POVERTEES

Big Beginnings & A Big "THANK YOU"

2011-08-09T00:40:00.000-07:00

POVERTEES has certainly come a long way in these last three years! This group started from a simple idea to give food to those who were hungry, friendship to those who wanted it, and hope to those who needed it.

Though full of ambition, we quickly learned that running an organization like this one certainly comes with its own set of heartaches and headaches. However, when you truly love someone or something, you commit to it even through those hard times.

After much soul searching, it seemed this group just couldn't kick this little LA habit. It was something about the people we met. Something about their spirit, their kindness, their welcoming attitudes, their genuine friendship that made us look past the other reservations and uncertainties and decide to press on with this project. Fully committed to POVERTEES and wanting to take the next steps, we sought direction, structure, a business plan that would make this company thrive. When doing so, we realized we needed a lot more help getting started than we anticipated. It turns out college kids just don't have the funds to start non-profits without a little help from their friends... and by friends.... I mean parents. :)

We have always liked the idea of selling a product in order to raise funds rather than asking for donations. This has been accomplished through the sales of our t-shirts for years. So, when we brainstorming how to raise funds for start up costs, fund-raising almost seemed out of the question. However, we would be fools if we didn't acknowledge that this organization is made possible not by what we do, but by the generosity and support from our family and friends who so badly want to see a change in the world, and for whatever reason, back up this humble vision. It has always been our families and friends who make POVERTEES happen for us. So, we crawled back to them once again...

With a little planning, a lot of prayer, and amazing support from family, friends, and Downey First Christian Church, we were able to host a fundraiser in which we presented our ideas, our hopes for the company, and our need in order to get started. We set a goal of $3,000.00 for this fundraiser with which we would be able to pay lawyers to help us gain our 501c3 (tax-exempt) status, making us a legitimate non-profit organization.

We all thought our goal was a little high. We figured if we did fundraisers like these all summer at different churches and schools, we might get near that figure by fall. Just weeks after the event, after calculating the numbers of donations we received (some even from people who could not attend), we were shocked to find out that WE MADE OUR GOAL! What a huge blessing!

"So, what now? "you ask. Well! We still need a lot to get started. The work is not over yet. Unfortunately, the fund-raising isn't over either. BUT, we are currently working alongside a lawyer to file for our 501c3 status! We are hoping to have all of the legal paperwork completed this fall! There are still many obstacles to cross (making an online store, finalizing our fall line of apparel, production details, etc.). However, this step toward being a fully functioning non-profit is HUGE and we are going to CELEBRATE it!

Thank you again so much all of you who supported our June Launch Party!!! We are so incredibly overwhelmed by your generosity! We love you!!

From Skid Row to 90210?

2010-06-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Povertees has been seeing all kinds of fun changes! As you guys know, we head to downtown LA every week with food and clothes and hang with our buds, but with summer rolling around, we've changed things up! Who wants a pb&j when you could have a hot dog fresh off the grill?! So for the summer, we have decided to host BBQ's for our friends as a way to not only show our love, but also fill some tummies with some yummies! If you'd like to join us and hang, email us at povertees@gmail.com! We would LOVE the company!

In other news, some of our newest looks are being featured in a fashion show at a Beverly Hills mansion today! We have been lucky enough to be included in First Class Production's Summer Bash! We are very excited to get the word out about Povertees to a completely different circle of people! Photos of the event (provided by superrrrrrrrb photographer Niall McCarthy) will be posted soon!

As if THAT's not enough, one of our buds David Anderson is hooking us up with online purchasing this month! THAT MEANS you guys can order your tees online for your convenience! We could not be luckier! Thanks David!

Thank you to all who believe in this ministry! Please keep Larry, Linda, Alabama, Ernie, Shorty, Freddy, Frank, and all of our other friends in your thoughts and prayers!

Povertees.org is now easier to use!!

2010-03-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Check out our pockets on povertees.org under the tab labeled "purchase." It'll take you step by step on how to order your custom Povertee! First, pick a pocket! Then choose a shirt color, size, and style. Remember than v-necks are unisex so ladies, order a size smaller than you usually would. We also have deep v-necks as an option for ladies as well (they're my favorite annnnd the fabric is the softest). Then, just email povertees@gmail with your order and specify cash or check (cash works if youre in the fullerton/downey area only). Once we receive your payment we will make your tee and get it to you ASAP!

We're super excited about this new system and were looking forward to making it even EASIER in the near future by having online payment available.

