Beloveds,
i've had "start a foundation" written down in more journals than i can count. notion pages, voice memos, half-finished plans going back years. and for just as long i let it stay an idea, because i was waiting for the "right" version of it AND ME — registered, funded, official, perfect on paper before i let it touch real life.
a few weeks ago i stopped waiting.
The Sanctuary Foundation isn't registered yet. we don't have our paperwork finalized. we're still collecting confirmed members we need to make it official. and none of that has stopped a single thing that actually matters, because Horse Guard didn't need us to be official. it needed us to show up.
so we showed up. a WhatsApp group. two clean-up days on a building that had sat closed for several years. a plan for a community centre instead of a wish for one. book grants for kids in the community before school starts back. work days now confirmed for september 24, 26, and 27, 2026. a roof that needs JMD $97,175.55 (USD $613.52) in materials and a community that's raising it together.
JMD $97,175.55 (USD $613.52)
slow. real. not perfect. not waiting.
and here's the part i didn't expect: since i actually started giving this real energy instead of just journaling about it, the right people keep finding their way to it. collaborators. small donations from people who weren't asked twice. conversations that turn into actual support. i don't fully understand how that works yet, but i'm not going to pretend it isn't happening, because it keeps happening.
i also want to be honest about something, because honesty is the whole point of this. my own bills are still overdue. i pay one and another one's already late by the time i turn around. i am, in real time, still figuring out how to survive while also building something for people who have even less than i do. i'm not saying that for sympathy. i'm saying it because i'm tired of the performance where you have to look like you've already made it before anyone takes what you're building seriously. i haven't made it. i'm building anyway. both things are true.
and honestly? we need more rooms with people who actually have it — the millionaires and billionaires who say they care about giving back — sitting across from grassroots work like this, funding it directly, no gala required to prove we're worth it. because right now the people who are supposed to be in charge of taking care of communities like Horse Guard are failing, and communities like mine are done waiting on them to remember we exist. if the people running things can't figure out how to actually run things, step aside. we'll show you how it's done — with a whatsapp group, some volunteers, and a roof fund that grows day by day.
the website's getting updated soon with real progress photos — you'll see exactly what your money's building, not just what it's meant to build.
if you want in: the roof repair, the book grants, the upcoming work days & the overall miracles & magic happing in our community — every dollar goes exactly where it says it goes. donate, share, or just show up. we'll take all three.
buymeacoffee.com/santanachevel — every book sold already tithes 10% here. buying is giving. giving directly gives more.
somewhere between Heaven & Hell,
Santana Chevel 🌹