Original Show Notes: Helping the homeless Shreya Bhargava is a local neighbor to us here in Washington D.C. and has started an incredible cause to help the homeless community. It is a nonprofit called District Mugs.  District Mugs introduces entrepreneurship to the homeless and low-income individuals in D.C. by teaching the homeless and low-income participants how to paint, market, and sell coffee mugs. Their mission is to empower economically disadvantaged segments of our population by providing them with the opportunity to earn a small income while learning transferable skills. Shreya, it is an honor to have you on the show, welcome! [2:11] Tell us a little about yourself. ·      Grew up in India ·      Loads of people struggled to make ends meet ·      Studied economics at Brown University ·      Been volunteering in a shelter for the last year and started District Mugs shortly thereafter ·      Helped over 20 people today [3:33] What is the difference between a nonprofit business and a “regular” business? ·      Purpose ownership & public support are the indicators ·      The mission is to benefit society and not to make profits ·      Public ownership – no one person holds all the ownership ·      Income must never be distributed to any owners [4:54] How did the idea for District Mugs occur? ·      When working at the shelter, realized there was a massive gap between the services and what people actually needed ·      Identified a serious gap to get these people employed by providing transferrable skills ·      The goal is to teach entrepreneurship and business skills, the mugs are a byproduct. [6:38] What are the main obstacles that stand between you and your mission, and how do you plan to overcome them? ·      Time – relies on passionate volunteers, people are working free of cost ·      Transient homeless individuals- need to incentivize people to come to class & get them paid faster [8:23] What is a long term goal you have for District Mugs? ·      Help participants run their own successful businesses ·      2 people currently selling on Etsy, another person at the Eastern Market ·      Goals is to help people learn knowledge on business so they can start their own businesses ·      Provide a full time income [9:26] How has the company changed over time? ·      Started really small scale, the idea has evolved significantly from creating mugs to entrepreneurship. ·      Popup sales have worked great lately ·      Great support from the DC community ·      Frugal innovation- producing goods and services with as little cost as possible [11:22] Where does most of your funding come from? ·      Started with a $800 donation from a corporate donation ·      Actively participating to get grants and donations ·      Recently won the Beacon DC grant. [12:22] What percentage of your budget comes from private donations, and what do private donations help you to do that your other sources of funding don’t cover? ·      80% grants from corporate donations ·      20% private donations from website or mug sales [13:50] Do you meet at the same location every month? ·      Columbia Heights in DC ·      Meet on Thursdays ·      Professional art teachers provide lessons ·      Business workshop after the painting ·      Working on getting more locations [15:7] If I wanted to get to know the organization better, what are the best ways to learn more? Are you accepting new employees/ volunteers? ·      Website: districtmugs.org ·      Facebook ·      Instagram ·      Email: info@districtmugs.org Sponsors [16:9] Sponsors: Chain of Wealth – Learn how to save money in everyday living, head over to chainofwealth.com/moneytips to find out more! If you’re enjoying this podcast, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review! Value Link Round (VLR) [16:45] Why do you think that people fail at achieving their dreams? ·      It takes persistence and dedication, don’t give up! ·      People are not organized enough, work and life. [