Hope you're as excited as we are!!!!! : )

2010-01-29T10:18:00.001-08:00

We get by with a little help from our friends...

God is doing crazy stuff through our friends. As a group, we have been continually overwhelmed and blessed by all the amazing dedication and commitment that others have shown to this cause. So for this reason, many many thanks are in order. Last semester, Heather Sanchez, a student at Hope International University single-handedly organized a clothing drive in which over 20 bags of warm clothes were donated to Povertees. Her hard work was such a huge blessing for us! We are STILL handing out the clothes that were donated. Thank you thank you thank you Heather!

In the month of December, the Warren High Cheer Squad put together and donated holiday gift bags that provided our friends in LA with all the essentials: toothbrushes and toothpaste, food, socks, soap, and all kinds of other good stuff. All 35 decorated bags those were given out as a special gifts this Christmas. Thank you to all the girls who participated in the second annual Povertees Christmas Distribution project! You guys are amazing!

Not only have our friends from Hope and Warren helped out, but most recently three students from The Burn at Downey First Christian Church put together a yard sale in which all of the proceeds were donated to Poverteees! Last Saturday, Katie Guzman, Shannon Turner, and Chris Avila set up their yard sale on Downey Ave at 7 am and sold clothes, movies, cds, and books in hopes of raising money for this cause. And Oh man!! Did they raise money!!! The yard sale raised $500.00!!!!

It’s amazing to see how much God is working in our friends and how much their hard work is going to do for our ministry in LA. I love that people have started to take ownership of Poverteees and realize that its just as much their ministry as it is ours. Thank you so much to our friends at Hope, Warren, and DFCC! You guys are simply amazing!

The Yard-sale Poverteam

Some shopping at the yardsale

Warren Cheerleaders and their decorated gifts

check out the photos!

2009-12-07T18:37:00.001-08:00

hey guys! Pics from the party are up on niallmccarthy.net!! check it out!

The Party and the Feast

2009-12-07T18:35:00.001-08:00

What a crazy month for Povertees! The create-a-pocket party was amazing! Thanks to all who came and helped support the cause! Hope you guys had a great time! We did! We saw all kinds of people get creative and make cool shirts! It was a night full of music, paints, and overall, we had more than 100 people buy shirts for themselves and some bought a second to donate to a friend in LA. What an amazing event! We were so amazed by how God blessed it. Its crazy just that all those shirts were made successfully cuz the truth is, we always have a hard time with the sewing machines and getting lots of shirts done in a short period of time. It was nothing short of a miracle that over 120 shirts were made by three sewing machines in 2 hours. God is too good. We hope to have more fun events like this in the future, so if you liked it, come back for more!

With help from the funds raised at the Creat-a-Pocket party, we were able to continue our Thanksgiving Feast in LA this year. The day after Thanksgiving, the team got together (with lots of help from my mom, K-Fierce) to make Thanksgiving dinner....again : ). I got a call on my cell phone that morning from Alabama. He wanted to let me know everyone was there waiting, hungry and happy! With that in mind, we hurried our hands and got there as fast as we could with the food still steamin. We set up card tables on the sidewalk and served warm turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, yams....let’s just say they had all the fixins! Over 60 people lined up with styrofoam to-go boxes that morning and they all ate until they were satisfied. To be honest, it was crazy that everyone had enough food. We even had styrofoam boxes filled with leftovers somehow (everyone was served at least one piece of pie....hmm...we only came with three). God was too good. It was cool to see everyone eat together and be happy. There’s lots of love in LA. To be honest, I am blown away every time things go way too well like with the Thanksgiving dinner and with the Create-a-Pocket party. It’s just so obvious that God is taking care of His people and it’s all completely out of our hands and its all way bigger than us.

So, the month of November was glorious and beautiful and we’re expecting December to be just as amazing! Don’t forget Povertees Lovers, the tees make for great Christmas presents! Keep in mind, we will need 2-3 weeks to get the shirts made and shipped to you so if you’d like to put in your Christmas Wish List, do it soon! Merry Christmas everyone!

