TCGOHC Startup Fundraiser

Hello, 
My name is Emma and I am the founder and organizer of this non-profit. For over a year I have planned this idea, inspired by a desire to be a part of the change I wish to see in this world. It's a big dream, and it is all possible. This fundraiser will help with forming costs, building the venue space, and starting the first few projects.  

I hope to launch in 2021 and begin working on my first few projects. please follow TCGOHC on Instagram here to keep up to date on our progress! Thank you in advance for your support!

What do we do? 
The Community Guild of Higher Consciousness is a non-profit that seeks to empower the Black artesian class by providing a multifunctional outdoor venue space to facilitate events, markets, and programs. Through this empowerment, TCGOHC seeks to combat glass ceilings and systematic racism.  
The Community Guild of Higher Consciousness will provide a multitude of services on a large campus in East Fort Worth that include but are not limited to educational opportunities, Farmers Market and other vendor markets, artistic classes, religious services, fresh produce, camps and workshops, and resources for the underserved local communities. 
The combination of empowering the local Black community through job opportunities and the services that will be facilitated will help to alleviate poverty, preventable diseases, chronic health issues, food scarcity, increase life expectancy, and improve mental health. 
 
Why do we exist? 
 
We exist to create a hub where those who have resources can provide them to the underserved; we hope to add balance to the world where glass ceilings and exclusivity of enriching spaces limit the heights we all can reach.  The Community Guild of Higher Consciousness has the potential to expand into a platform to connect and network among local creatives and artisans.  We wish to enrich lives by providing resources and education that would otherwise not be received due to socio-economic reasons.  Also, through our urban farm, we wish to provide not only educational opportunities but fresh produce for those in need, helping to alleviate the food desert in East Fort Worth neighborhoods.  Camps and programs from STEM, to the arts, to herbalism will enrich at-risk and underserved children’s lives giving them skills that can lead to more opportunities in their futures as well as their present-day lives.   
 
Who do we serve? 
 
We serve all.  We are focused first on the underdeveloped community of Black artesian who due to lack of community infrastructure and systematic racism face difficulties finding facilities to sell their product or service. TCGOHC will be located in the historic Stop 6 neighborhood where we wish to serve the community through our programs and markets.  
 
What need do we fulfill? 
Stop 6 and surrounding communities are food deserts that lack proper access to fresh and organic produce. By being located in a historic Black community TCGOHC will connect Black artisans directly to the community and foster new artisans who live in Stop 6 and surrounding communities. We plan to provide preventable health resources such as exercise, education, and access. 
 
The Arts 
The following quotes are taken from a study conducted on the benefits of arts on school-aged children 
Source:https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2019/02/12/new-evidence-of-the-benefits-of-arts-education/ 
“Engaging with art is essential to the human experience. Almost as soon as motor skills are developed, children communicate through artistic expression. The arts challenge us with different points of view, compel us to empathize with “others,” and give us the opportunity to reflect on the human condition.” 
“An overwhelming majority of the public agrees that the arts are a necessary part of a well-rounded education. Over the last few decades, the proportion of students receiving arts education has shrunk drastically. This trend is primarily attributable to the expansion of standardized-test-based accountability, which has pressured schools to focus resources on tested subjects. As the saying goes, what gets measured gets done. These pressures have disproportionately affected access to the arts in a negative way for students from historically underserved communities.” 
“A federal government report found that schools designated under No Child Left Behind as needing improvement and schools with higher percentages of minority students were more likely to experience decreases in time spent on arts education.” 
“We find that a substantial increase in arts educational experiences has remarkable impacts on students’ academic, social, and emotional outcomes. Relative to students assigned to the control group, treatment school students experienced a 3.6 percentage point reduction in disciplinary infractions, an improvement of 13 percent of a standard deviation in standardized writing scores, and an increase of 8 percent of a standard deviation in their compassion for others. In terms of our measure of compassion for others, students who received more arts education experiences are more interested in how other people feel and more likely to want to help people who are treated badly.” 
As you can see there is a great need among minority youth and underserved youth for artistic stimulation and activities.  These activities not only improve their immediate life but also give them lasting experiences from which to grow.  This affects society as a whole and lasting effects such as empathy, compassion, thoughtfulness, resourcefulness, creativity, and intellectuality are increased exponentially.     
 
Education 
TCGOHC will offer many opportunities for the education of all. Youths will benefit from the many varied volunteer opportunities. Programs that connect local artisans to students of all ages will provide a unique experience for the surrounding community to develop skills that are outside the curriculum of existing resources such as STEM, yoga, meditation, the arts, and many more by providing space and facilities to hold classes, camps, and seminars. Youths can learn about and develop skills and future career opportunities. Adults can benefit from this service as well. Through the consistency of these programs, TCGOHC will create a new stable source of employment for the surrounding community. Studies show that the arts, spiritual practices such as yoga and meditation, STEM, and entrepreneurship are fields that are extremely hard to access for those who reside in East Fort Worth due to socioeconomic reasons and systematic racism. 
 
Fitness 
My community suffers from a lack of proper facilities and education to maintain a healthy lifestyle. By providing a facility and instruction for fitness, TCGOHC seeks to improve statistics such as low life expectancy, chronic preventable illness, and obesity. Through our program's focus to connect local small business owners, artisans, and skilled certified teachers we can provide job opportunities, education, and community.  By having consistent programs our impact will be long-term. 
 
Job/Career opportunities 
Our aim is to employ local Black artisans, professionals, students, and small business owners. There are multiple Historic Black neighborhoods in Fort Worth. Due to socio-economic reasons, African Americans are underrepresented in job fields such as professional artists, personal trainers, shaman and other spiritual leaders, small business owners, scientists, mathematicians, herbalists, and nutritionists. Due to the exclusivity in these job fields, there are little opportunities to branch out into these interests for African Americans in East Fort Worth. TCGOHC seeks to alleviate this disparity by organizing programs that create the opportunity for those interested in pursuing unique job fields. These programs are intended to employ those individuals to serve the surrounding community. 
 
Urban Farm and Farmers Market 
East Fort Worth and surrounding areas have some of the lowest life expectancies in Texas due mainly to food scarcity. The neighborhoods only facilitate small corner stores and fast-food restaurants making access to fresh and organic fruits and vegetables difficult for the residents who are older and who have no personal transportation. TCGOHC will alleviate this issue by hosting weekly farmer's markets, and by growing food in our urban farm. Long term impact will increase the life expectancy of the community, reduce chronic preventable illness, and alleviate food deserts. 
 
Other Markets 
Other markets will provide opportunities for local small business owners who do not have facilities to sell their products.  It will also provide a local source of specially crafted goods for the community that due to socioeconomic reasons are difficult to access. 
 
Spiritual and Religious Services 
TCGOHC is passionate about enlightenment. Through Spiritual and Religious services such as yoga, meditation, shamanic education, and goddess empowerment TCGOHC seeks to desegregate and destigmatize these often-exclusive practices providing a resource for enlightenment to the surrounding community.