Samake (below) almost a decade ago, and they have been investing in education and water systems in and around Bamako, Mali ever since.

We were there primarily for the grand opening of a kindergarten — “Les Petits Heros de JP DeJoria” — in Badalabougou. It was the first of its kind in the area; the government does not provide schools for every kid based on economic constraints. Public/private partnership is critical to ensuring kids have a place to go to school. The mayor was in attendance, there were speeches and the acrobat dance troop put on a SHOW, let me tell you. I held my breath for most of it. Seeing the community come together with such excitement for their kids (and moms and dads that will benefit) was so heartwarming. John Paul has built seven such schools and there are more projects in the works!

We were also able to visit water systems; John Paul has helped build 43 water systems. Due to the terrain, wells are drilled to almost 600 feet, then pumped by solar power and typically two taps are built. For communities, water committees are formed to manage the usage and upkeep and a small charge is rendered per household, which is the best way to ensure sustainability and care for the systems. Water changes lives. We heard from one chief that his village no longer needs to worry about waterborne diseases. Women showed us the bounty of their garden and offered vegetables, cotton and kola nuts as a thank you for the water.

We also visited a few other schools and water wells. We taught kids the name of the foundation - PEACE LOVE HAPPINESS with hand signs, which they loved. It was such a joy to get to meet so many kids and see them so excited about school. The headmaster of the Moromoro school (below) was a delight — so proud of his students and his school.

THANK YOU so much to Empower Mali and their communities for being so gracious