I got a letter from the IRS!
Not a bad letter, a good one! After almost a year of preparing and applying, Daughterhood received its 501 c 3, tax-exempt status. This marks an exciting and important turning point in the evolution of our work at Daughterhood. What began as my personal voice shared through a family caregiving blog has evolved into something much greater — a thriving community. To grow the talents and efforts of this whole community, I’m so happy to announce that Daughterhood is now, officially, a non-profit organization.
Ten years ago, almost to the day, I wrote Daughterhood’s first blog. Since launching our blog and website in 2015, we’ve all watched Daughterhood grow and expand – adding new programs (Circles!) and new voices (Daughterhood The Podcast!) along the way. During this journey, we’ve been small, scrappy, and powered by volunteers who have lived the caregiving experience and believe in what we’re doing.
Through my years of connecting with our growing community, I’ve discovered two powerful antidotes to the frustration and loneliness that so many family caregivers face.
First, it’s being with other people who get it. Second, it’s being able to tell the truth about our experience, no matter how uncomfortable. I’ve also learned that there is no answering the practical questions of caregiving until caregivers can get relief around emotional suffering.
With these insights in mind, our small but mighty team; Rosanne Corcoran, Susan Rowe, Andrea Cohen and I, set out to form a non-profit dedicated to building and supporting family caregivers with an authentic and safe community. We want Daughterhood to always be where caregivers come to find their “caregiving friends.”
To that end, I’m proud to say that we’ve formed a Board of Directors that includes Andrea Cohen, Howard Gleckman, Narda Ipakchi, and me. Together with key community leaders, Rebecca Dittrich and Jean Ross, we created a mission statement that is clear and focused.
At Daughterhood, our mission is to foster community that empowers individuals to navigate the emotional and practical complexities of caregiving.
We work every day to fulfill this mission in service of our vision for a society that chooses togetherness, so that no family caregiver feels alone.
With this clear sense of purpose and mission, we’re moving forward, committed to building a strong and sustainable financial foundation.
This foundation will then enable us to operate and grow the core programs and organizational environment that strengthen our community. We will continue to share information and resources through the blog and Daughterhood The Podcast. We’ll also continue to grow Daughterhood Circle offerings and work to create a safe and welcoming online space where you can connect, share experiences, and support one another.
In our work to facilitate the many aspects of caregiving, we’ve established a Partnership program through which we’ll collaborate with organizations we love who can offer valuable resources and information and tools to our community. Please check out our first Partners on our website.
We’re excited to work closely with organizations that have missions adjacent to ours; organizations that advocate for better public policy for family caregivers or who perform important research to inform policy and innovation for family caregivers. We believe in good policy and research, but we also believe that the highest and best use of Daughterhood resources is to focus on you and build a community that reminds you every day that you are not alone.
What does this all mean for you? Over the long term, you’ll have access to better resources and support through Daughterhood. Over the short term, nothing changes. We’ll keep hosting Circles, producing podcasts, writing blogs and sharing videos on YouTube. And most importantly, Daughterhood will keep being the community where you can share the dark parts and feel less alone.