Jr Highers and Jail Scares

2009-10-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

We have had some pretty cool experiences in LA lately. Some of our friends from The Burn in Downey and a few kids from Ben Harvey’s youth group came with us to experience homeless ministry firsthand. I’m pretty glad they got to come. To be honest, we were really nervous at first. When the first group got out and saw a fight break out, I was pretty sure this was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. But looking back, I’m glad they saw Shorty get in that fight because it was reality check time. Haha. That’s the real LA for ya. So they were a little shaken up at first but they sat down on the corner of 9th and San Pedro after handing out some food and clothes and listened to Shorty preach. He told them all about why they needed to love and respect their parents. He said that he was just like us, he liked movies and listening to music and hanging out with friends. He was real with them and that was really cool to see. It was actually good for the kids to sit and hang out and shake Shorty’s hands because I think their presuppositions about homeless people were changed. Plus, I’m pretty sure all the girls from The Burn fell in LOVE with Linda and she loves them too. So thanks to all our friends who joined us! And what a cool thing God did with that situation in just making it all go so smoothly and moving in Shorty and Linda and Ernie and making them open to hanging with our friends. God is providing big time.

Now onto other more stressful business. We had a jail scare this week. Last Saturday we showed up and saw Alabama was missing from the group. Everyone said he was probably in jail because he hadn’t come back for a whole day. If you guys have been reading the blog, you know Alabama is one of closest friends and we have been working with him really closely to help him through rehab and hopefully provide some extra support and just show him love. So when we heard that he was in jail, my heart completely broke. Eight years. The thought of Alabama in jail for that long just killed me. But not worries everybody!! It was just a misunderstanding. He was back the next day and he said he missed me. : ) So that’s good.

ANNNNND Very exciting stuff! We are now officially a nonprofit corporation. You’re probably thinking…okay guys…two years and you’re just getting this stuff done? Big woop. But I’m pretty excited about it and it was really hard. We didn’t expect all the bumps in the road. So now we are looking to get tax-exempt status but for now, things are looking up and getting pretty legit. So thanks to all who have been praying and supporting the group. God is doing some pretty cool things in LA right now and we’re really excited to be part of it.

R.I.P. Searg

2009-10-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

One of our friends in LA, named Searg, died this week. Searg has always been really cool with us and we’ve gotten to hang out with him lots of times. He never really says much, but he takes care of people, especially Shorty. He and Shorty were sorta like roommates. They stayed together in the same area every night and watched each other’s stuff. We knew there was something wrong when we saw Shorty and he didn’t say a whole lot. See, that’s the thing about Shorty, he always has something to say- a joke to tell or advice to give. So when he walked up looking sad and not saying much, we should have known something was up. He told us Searg had overdosed.

We’ve never had a friend pass away before. We’re all pretty sad about it. Thinking back, I guess the saddest part is that no one expects to die out in the streets. Everyone expects for things to turn out better eventually. I think all of our friends at least have the desire to change their situation, but Searg must have given up on leaving. That makes me really sad. I hope if we ever can give our friends anything they can hold onto, it will be hope. Hope that there’s something better coming.

Thanks for praying for Shorty. He’s getting his stuff together and is getting ready to check into rehab tomorrow morning. We got to take him and Alabama to work out all the technical stuff. We also continued our tradition of McDonald’s breakfasts with them. Everyone deserves McDonald’s before rehab. So Shorty is persevering despite his huge loss. God is good.

We took another trip on Saturday with food and hats and shirts and hung out with Ernie, Linda, Alabama, and Darnell. Linda decided she wanted some girl time so we went off and did our own thing. We did what all girls do when they’re together…we talked about bras and boys.

The trip ended with a prayer circle led by Alabama. He’s pretty sick. He loves to pray to God and his prayers are always so full of gratitude. He reminds me that there’s always something to be grateful. There’s a lot to learn about God from Alabama.

Thanks guys for reading all these and supporting us in this.

5 trips in 8 days

2009-09-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all who were thinking and praying for Alabama. After five trips in eight days, Alabama finally got into a rehab program. The rehab program was part of a court-ordered sentence that if neglected, would have resulted in an eight year prison sentence. Every rehab program in the city requires that its patients be there no later than 7:30 am…so…as you can imagine, the mornings felt earlier and earlier.

There’s always a reason to put off going to rehab. We found that out after the first three trips to LA. But we promised Alabama we would show up every day until he was ready to go. We really wanted to use this opportunity to show him and our other friends that they could really count on us and we weren’t going to give up on them. I think that’s a feeling a lot of them have gotten used to. So we kept showing up. To be honest, I started to feel like maybe we’d never get him there. I was scared to see him go to jail for eight years and leave the others behind. People tend to rely on Alabama. He has a really good heart and he takes care of the people around him…plus he makes everybody laugh. Things would be too quiet if Alabama were in jail.

