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Together, our small sums will make a big difference.
Dion was a young man without a place of his own. We helped him pay for barber school and he now owns his own barber shop.

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Who We Are

Small Sums helps adults who are homeless, precariously housed or highly mobile* receive the tools, education or business start-up capital they need in order to change their lives and move towards self-sufficiency.

Small Sums was created as a way to let donors decide exactly where their donation goes. We are a fundraising arm of At Home Group, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has been operating in the Twin Cities area just over two years.

At Home Group's mission: fostering self-sufficiency among individuals who are homeless through entrepreneurship, employment and educational assistance.

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At Home Group addresses the needs of homeless adults by assisting them with expenses that must be covered in order for them to gain employment. Through employment, we hope that they will eventually acquire stable housing. This year, the number of people coming to us for services has increased greatly. Small Sums was created as a response to the increased demand. At Home Group wanted to expand its reach and assist as many people as possible who come through our doors. In order to do that, we must expand our community of supporters. We hope that you will be a part of that community.

In the design phase of Small Sums, we researched other organizations that use comparable giving methods and saw their success. We determined that this success could be attributed to allowing donors to choose directly who they want to support. We decided to give our donors the same control over their contributions. As you will see, our website includes the stories of some of the people who seek assistance from us every day. All of the clients listed on our website have gone through the application process and have been approved, but they are waiting until we have the funds to assist them.

The people profiled on Small Sums have verified jobs, business plans, or have been accepted to business planning classes or vocational education programs, but they cannot afford to pay for the tools, equipment, or tuition expenses that need to be covered in order to get started. These individuals are looking for that extra push to get out of homelessness and move into a self sufficient lifestyle. Many have attempted to get help from other agencies and service providers but have been denied because their requests are out of the scope of what these other agencies provide. This is what makes our services unique; we provide a service that no other agency in the Twin Cities consistently provides.

This is where you, our donors come in. As a donor, you read the mini-biographies of our clients and choose the individual(s) you want to help. No one is required to give the full amount. We assume that most of you will choose to contribute a portion of the amount being asked for and that is the beauty of Small Sums. Everyone’s extra change adds up to make a big difference!

* This includes those who are staying in emergency shelters, staying in places not fit for human habitation (such as parks, under bridges, in cars), those staying with friends or family members temporarily because they have no home of their own, those living in subsidized housing, those staying in transitional housing.
All the names and pictures of the clients that we serve have been changed or omitted for their protection and privacy.
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