Challenges in the world are complex and need strategic decisions and urgent action.
The Straughter Group is committed to tackle these challenges and for that we need your financial support.
Acta Non Verba
Deeds, Not Words.
The Straughter Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that seeks to support all communities through bold initiatives. We envision a world that is best served at the community level by members of the community. Everyone can make a difference.
Why Should You Donate?
We see the world functioning better when the causal root of challenges are solved. We take a do now approach. We are not interested in talking points and mediocrity of the politicization of societal challenges. Humans need help now! Everything we do makes sense. When you examine our programs they are serving a real need to the masses and have derivative effects. If you put just one person that is homeless into a home, they, in turn, may be able to support a family or start a family. The result is a brighter future for anyone engaged with that human. When a child is able to be a part of team or participate in any extracurricular activity they may be less likely to encounter mental illness. They then could go on to have a future to create opportunities for other children to be healthy and well rounded. Your donation to the right place has the potential to change the course of history for the better.
Serve Now Act Now
The Community Initiative
This holistic community program was established to identify services that can support the mental health, reproductive health, financial literacy, ending homelessness, community centers, and inclusive equity within all communities. This is our most expansive program to date serving individuals and families throughout the United States. This program is 100% funded by donations.
Mental Health Support
Too often there are barriers to seeking out mental health care. Unfortunately, when people are most at need, they cannot afford it. We work to make sure that providers have us as a resource to subsidize as many clients as possible. We also only work with providers that are interested in supporting our initiative of inclusive care for all.
According to MentalHealth.gov “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.” If you need help NOW reach out via text to 988 or click 988 Life Line to chat with someone online at The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Reproductive Supports
Whether it be excitement at the thought of a planned or unplanned pregnancy or fear over what to do just in case, we believe all support should be focused on the individuals involved. We focus on partnering with organizations for equitable ways to provide no-cost contraceptives, counseling, health education, pregnancy tests, essential healthcare services, and childcare.
We support positions by The World Health Organization (WHO), The American Medical Association (AMA), and The American Psychological Association (APA) on the matter of essential healthcare services. For further information please click to see information from the Global Fund for Women, WHO, Teva Women’s Health, and the Guttmacher Institute.
Financial Literacy Support
There are myths that if we give enough education about finances that people will make decisions that support their financial growth and success. We take the approach of educating about finances from the foundation of the challenge. We believe that there is a illogical and unsubstantiated capitalistic agenda set on creating a false ideology of need for material goods. This line of manipulation started with Dr. John B. Watson in 1924, one of the founders of behavioral psychology, in his work with a New York City advertising company. Watson had been shamed out of academia due to an affair with one of his students and was seeking new purpose. He eventually would create a blueprint for creating false need based on his beliefs. For further reading please see Goyal & Kumar (2020).
Ending Homelessness
There is no reason why we as a society should be okay with seeing people without. Humans can help humans. It is not a matter of if a human deserves shelter. It is a matter of saving a life. Humans need shelter to live. We are focused on being part of the change in a significant way. Currently there are shelters and food banks that seek to curtail some of the grave challenges facing humans everyday. These are amazing resources but it is not enough. There are many organizations that we support the work that they do in advocacy and more such as the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the work of the Finnish government to provide practical solutions at the federal level to end homelessness. We will focus funds on purchasing properties to house any human that is homeless. A single 2000 square foot home could house as many as 10 persons and even more could be done with custom builds.
Serve Now Act Now
Veterans Ride Free
This program was established to support Veterans in going to and from their non-emergency medical appointments and provide access to work for Veterans that desired to support other Veterans. This program is 100% funded by donations.
Disability Impacts Us All Differently
Transporting Veterans to their VA appointments in our ADA compliant wheel chair vehicles serves the community as a whole. We hope to be able to extend that service to non-VA appointments in the next 5 years with your help. Click HERE to view the Centers for Disease Control‘s Infographic on how Disabilities Impact All of Us with slightly under 14% of all Americans being impacted by mobility challenges.
Loneliness Impacts Veterans
When we transport Veterans to their medical appointments it brightens up their day. We use empirical based evidence to drive our decision-making and focus our efforts. According to a study by Straus et al. (2022) loneliness is highly prevalent in U.S. military veterans, with more than half endorsing feeling lonely sometimes or often, and 1-of-5 reporting feeling lonely often.
This research was based on survey responses from a nationally representative sample of more than 4,000 Veterans, average age 62, between November 2019 and March 2020.The content of that study can be found HERE and to see an infographic from VA Research Communications on the numbers click HERE.
Serve Now Act Now
Youth Initiative
This program was established to support programs that offer educational and holistic activity experiences for children. From robotics to coding to sports, children should have access to grow their minds and their experiences. This program is 100% funded by donations. To learn about our program guidelines click HERE.
Activities Promote Healthy Minds
Too often there is a dismissal of the relationships that active learning evokes in child development. Programs such as robotics, coding, chess, automotive repair, wood working, and more add a significant value to the utility of classroom engagements. They also build children’s agency for what they can do in life. This, in turn, adds value to their overall well being. In December of 2020, Oberle et al. reported results from a 4 year study of 28,000+ children. They found that adolescents who participated in extracurricular activities (e.g., sports, arts programs, community programs) were significantly less likely to engage in recreational screen-based activities (e.g., watching programs, browsing the internet, playing computer games) for 2 or more hours after school. Oberle et al. (2020) also reported that extracurricular participation was associated with higher levels of satisfaction with life and optimism, and lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Sports and Brain Development
The research literature is clear: sports matter in the holistic development of children. Gorham et al. (2019) stated that recent studies have found that higher levels of exercise are associated with fewer symptoms of depression among young people. A 2018 study by Ibis and Aktug reported that sports does not only play a significant role in children’s health and physical development, but also is important for the improvement of academic success and attention deficit. We support the organizations that seek to provide a healthy holistic environment for children to experience physical activity.
Gorham, L. S., Jernigan, T., Hudziak, J., & Barch, D. M. (2019). Involvement in sports, hippocampal volume, and depressive symptoms in children. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 4(5), 484-492.
Ibis, S., & Aktug, Z. B. (2018). Effects of sports on the attention level and academic success in children. Educational Research and Reviews, 13(3), 106-110.
Serve Now Act Now
Government Reduction Program
This program was established to identify services that can support the reduction of government spending on programs that are contracted out. Our research has indicated that local, state, and federal spending is out of control in what is paid for contracted services. This program is 100% funded by donations.