So finally on our last trip out to LA, things had settled down and Alabama was ready to go. He got referred to a rehab center on 4th and Towne Street (just five blocks from where he sleeps). There, he would attend five meetings a week in outpatient treatment. This was just the beginning though…We ended up going to the rehab place, then to a health center place that would sign off that he was in fact eligible for the program, thennnn when he didn’t have sufficient paperwork, we had to go back to 9th and dig through his bags to find it….then bacccck to the health center and finally after three stops and 4 hours, Alabama was all set for rehab.
We also got to have breakfast with Alabama at McDonalds before the whole shindig went down. I loved that. He told us all about how he ended up in LA, how he worked as a hairstylist, and what he’d do to all of our hair if he had his own supplies. I have to say I really hope he gets to do my hair someday. : ) So we drove around all over the place and he showed us all the famous buildings and teased all the guys about being cake daddies. If you don’t know what a cake daddy means, just know it means having suga in yo draws. : )

Anyway, God is good. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee that Alabama will stay in the rehab program and he has to decide that it’s worth it to him. But at least we got him there. I hope if anything, Alabama and the rest of the guys saw that we really love them and we’ll never give up on them. Even if that means taking five trips in eight days in the early morn. That was probably a miracle in itself.

Alabama inspired, well all of us, but he also inspired Shorty. Shorty lives in LA too and after seeing that Alabama successfully checked into rehab, he asked that we help him get in too. So please be in prayer for him. We’ll be going Wednesday morning to try to get him in as well.

Our friends are back!

2009-09-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Povertees team set out to LA yesterday and we were pleasantly surprised to see so many familiar faces. For the last few months we've just been pretty discouraged because almost all of our friends we've made over the past two years were in jail. This, as you can tell, has really changed our ministry. We wanted to reach out to others in the same area but we were limited by our lack of Spanish speaking skills. Other than the ten or fifteen people we always see, there is a large group of day-laborers who wait on the corner for jobs. For the last several months, we've hoped to reach out to them, first gaining credibility through food, and then showing the love of Christ through friendship. Unfortunately, since none of use speak great Spanish, we've been really limited in those attempts. Because of this, we were able to spend a lot of time with Linda.

Linda was one of the first people we met in LA. She is married to Darnel, who is really tall and has cute gray hair and doesn't say a whole lot, but he always has a smile on. Sadly, Darnel, like many of our other friends, is battling a life ruled by substance abuse and as a result, ended up in jail. This left Linda on her own for several months. As you guys can probably imagine, being a woman alone in the streets of LA is really unsafe. Our hearts broke for Linda during the last trip when she told us how she spent most nights fighting off men. It seemed like a hopeless situation for Linda and all we could do was pray with her and believe that God would be faithful. As we should have known, He was.

So there we were walking up 9th street, bags of food and clothes in hand. To be honest, we were expecting to see the usual: fifteen to twenty laborers we couldn't talk to, and Linda. Instead, we were greeted by Linda, Darnel, Ernie, Shorty, Alabama, and had the unique opportunity to make a new friend named Frank. They were back! So we spent the next hour or so joking around with our old friends. Linda sang Happy Birthday to Gianna at leaaaast three times. The highlight of the trip, we decided, was when Alabama led all eight of us in a time of prayer. We are always excited to talk about God but it's even more exciting to listen. The truth is that I've learned more about God from these guys in LA than I can ever teach them, especially about humility. Alabama was full of humility before God. It was pretty amazing.

So thank you to everyone who is praying for our friends in LA. We can see how God is blessing our relationships with them. Please continue in that prayer. Also, pray for Alabama. He needs to find a rehab program in LA before Monday or he will be sent back to jail for eight years. So we're hoping to make that happened. Keep on praying. God is good.

Finally...

2009-09-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

We have our website up at Povertees.org! Thanks to our good friend Jordan Doolittle, we finally have our official website up, which will soon feature a Paypal ordering system. This semester has started great for the group, and God is really blessing us with this website.

Also, we have been taking volunteers to help work on shirts in the office. Every Monday we usually start working around 4 pm and end around 8 pm. If you're interested in working on shirts or making a trip down to LA with us, just send us an email at Povertees@gmail.com and we'll set something up. Thanks for all the support!

The Office

2009-08-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

It seems we have finally moved up in this world.

