Build the village
What do you want to bring?
A village is built from more than money. Bring an hour, a skill, a program, an idea, a connection, or the means to help someone else belong.
A doctor can mentor. A chef can run a cooking program. A parent can help on a Sunday. A business can open a door. Pick the one that matches what you already have.
Sorted by what you have
Six ways in
Each one is a different job, and each one says what we do around it. You do not need a year-long commitment for any of them. One hour, once, is a real beginning.
- What you know
I have something I know how to do
Share what you know with someone who can use it.We bring The people, the room, the scheduling, and the safeguarding around it.The smallest real start: One hour, once. - A program
I have a program I could run
Bring a structured program and let UMMA Center run the operation around it.We bring Space, audience, registration, payments, scheduling, check-in and promotion.The smallest real start: A paragraph about the idea. - Time and hands
I have some time to give
Help UMMA Center actually run: setup, desk, food, media, logistics.We bring A specific job, a specific time, and someone expecting you.The smallest real start: One shift. - A larger commitment
My family or organization wants to build something lasting
Fund a defined part of the village: a program, a room, equipment, or open access.We bring A written agreement, a named use, briefings on how it went, and recognition — never ownership or control.The smallest real start: A twenty-minute call. - Financial support
I can help pay for it
Fund the access and the infrastructure that fees cannot carry.We bring A named use, a receipt, and a report on where it went.The smallest real start: $25, once. - A show or an idea
I have a story or a show in me
Turn an idea into a show, and record it in a room built for it.We bring A recording room, help shaping the show, and a plan to get it made.The smallest real start: A paragraph about the idea.
Give
Help make room for another family.
A gift supports the parts of a community home that fees cannot always carry. You can choose where it helps on the full giving page.
See how giving helpsNot sure which one you are?
Most people are not, and it does not matter much. Start anywhere: if what you described is really one of the others, we will say so and move it. You will not be sent back to fill in a different form.
Do you have a specific free date, or general free time?
A date means a shift. General time means put your name down.
VolunteerIs the thing you know a conversation, or a course?
A conversation is mentoring. A planned series is a program.
MentorAre you giving your own time, or your household’s means?
Time has its own doors. Money funds the ones that need paying for.
Give
Still stuck? Just ask us — a person reads it.
How it adds up
One evening needs all of it
These are not six separate charities. Take a single Friday night and you can see every one of them in the same room.
Somebody opened the doors
Chairs out, the desk staffed, food in the kitchen, the lights on. None of it is glamorous and all of it is volunteering.
Somebody had something to teach
A mentor who came for an hour, or a host who brought a whole program and let us run the operation around it.
Somebody paid for the seat
A donor or a sponsor covered the family who could not, and the equipment that had to exist before anyone could turn up.
Most people end up doing more than one over time, and nobody plans that. It usually starts with whichever door was closest to what they already had.
What we are building
The center is the tool. The community is the product. The people are the legacy.
It takes a village. So we are building one, on Staten Island, out of whatever the people here actually have.
Start with what you already have.
Not what you wish you had, and not what you might have next year. The smallest real start for each door is written beside it above.
The smallest real start
- MentorOne hour, once.
- Host a programA paragraph about the idea.
- VolunteerOne shift.
- SponsorA twenty-minute call.
- Donate$25, once.
- UMMA StudioA paragraph about the idea.
Looking to join rather than contribute? Family membership is over here