Community Solutions, a non-profit Truhoma was connected to by Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, and Truhoma created a pilot project to provide care packages combining food from Second Harvest and additional household, hygiene and cleaning items provided by Truhoma. The goal of the pilot is to thoroughly test the platform, gain feedback and learn first hand what clients need so that we can build the most suitable packages for them. We want to deliver this benefit over a sustained period of time in order to help clients of the Community Solutions to focus on regaining stable financial footing while their immediate needs are met.

13 years ago, Ana Lukner Roljić founded her first non-profit organization called Ana's Little Star, which has become the largest food bank in Slovenia, run completely voluntarily and without money. After so many years of experience in running the charity while at the same time working in high-tech, in November 2021 Ana launched Truhoma, another non-profit organization, specializing in developing modern technologies to infuse philanthropy with 100% transparency, traceability and efficiency. Truhoma's main objectives are to set new global philanthropic standards by creating a transparent and sustainable global movement directly helping those in need.

“In Second Harvest, we found a collaborator with matching values and many synergies for a successful collaboration, which will enhance the lives of clients,” said Ana, founder of Truhoma.

A truly great partnership

After a successful first year of Truhoma in Europe (see our Donation Tracker), Ana teamed up with her long-term network in Silicon Valley and started to build a beautiful new story.

Truhoma started conversations with Second Harvest, one of the largest food banks in the United States, and very soon we all realized that our collaboration could bring many benefits, innovation to both of us but especially to the clients. Second Harvest opened the first door for us and gave us an opportunity to enter the US market, starting in California. For that we are extremely grateful. We are proud to collaborate with Second Harvest and are grateful for their recommendations to help connect clients with additional support.

“No one should ever go hungry”

The mission of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is to lead our community to ensure anyone who needs a healthy meal can get one. The organization is committed to doing whatever it takes to build a hunger-free community. That means distributing nutritious food to nearly every neighborhood in Silicon Valley, leveraging every available food resource, and collaborating with organizations and people who share the belief that hunger is unacceptable. Nutritious food is the foundation for a healthy, productive life.

“Creating opportunities. Changing lives”

Community Solutions is a non-profit agency that provides services and support to help children, families, and individuals overcome the challenges posed by mental health issues, substance abuse, trauma, severe family dysfunction, sexual and domestic violence, and human trafficking.

Their mission is to create opportunities for positive change by promoting and supporting the full potential of individuals, the strengths of families, and the well-being of our community.

Our pilot project

With the guidance of Second Harvest, Truhoma developed the idea for a pilot project to provide care packages including food from Second Harvest and additional items sourced by Truhoma, such as culturally appropriate foods, hygiene products, cleaning and baby products, and school supplies.

Second Harvest connected Truhoma with Community Solutions and together we launched a three-month pilot project, our first in the US. In this first pilot project, we are including one of Community Solutions residents’ programs - Maria Way, which is an independent transitional living space. A house for men who are mostly over 55 years old and have struggled with mental health challenges. Maria Way provides a clean and sober living environment, culturally-competent, strengths-based services for wellness and recovery. Decreases impact of trauma, increases resiliency, and supports high levels of personal and civic achievement. All residents are also connected to mental health services, and are preparing to find long term permanent homes.

Currently, there are 7 residents in Maria Way program and they are all participating in our pilot project. We are now raising donations for all of them to provide them with food, hygiene and cleaning products of their choice.

Knowing that they have consistent and reliable food and household support helps clients focus on their well-being and move forward.

Truhoma is already recruiting sponsors/donors whose donations will provide the household items in the pilot project. The entire donation process is recorded to the blockchain and can be reviewed at any time through our Donation Tracker. This ensures that the entire donation is 100% transparent, traceable and efficient, making philanthropy streamlined and sustainable.

This is just the beginning ....

The overall development for this project took one year, many Zoom calls with a 9-hour time difference and took place separately from ongoing projects in Europe. It has taken a lot of effort, testing, adapting and even changing ideas to get to this point. We are extremely happy to be able to start such a great story together with everyone.

