Under My Umbrella (UMU) is a very small, minority, woman and youth-led, grassroots, boots-on-the-ground, 501(c)(3), direct street outreach nonprofit organization. We believe that through struggles come strength, and with that strength comes a responsibility for each of us to then hold our umbrellas for those in need.
Our Story
Our story began with our two young co-founders, Avi and Ish.
When Ish was 7, he wanted to make the holidays just a little brighter for children currently residing at our local shelter. As a family we decided to start doing an annual holiday event, of which now will be our 10th year.
When Avi was 8, he saw a man panhandling in the heat and wanted to give that man a bottle of cold water. That was the origin of our Neighbor Outreach program. What began as just a mom wanting to ensure a solid foundation of kindness and empathy in her 2 sons has led to UMU serving 100 people each week and leading 3 other active community programs.
Who we serve
We serve our marginalized and vulnerable populations, such as women and children, those experiencing homelessness, seniors, and special populations like veterans, and those who may fall through the cracks in our systems.
Our programs
1. Neighbor Outreach: to provide mindful and direct assistance to those experiencing homelessness; We are currently serving about 100 each week from Dallas to Collin County and all over DFW
2. Rainy Day Program: to fill in the gaps for small but urgent needs such as an overdue utility bill, groceries, emergency car repair, and spread love through random acts of kindness
3. Holiday Outreach: to bring light into the holiday season for children, seniors, and our unsheltered communities
4. UMU Youth Academy: to bring equitable access to sports, arts, and music to underserved youth while fostering leadership and mentorship skills in this youth-led initiative
Our 5th and newest program is She Leads. We hope to empower women by providing a platform for women to share knowledge and passions with women in the community through free community workshops. Women are invited to lead a workshop highlighting their skills to teach or inform the community. Our recent “beginner fight basics” workshop was the first one, and we are organizing our second workshop to provide CPR education.
Ways to volunteer
UMU is committed to tailoring volunteer activities to encourage our entire community to get involved in volunteerism…from individuals young and young-at-heart to groups and businesses.
We have weekly on-site volunteering, at-home projects, a monthly open house for volunteers to come help us sort donations, and host team building events. We also host bone marrow registration drives and voter registration drives targeting minorities who are under-represented in both the national marrow registry and voting block. We would love to hear about how you want to help and work with you to make it happen!
Ways UMU makes a difference
We are a 100% volunteer-powered, zero overhead, zero operating budget organization, so that every penny goes directly to outreach. We focus on collaboration so that we can amplify our impact. In addition, we constantly re-evaluate our programs to ensure that we are as earth-friendly as we can be in our outreach.
We recently found out that during our bone marrow registration drive in February, we registered 43 new donors. One of those donors was a match for someone and went on to donate life-saving bone marrow. We have also learned about an unhoused friend that we helped who had renewed hope from the little items we were able to give him. He now has received housing and is back in the job force. These are just a few examples of the power of love and how little efforts do make a difference.
Join us to make a difference
In leading these initiatives and programs, we hope to mobilize our entire community to do the little bits of good in whatever capacity they are able to. Those little efforts add up to big impacts.
We are small, but mighty! Know that your efforts matter, and that your contribution makes a difference, no matter how small it may seem. Contact us to learn how we can work together to make your impact.
