 Hey Mafia Miracle Makers!!! If you’ve ever needed proof that miracles can look loud, funny, faithful, and practical all at the same time… Pull up a chair. Because I have been sitting on this for MONTHS. Not because it wasn’t exciting. Not because it wasn’t a miracle. But because so much life kept happening back-to-back, I didn’t get the chance to sit still long enough to tell it properly until now. And now... I can finally tell you the whole story. People who know me know this about me… I LOVE a good surprise. So a few months ago, I hopped on what I thought was a regular ol’ strategy call with our partners at Best Buy. Nothing dramatic. Just planning, impact, logistics. The usual. Mind you, this is a company that had already given Move-In Day Mafia $30,000 and had been showing up with real care and real People Power. We’re wrapping up the call, feeling good. And then our project lead casually slides in, “TeeJ, I actually have more good news for you.” I froze. Like…FROZE. And then he starts telling me about what they were gifting to each of our incoming students for the 2025-26 school year. Y’all. I jumped out of my chair so fast I scared myself. Thank GOD I had on pajama pants, because what followed was all of this booty sprinting around the room in disbelief, praise, and pure joy. And here’s the part that made me stop and just shake my head… That pajama-pants moment wasn’t just funny. It was the payoff of a ten-year desire. OH WAIT…IF YOU’RE NEW HERE If you’re new here, Move-In Day Mafia is rooted in H.U.G.S. Hope. Understanding. Generosity. Stability. We’re the crew that moves HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused, or fighting financial challenges into their dorms and surrounds them with family for four years. This right here? This is what H.U.G.S. looks like in real life. THE SURPRISE I DIDN'T SEE COMING Mafia Miracle Maker...I am jumping up and down... Best Buy provided BRAND-NEW VR HEADSETS FOR ALL 26 OF OUR 2025-26 MOVE-IN DAY MAFIA SCHOLARS!!!! Let me pause right here, because I need to make sure you understand why this is not just a BIG deal but a HUGE deal. A VR headset is not a toy. It’s not a video game distraction. It’s not extra. It’s access. It’s stepping inside careers before you ever apply. It’s walking through places you’ve only ever seen in books. It’s learning in full color and dimension when education has always been flat and limited. It’s a reminder that says, “You belong in these spaces too.”  And here’s the part that still gets me… Some of our scholars had never owned a piece of technology like this before. And now? They EACH have one. Not shared. Not borrowed. Not rotated. THEIRS. And when it came time for the room reveals? I saved the headsets for last. Because LOOK at these faces.    Seeing deserving students receive a want, not just a need? Facilitating these with other Mafia Miracle Makers??? Is this really my job?! THE BACKSTORY TO THE MIRACLE Back in 2016, I started saying something that sounded completely delusional at the time. I even turned it into a hashtag: #BestBuyIsMySponsorTheyJustDontKnowItYet I said it for TEN YEARS nonstop. Not because I had a pitch. Not because I had a proposal. Not because I even knew what I wanted them to sponsor. All I knew waaaaaas... Best Buy was my favorite store, and somehow…we were gonna ride together someday. Fast forward to "someday" in 2023. I found out that one of my Facebook friends worked at Best Buy corporate. What I didn’t know at the time was that she had been quietly, strategically putting Move-In Day Mafia’s name in front of the right people. Then one day, I got a call that started with, “TeeJ…are you sitting down?” Followed by, “BEST BUY IS GOING TO GIVE MOVE-IN DAY MAFIA $10,000.” That delusional declaration I had whispered for a decade? It came true. But it didn’t stop there. In 2024, Best Buy came back and DOUBLED IT. They didn’t just bring dollars either. They brought People Power. If you saw them at Morehouse, Clark Atlanta, Spelman, or Miles College, you already know. They weren’t there for photo ops. They were moving furniture. Mopping dorm room floors. Hanging pictures. Doing the gritty work with quiet excellence.  Last week, we told you about E.Z., our sophomore at Savannah State, who experienced a stroke earlier this month. She’s incredibly young for something like that, and while we’re still waiting on full clarity around her long-term prognosis, this update brought real relief.  She’s grateful. She’s encouraged. She’s feeling the love. And that matters. A QUICK CELEBRATION BREAK Last weekend, while half the country was iced over, we had a little fun called #DonateYourTemperature. You checked the temperature where you live and donated that amount. So if it was 52 degrees…$52. If it were 9 degrees…yes, $9. We saw you 😄 And for my people in negative temperatures (because absolutely not)… We told you to donate the temperature you wished it was. Y’all showed up. Donations ranged from $9 to $100, and every dollar helped support our scholars. So it’s only right that we announce the winner…  There's a #IBelieveInMiraclesForMoveInDayMafia shirt headed your way. Thank you to everybody who played along and gave with joy.  