We would like to thank our team and US Board members for outstanding work. A tremendous thank you to all the actors of Second Harvest and Community Solutions for their dedication, insights and trust. In addition, thanking all the partners, sponsors, donors who are already supporting us and to all the new ones that will be joining our movement.

We are witnessing difficult times. The Covid-19 pandemic and inflation have pushed people into even greater hardship, while donations are unfortunately decreasing. Therefore, we are sure that with our collaboration and partnerships we can provide a transparent & sustainable difference that brings more aid and allows people to change the circumstances of their life.

This blog is like a diary. We’ll keep you up to date with the development of this pilot, enrich it with photos from the field and statements from all the actors involved. Stay tuned. Thank you for supporting us and with that, our clients.

April and May 2023

In the first half of April, Ana arrived in the US and met with the people we have been working with throughout the pilot project, gathered new ideas and made new collaborations. She introduced our platform to different people and tried to get the best possible feedback. 

Ana, Susan B. Arillaga, CEO of Truhoma and a Board member and Linda C. Lawrence, also a Board member, finally met with the people who helped us bring the project idea to reality - Olivia Teter, Head of Client Innovation at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, Cindy Siu, Special Programs Manager at Second Harvest and Angela Kitchens of Communication Solutions. They talked about the execution of the first pilot project, its progress and they brainstormed how to help clients in the most efficient yet customized way. Moreover, a lot was also said about the current state of philanthropy and the general situation with donations. As Ana always says: “You have to really know and understand the market so that you can find the best product market fit and provide the best possible solution.” 

Ana also visited one of the locations of Second Harvest and she was amazed by their incredible work at scale. They explained to her in a detailed way how they operate, what their focuses are, challenges and vision.

Olivia Teter, Head of Client Innovation at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, said: “Over the past year, we have had a beautiful collaboration with the Truhoma team. From the beginning we shared a commitment for uplifting the lives of people in our community, with a curiosity about how to be of best service, an awareness of the many challenges, and always from the spirit of love. I believe this is just the beginning and look forward to the increasing good our collaboration will create within our community.”

Cindy Sui, Special Programs Manager at Second Harvest who connected us with Community Solutions, also shared her experience of the first pilot project: “it has been a pleasure working with the Truhoma team. The team is passionate about working with the community to provide community members with support amidst challenging times. During the pilot, the team empowered our partner to set up their campaign and was flexible when changes need to be made. The Truhoma teams’ expertise and dedication to the work is creating a positive impact within each community that they partner with.

During this period of time we also funded our first project with food packages. We would like to thank all the donors who donated to help the residents of the Maria Way program. You can see the full project here.

All 7 residents have already received their packages from the first pilot project with food packages. Ana and some of her board members also visited them and talked to them about their living situation. They are all trying to make the best of their lives. As Michael, one of the residents, said: “Thank you for helping our residential house with so many great things of our choice. We appreciate any help we can get, and we are trying as hard as we can in our programs. Thank you for thinking of us.“ We are very pleased to have been able to help them, listen to their needs so that we can continue to provide even better help for them.

Angela Kitchens, contact person at Communication Solutions, receiving the donated food packages from the first project, which she distributed among the 7 residents.

As we want to continuously improve the performance of our platform and offer the best possible user experience to the donors, clients and other agencies joining the Truhoma Movement, any feedback is very important to us. That is why we are very grateful that everyone who visited our platform and donated to our first pilot project shared with us their user experience information and insights into the donation process. In addition, we also received a lot of feedback from the agency side (Second Harvest and Community Solutions) and they too, gave us first-hand feedback of how they experience the project application process and the use of the platform itself. All suggestions we received have been very welcoming and based on them, we have made immediate improvements, upgrades because only in that way can we provide the best solution and make it clear, simple and very user-friendly. 

