The Off Ramp

Four weeks ago, we opened a campaign hoping to raise $7,000. We just closed it having raised over $10,000, outside of the steady support of our monthly givers. We are still a little stunned writing that.

Because of this campaign, we can continue both of our Strengthening Families groups, keep supporting Bernard as he awaits word on his latest visa application, and move forward on our current projects without having to scale any of them back. We are also able to start looking closely at two new opportunities, one in North Carolina and one in Texas.

We shared several stories with you this month, but there were more we never got the chance to tell. The full thank you, along with a few more of them, is on our blog today.

Thank you for showing up for all of it. Thank you for getting us here.

Because of you, this campaign raised $10,000. Four weeks ago, we opened this campaign hoping to raise $7,000. We are writing today to tell you that, outside of the steady support of our monthly givers, you gave just over $10,000 in the month of July. We still can't quite believe it, and we wanted you to be among the first to hear what that mean...

Woah. Our minds are blown.

We set out to raise $7,000 this month. Thanks to you, we've raised about $9,500.

We are still a little stunned writing that. What started as an honest ask to help us keep our commitments turned into something far bigger than we expected.

Pictured here is one of the women who makes that possible on the ground in Uganda. She trains girls in the basket weaving program, passing on a skill that gives them a way to earn and a reason to stay connected to their community. Support like this costs about $131 a month per girl, and it's one of many programs your generosity is helping us sustain.

Can you help us reach $10,000 by the end of July?

We know that's a big ask on the heels of an ask you already answered so generously. If you're able to give again, or for the first time, we would be so grateful. And if you've already given, please know it mattered more than you probably realize.

You can give directly here: https://app.aplos.com/aws/give/TheOffRamp/donate

For about a year, we met with Josh and Valerie over Zoom before we ever met them in person. We knew their heart for girls in the slums of Kampala long before we shook their hands.

Valerie noticed that girls were dropping out of school once they started their cycles, simply because they didn't have the supplies they needed. She started by handing out reusable sanitary pads. When we finally traveled to Uganda, a women's group here had filled an entire suitcase with pad sets for her to distribute.

Valerie is quiet, but make no mistake, she is the driving force behind this work, and Josh is right there backing her up. Since we've known them, their vision has grown to include a sewing school, a baking project, and mental health classes, all aimed at helping girls stay in school and build a future for themselves.

We've helped them budget, set priorities, open a dedicated bank account, and secure sewing machines. In under a year, they've gone from an idea to ten machines and a real plan.

We have about two weeks left in our campaign to raise $7,000 for work like theirs. Supplies for a girl staying in school, materials for a sewing class, the everyday costs of building something that lasts, all of it depends on support like yours. If you're able to give, we would be so grateful.

You can give here: https://app.aplos.com/aws/give/TheOffRamp/donate

When Zeke and Sarah walked out of the airport with their two daughters, a group of us was waiting with welcome signs. Zeke looked around and said, "I never expected this. This is like in my country, when all the family comes to greet your arrival. Thank you."

They had less than a day's notice before they landed. A sponsorship program had just been shut down, and their family, who had been waiting in Germany, suddenly had nowhere to go. We said yes, and by the next afternoon we had a hotel room, meals, and the beginning of a plan.

That is what "still here" means to us. Plans change overnight, but showing up doesn't have to.

One week into this campaign, we've crossed $5,000 toward our $7,000 goal raised in July. We're grateful for everyone who has helped us get here, and for anyone who is able to help us close the rest of the way.

You can give here: https://app.aplos.com/aws/give/TheOffRamp/donate

I have a call today to talk to someone in Pakistan about Bernard’s situation. Prayers and good thoughts appreciated.

Bernard's story, and a looming deadline As he logged onto our Zoom call, we saw gray walls and a door behind him. Bernard told us he was still at the university, having just finished an exam, and realized it was time for the call. He didn't want to miss talking to us, so he sat down on the floor right there to visit.Bernard is a refugee f...

He logged onto our call from the university, gray walls behind him, having just finished an exam. Bernard didn't want to miss talking to us, so he sat down on the floor right there to visit.

Bernard fled Afghanistan after his father and brother were killed and his own life was threatened. He's spent the past several years chasing one door after another toward safety and an education, applying to universities across Europe and beyond, only to be turned away again and again.

