The Misfit Mamas Inc., a local non-profit here in Connecticut aimed at bringing the village back for families in our state. I am writing in support of our application for a capital investment opportunity for The Misfit Mamas Inc. and our hopes of securing funding for us to achieve our goals of opening a unique family center that would allow many families in our local communities the support they need to thrive, not just survive. 

 

In 2022 The Misfit Mamas Inc. was founded aimed to help families and new mothers who are navigating motherhood without the support of friends or family nearby, to find ways to get out and find connection and support through in-person and virtual event opportunities across our state. Over the last year and a half, we have offered numerous weekly meet-ups and a variety of special events each month with the help of over 30 volunteers. We have also established a community care program that assists families in need of essentials through care packages, thanks to donations from those in our communities.  We have also developed a special needs program that helps our families with special needs find adapted opportunities to enjoy outings, find connections, and build a support system in a way that fits their family’s individual needs. In just under two years, our private online community has grown to over 6,700 mamas in our state alone, and continues to grow each week. 

 

Every day, we see families sharing their stories and struggles. They don’t have the traditional family support nearby to lean on, and are forced to choose between working or paying for childcare, leaving them with barely anything left to pay the bills, keep a roof over their heads, and put food on the table. Many are looking to reenter the workforce but don’t have any affordable, flexible childcare options to navigate interviews and start a new job opportunity. Then there are also many families starting over from scratch as single parents who need a safe space to call home while they get back on their feet, establish a new career, and save for a more permanent home for their children. Thousands of families are barely hanging on and don’t have adequate coverage for postpartum support or mental health coverage. Many families fall into a gray area, where they work hard at full-time jobs earning a salary that disqualifies them from many of the assistance programs available, and are left forgotten and struggling to find their way. It seems like a vicious cycle we can’t get off of, and with each generation, it only worsens. But what if it didn’t have to anymore? 

 

Over the past year, we have been exploring the opportunity to save the old Briarwood/Lincoln College in Southington, Connecticut. It is a unique opportunity with over 32 acres of land and seven buildings throughout the campus. This property has the potential to serve as a unique family center facility unlike anything else out there- one that offers a variety of inclusive and accessible opportunities for all families to enjoy, no matter their individual needs, makeup, or the season they are in. 

 

This family center would offer free indoor and outdoor play areas; a drop in style day care; transitional housing for our single mothers and youth transitioning out of the foster care system; and case workers to help each individual find the right resources, classes, and other tools to utilize while in our program, to help set them up for optimal success when they’re time in our program is finished. This campus could house our Community Care Center for families that need assistance with basic items such as food, clothing, diapers, wipes, toiletries and other essentials as well as a special needs center with play areas, drop in daycares, and other therapeutic services to allow our families with various special needs to still be able to find the connection and resources their family needs, when our main center were to be too overwhelming for their sensory needs. Our center would also offer a variety of before and after school programs, classes in arts, music, or other activities for families and children to get involved in, as well as a homeschool co-op program for our families in central Connecticut exploring alternative education options for their family, but still looking to find the social community too. We also plan to add in a variety of spot opportunities for those that may not feel the traditional programs available fit their needs; summer camp programs for all abilities; and a community vegetable garden in the summer months. 

 

Over the past year, we have built a community of nearly 7,000 families in our state who identify with the mission of The Misfit Mamas Inc. and have felt first hand the lack of a village that has existed prior to our establishment. In just over a year, we have been able to bring hundreds of event opportunities across our state to bring families together and find meaningful connection, helping hundreds of families along the way with custom care packages, forming a community care collective, special needs program, recently adding a community care team of childcare sitters, nannies, and birth and postpartum doulas that are launching to serve families throughout our state in December of 2023. We have recently on-boarded a Clinical Director to help us establish a mental health program with parental, family, child, and couples therapists to offer a variety of therapeutic services to families in need by mid-2024.  

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We have moved mountains in a short time to bring the village back for families in our state, and Briarwood would allow us to lay the foundation to offer so much more. Will you consider investing in us to help us bring this center to life, and bring the village back for families in our state? 

To secure Briarwood, renovate and establish hundreds of job opportunities for families in our communities, we are looking for a 1.5 million dollar start up investment. This investment would allow us to secure Briarwood in a 3 year lease, with the opportunity to purchase it at the end of our lease. This would also allow us to continue making our lease payments, while doing any needed repairs and renovations; assist with the cost of insurance; establish staffing wages; and manage start up expenses. Attached you will find our detailed business plan outlining the various services we would be offering at our center, as well as a 5 year financial plan, with the 1.5 million dollar start up loan factored in. This center is projecting to net around 4 million a year, after expense and debt payments with an 8% interest rate over a 60 month period, which would allow us the ability to purchase at the end of our lease term, and look into expanding by building other centers like this in the various quiet corners of the state, where many communities lack adequate, affordable, and accessible support and opportunities for their families to find connection. 

 

This is something that we all have been searching for, but never existed. It can now, and you can be the reason it had the chance to. Please consider helping us be the change our system needs to be able to support our future generations’ ability to thrive, not just survive, by being a capital investor for The Misfit Mamas Inc. today.

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