Following the success of the pilot project, we have already launched a second project to provide residents with their favorite culturally relevant food items. In addition to that food project, we have also launched a hygiene and cleaning project, where those residents will receive hygiene and cleaning products of their choice. We are now raising donations for these two projects that are available on our platform.

Ana is now back in Slovenia and together with her team, her US board, Second Harvest and Community Solutions, she is working on several new pilot projects, which will already include some of the upgrades and new features we are currently developing.

Fostering and enhancing collaboration to support those in need

During the summer we have worked very hard to upgrade the platform so that we can introduce a new functionality that we are very proud of. We have successfully integrated Amazon Store directly to our platform in order to provide customization of packages for aid recipients, tackling food waste and sustainability. The goal is to build the most suitable packages for the recipients and deliver this benefit over a sustained period of time.

In the meantime, we managed to collect enough donations for a second project with food packages and additional one with hygiene and cleaning items for 7 residents of Maria Way program. The whole path - from every donation to the delivery of the packages is 100% transparent, traceable and can be seen on our Donation Tracker.

As Truhoma is committed to helping in a sustainable way, we have launched another project with food packages for these residents, which has also already been funded. With such continuous support over time, we aim to help them overcome the hardship they feel in these difficult times.

We have extended our cooperation with Community Solutions to some of their other programs. The new functionality offered by Truhoma's platform was therefore used to open a project helping adult women with the most basic need of housing while receiving all the supportive services they need to be fully self-sufficient. The Community Solutions Women's provides a healthy and encouraging housing environment designed to facilitate a successful transition into the community. Participants engage in practices and activities designed to increase their sense of self-esteem and commitment to making healthy and productive choices in their lives. Community Solutions works closely with clients, landlords, and neighbors to ensure a positive, safe and stable housing environment. Through this project, we provided 5 women with customized packages containing essential hygiene and other basic needs items of their choice. The entire project is written on our Donation Tracker and can be seen at any time. 

Our goal is to provide residents with sustainable aid, as we believe this is the most effective way to help them overcome hardship. To further this mission, we have launched a new fundraising project for women in the Transitional Housing Program. We aim to raise $529.95 to purchase five customized hygiene packages. Your kindness and support can make a significant impact! Please, donate here. Thank you!

At the same time, we have also successfully completed a project for 7 men living in a residential house of the Maria way program. This is the fifth project for this program. We are excited to share that we have successfully collected donations to purchase customized packages filled with essential hygiene and cleaning items. Check out the our Donation Tracker to view all contributions and Amazon receipts.

We are thrilled to announce that our partnership with Community Solutions has expanded to support a new initiative called the Traditional Adult Outpatient Services in Santa Clara County. This program offers a comprehensive and compassionate approach to mental health care for adults, addressing a variety of mental health concerns. As part of this project, we have provided 10 clients with customized packages filled with hygiene items and other essential necessities tailored to their individual needs. Details of the project can be found here.

We are very pleased that our cooperation within Community Solutions has been extended to their other programs and that we are able to help other clients by offering additional packages of their choice. The Traditional Adult Outpatient Services opened two additional projects which are now underway within our ongoing program. One of these initiatives, called Basic Needs Support, aims to assist 20 individuals by providing essential home goods that are vital for creating a comfortable and functional living space. As stated by a program representative, "from basic necessities like kitchenware and bedding to the comforting touches of decor, they play a vital role in our daily lives. However, for those facing financial hardship, affording these items can be an overwhelming challenge. The gap between the necessity of a stable, well-equipped home and the limited means of needy clients can be a poignant reminder of the importance of community support and initiatives aimed at ensuring that everyone has access to the essentials that make a house a home." The second project Snack for clients is to provide snack for clients on the go or during group activities. Please help and donate.

At Truhoma, we are committed to constantly evolving our offerings to meet the dynamic needs of the market. We are currently in the process of developing innovative functionalities and fresh approaches aimed at assisting those in need, with an anticipated launch in 2025.

Stay tuned!