A university in Hungary finally accepted him, and he's been attending classes there while waiting on the one piece of paperwork he still needs. He's down to a single door now. He needs a student visa from Pakistan by the end of this month, or he loses the opportunity he's worked years to reach.

We're one week into raising $7,000 to help cover efforts like his, funds that go toward things like tuition, room and board, and the ongoing support he needs while he waits. We've already reached $4,000. Read Bernard's full story on our blog, linked below, and if it moves you, we'd be so grateful for your support.

Bernard's story, and a looming deadline As he logged onto our Zoom call, we saw gray walls and a door behind him. Bernard told us he was still at the university, having just finished an exam, and realized it was time for the call. He didn't want to miss talking to us, so he sat down on the floor right there to visit.Bernard is a refugee f...

Three dollars buys a yard of fabric for a seamstress rebuilding her livelihood after being displaced twice by fire and flood.

Ten dollars gets a school-age child the supplies and transportation they need just to walk through the classroom door.

Fifteen dollars puts an ESL book in the hands of someone learning to navigate a new language and a new country at once.

And just over a dollar and a half provides one school-age girl in Uganda with reusable sanitary supplies so she can stay in school instead of dropping out, something 600 girls received through this program last year alone.

None of it looks like much on its own. Together, it's how we keep our promises at The Off Ramp and by extension Threads by Nomad.

We're raising $7,000 this month to continue this work, and we're already partway there. If any of these numbers feel like something you can give toward, we would be so grateful.

You can give directly here: https://app.aplos.com/aws/give/TheOffRamp/donate

This is baby H. She just celebrated her first birthday.

Her family was one we hoped to welcome to the United States. We had spent months preparing, gathering donated furniture, filling out paperwork, waiting on travel dates. Then the door closed without warning, and everything we had planned for them came to a stop overnight.

We helped them resettle in New Zealand instead. H was born there a few months later, into a community that welcomed her family with open arms. We still see her each week on Zoom. Before either of us can even say hello, her brothers greet us first. "How are you, Mum? I am glad to see you, Mum!"

That greeting has carried us through a hard year. Doors have closed. Plans have changed. Families we love have ended up in places we never expected. Through all of it, we have kept showing up, and it is only because people like you have shown up with us.

We have not made a public ask since early spring of last year. We have stretched what we have and leaned on the steady generosity of our monthly givers. Right now, we need to raise $7,000 to keep the commitments we have already made to families like this one and to the programs that hold them.

We are calling this season Still Here. If you're able to give something toward this goal, we would be so grateful. And if you can't right now, know that simply reading these stories and carrying them with you matters too.

Give here: https://app.aplos.com/aws/give/TheOffRamp/donate

Every Wednesday morning, one of us logs onto Zoom and before we can even say hello, we hear it. "How are you, Mum? I am glad to see you, Mum!" That greeting has carried us through a hard year of closed doors and changed plans, and it is still carrying us now.

We have not made a public ask since early spring of last year. We have stretched what we have and leaned on the generosity of our monthly givers. But we need to raise $7,000 to keep the commitments we have already made to the families and programs who count on us.

Bernard is still waiting on a visa that could change everything. A seamstress we work with has been displaced twice and picked her needle back up both times. The need has not paused, and neither have we.

We are calling this season Still Here. Over the next four weeks we will be sharing more of these stories and what it takes to keep showing up. The full story of the family behind that Wednesday Zoom call along with a way to give is on our blog today.

Still Here: We need to raise $7,000 in July. Every Wednesday morning, Nell logs onto Zoom and before she can even say hello, she hears it. "How are you, Mum? I am glad to see you, Mum!" It doesn't matter how hard the week has been. That greeting resets something in her every time.That conversation has continued for over a year now. We hoped to...

Good fiction doesn't soften reality. It prepares you for it.

I picked up The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar wondering how fictionalized the story really was.

Could a family's life really unravel that quickly because of war? Could there really be that many barriers between a family and safety?

Then I sat in our board meeting yesterday and got my answer. If anything, the book doesn't go far enough. Sometimes fiction is the gentlest way in to a truth we're not quite ready to face. This one was that for me.

100% recommend. xo, Christen