After two years of working in cramped bedrooms and the chaos of the Hope dorms, we have finally acquired an entire room dedicated solely to managing and manufacturing Povertees. The Office, as we like to call it, was made available because Gianna's sister finally moved into her own apartment. So after three days of moving furniture, buying supplies, and organizing fabrics, The Office was up and running. All we needed were some orders. We have been praying for quite some time that God would bless this ministry and move people around us to take action and get involved. Our prayers were very much answered.

Last Thursday, Downey First Christian put on a party to raise funds for World Vision. We knew this would be a good opportunity to advertise Povertees, so we set up a booth in the back next to the pizzas. We hoped to sell a few that were pre-made, maybe walk away with a couple of new orders. To be honest, we weren't expecting much of a response. However, that's not at all how it turned out. The Lord completely blessed it. Sales were very successful and we even found some people who were interested in joining us on our upcoming trip to LA. Needless to say, there is now lots of work to be done in the new Povertees headquarters. God is good.

Any Tampa Bay Rays fans out there? Well if there are, look out for Evan Longoria. There's a very good chance you could spot him wearing a Povertee. Evan, who grew up in Downey, heard about Povertees and recently ordered seven shirts. So don't be surprised if Povertees sweeps the nation. It just might happen very soon.

All in all, we couldn't be happier with the way things are looking for this next semester. Thanks for all the prayer and support. God is good. We are planning to return to LA this weekend to continue our ministry. Any takers? Just let us know. you're always welcome.

Evan Longoria

Organized Pockets in the new office

Shirts ready for delivery

Blank shirts organized by size and color

P.S. Office tours are available upon request

2009-08-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well now that a semester of apathy and laziness is over, PoverTees is back and we're going to be going strong this upcoming semester. We have gone to LA three or four times without posting a blog so I guess this will be an overview of the last couple months. First off, Larry and Darnell are in jail and it is going to be a while before they get out. Larry is the first person we ever met in LA, and before a couple months ago, we met up with him every time we went down there. Unfortunately, he was busted with some marijuana, and is looking at around 8 months in the state penitentiary. Darnell and his wife Linda are two people we have also known for a long time, as we also met Linda on our first trip down there. A couple months ago Darnell was arrested for hitting Linda in public. Hopefully his jail time will help him turn away from this kind of abuse. so prayer in both of these situations is def needed.
On a lighter note, we have been able to expand out a little bit and meet some new people as well. We have seen a friend of Larry's named Ernie (aka Penguin because of how he walks), and he seems to really be thankful to God for what we bring him. We have also kept up with a man named Alabama who usually hangs out with Ernie. They are both planning on getting involved with a program that will help keep them off of the streets. Also, lately there has been a huge group of workers who wait outside of a store and rush us if we bring anything. So we're looking to bring a little bit more from now on because we haven't had enough to provide for everyone.
Overall, God has continued to bless our group even though we were lazy this last semester. We have always been kept safe, and have always had enough money to keep going. Also, don't be surprised if you see Evan Longoria wearing our a few of our shirts from now on!

Good and Bad news

2009-05-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Some good news and some bad news. Let's start out with the good. We bought a silk screen press! Soon all of our povertees will include not only our pockets as always, but now a povertees logo on the back of the shirts.
Now the not so good news. Giann, Ty and I went to visit Larry and friends and we couldn't find larry. A lot of our normal friends that we hang out with weren't there. After talking to a guy we are familiar with, we found out that larry is in jail! I know, going to jail for a couple days for homeless people is pretty common, but he wasn't there yesterday either. Hopefully he gets out soon so we can spend time with him next week. Keep larry in prayer.
-matty d

A dolla and some weeeed

2009-04-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

Today the group had another trip down to LA, and once again we found Larry. Somehow we've found him every time even though he moves around, and even though we don't plan times to hang out. He was really stoked to see us and really happy that we brought some hats. He really would not stop talking about how happy he was to have them. After sitting with Larry and some other people for a while, another guy came up and offered me a dollar and some weed, but I politely declined. Then he asked, "What are you Bill Gates' son or something?" I once again politely said no. All in all it was another good trip.

We're back!

2009-04-04T02:05:00.000-07:00

After a five week hiatus the PoverTees group is back. I think we all needed the break after some tough trips down to LA. After some time to regroup, we're now planning on making trips to LA at least every other week. If anyone wants to come with us or by a shirt, you can either comment here, call one of us (Typie, Trevor, Matt, Gianna, Alaina, Paddy, Ryan, etc), or email us at Povertees@gmail.com. We will be leaving an update of the latest trip or event on this blog as well as on our Myspace.