Hippy Feet

I am applying for the Elevate Prize because I truly believe if Hippy Feet were to be chosen as winner, that we can maximize the impact that our mission has on homeless youth. Hippy Feet is a socks and apparel company that creates opportunity and employment for young people affected by homelessness. We offer jobs and training to youth ages 16-24 who are experiencing homelessness primarily in warehouse management roles. These jobs include packaging, product assembly & creation, and pick & pack order fulfillment. Since adopting our employment model in 2018, Hippy Feet has offered jobs to 150+ youth and generated more than 4,300 hours of employment. In 2020, Hippy Feet was able to grow by more than 150% which led to us creating 2,000+ hours of employment last year alone. If awarded the Elevate Prize funding, we will be well on track to double revenue and double the impact of our employment program simultaneously. This funding would allow us to hire a full-time employment program manager who has a specific experience with youth homelessness & social work. This BIPOC individual has already verbally committed to the opportunity when the time is right. This award will fast-track that particular hire. 

I started Hippy Feet after suffering a Traumatic Brain Injury during my senior year of college. During the 3 months of recovery that followed, I recognized how fortunate I was to have family & friends, those that I considered my support group, to rely on during my time of need. I knew that without these individuals, homelessness would have been a likely outcome and was inspired to build a business that could act as a support group for others less fortunate than I. Hippy Feet acts as a support group for homeless young people by offering them income & opportunity through our 6 month job program. During this program, youth are given 15-20 hours of week (up to 30 during the busy holiday season) and are offered job training and additional resources such as bus passes, interview clothing, and work boots. Hippy Feet's goal isn't to be a forever employer, rather we aim to act as a bridge to future opportunities and an alternative to "survival cash." As Hippy Feet grows, we aim to expand our employment program to create opportunity for a larger pool of individuals. One potential way we will do this is by starting a 501(c)3 organization/foundation. 

Hippy Feet is solving the problem of a lack of fair employment opportunities for homeless young people. In Minnesota alone, there are an estimated 10,000 young people (under the age of 25) experiencing homelessness on any given night. Thats 50% of the entire nightly homeless population in Minnesota. Compared to other states, thats an abnormally high number of youth homelessness. In LA county for example, there are approximately 52,000 people experiencing homelessness and only 5,000 of them are under the age of 25. Homeless young people in particular struggle to find self sufficiency often because they are unable to gain work & housing history, lack a support group, and suffer from generational traumas and a history of poverty and displacement.  Since adopting an employment model in 2018, Hippy Feet has offered jobs to 150+ homeless youth and relies on our non-profit parters to identify these young people and collaborate on the types of services that are being provided to each individual. Prior to adopting our employment model, Hippy Feet operated on a one-for-one socks donation model and donated 20,000 pairs of socks in our 2 years. Simply put, there are youth whom we've employed that are no longer experiencing homelessness. 

Hippy Feet's employment model is what makes us unique. We've made it so that our mission is an integral part of our day-to-day operations and necessary to grow the business. Other charitable companies typically sell a product, then make a donation. In this instance, the consumer could simply make a donation on their own and buy a similar product from another brand. With Hippy Feet, while it's true that we need to make sales for our mission to be effective, when a sale is made, we also need our mission to ensure that our customers receive their products. One cannot exist without the other as the average consumer doesn't have the ability to offer employment to homeless youth whereas they can make a monetary donation without needing a brand to do so on their behalf. Additionally, all Hippy Feet products are USA made and created with sustainable materials, primarily being made from recycled cotton. 

Hippy Feet improves lives. We offer critical employment opportunities to the population that is most in need of them. Our employment program is effective because is has removed the traditional barriers that limit homeless youth from finding work. Barriers such as transportation, a photo ID, physical address, relevant work experience, etc. are all things that we overlook as our main focus is to provide support and income where is it needed. There are a handful of youth that are now self sufficient who credit the intervention that Hippy Feet was able to offer them as a driving force for their success.  Hippy Feet relies on experts in youth homelessness to inform the decisions made within our employment program and has a 4-5 active partners in the Twin Cities alone. We have future plans to hire an Employment Program Director so that we can be even more effective with our efforts to employ homeless youth. This individual has already been identified and currently leads an employment initiative at a Minneapolis based non-profit. When the financial situation is right, we will offer this person a full-time job though they currently serve on our advisory board and is my most contacted advisor.