Last week, we talked about hurdles, and I kept thinking about it all this week. So let me tell you something I probably shouldn’t admit, but here we are. For YEARS, getting out the house to exercise in the morning felt like a mental obstacle course. I’d spend more time trying to motivate myself than actually moving. That changed when I stopped relying on motivation and put in a fail-safe. Now I sleep in my workout clothes. And if I don’t, I lay them on the floor in front of the toilet...yup, you read that right... When I get up half-sleep for that morning release, I put my workout clothes on automatically while I'm sitting there. No brushing teeth. No washing my face. No checking my phone. Judge me if you want. But by the time my brain wakes up, I’m already out the door. Here’s the motivation... Sometimes the hurdle isn’t the lack of strength. It’s friction. And the miracle isn’t motivation. It’s doing what you gotta do to clear the hurdle. No matter what anybody thinks. If this story stirred something in you, help us keep showing up for the scholars still running. Support the work at: MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate and/or share this edition. Next week, I can't wait to tell you what surprise Cisco and another nonprofit called Human I-T pulled off to produce more spontaneous smiles. Let’s just say…I'm grinning in anticipation of writing this evidence of "Miracles In Motion." Thank you for being family. Thank you for showing up big. Thank you for believing with us. Hug yourself for me! – TeeJ #MiraclesInMotion  Hey Mafia Miracle Makers!!! If you’ve ever needed proof that what you’re doing matters… If you’ve ever wondered whether those “small” acts of generosity really add up… If you’ve ever questioned whether showing up again and again actually changes anything… Pull up a chair. Because Oooooweeeeee, we are celebrating today! First... This May, FIVE of our Mafia babies are graduating. Read that again. FIVE. GRADUATES. Caps on heads. Degrees in hand. Finish lines crossed. Now let me be very clear... We do not take credit for their studying, their sacrifice, their sleepless nights, or their discipline. THEY ran that race. THEY stayed the course. THEY earned those degrees. But what we can be grateful for is this: When life threw hurdles in their lanes, they didn’t have to clear them alone. Oh wait though... If you’re new here, Move-In Day Mafia is the crew that moves HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused, or fighting financial challenges into their dorms and surrounds them with family for four years with monthly care packages. We are rooted in H.U.G.S. Hope. Understanding. Generosity. Stability. So no, the Mafia family doesn’t run the race for them. But we do everything in our power to make sure they don’t have to quit. Not Everyone Is at the Finish Line Yet Every miracle doesn’t look like a graduation stage. => Some miracles look like still being enrolled. => Some look like making it through one more semester. => Some look like not having to walk away. Which brings me to R.D., a junior at Fisk University. He's not graduating...yet. But let me tell you…he almost had to stop running. Last week, R.D. emailed us and said something no student ever wants to say. He was going to have to leave school. Why? Because he needed $8,000 to stay enrolled. Didn’t have it. Didn’t know where it was coming from. And time was running out. That’s a hurdle tall enough to knock you out of the race. R.D. is studying psychology and dreams of owning his own counseling practice one day. He wants to help people heal. He has a very loving sister and brother who believe in him deeply. But when their mom, their primary caregiver, passed away when R.D. was just 18 years old, the three of them suddenly found themselves out here trying to make their dreams come true without a safety net. Still…R.D. kept running...staying in the race. And then… GOD DROPPED A MIRACLE. Not later. Not “eventually.” But RIGHT. ON. TIME. Mafia Miracle Maker, that $8,000 MIRACULOUSLY showed up. Y’all hear me??? THE MONEY. SHOWED. UP. And THIS, Miracle Maker, is exactly why we call this the Mafia Miracle Report.  R.D. got registered as a second-semester junior. Every class he needed was available. No doors closed. No plans derailed. And in his own words, R.D. said: “It couldn’t have been anybody but God.” This was the difference between: * quitting and continuing * walking away and staying put * a dream ending and a dream staying alive R.D. is still in the race. Still hurdling. Still one step closer.  I’ll let their words speak for themselves. GOOD NEWS FIRST    CHALLENGES   Let’s Officially Celebrate the Mafia Family I forgot to put it in the first edition of 2026. So let’s say this now out loud and officially, right here in the Mafia Miracle Report. IN 2025, MORE THAN 600 MAFIA MIRACLE MAKERS SHOWED UP AND PURCHASED OVER 6400 ITEMS FOR OUR SCHOLARS!!!!! SIX. THOUSAND. FOUR. HUNDRED. AND TWENTY SEVEN TO BE EXACT!  Those items didn’t walk across the graduation stage. But they made it possible for someone else to. That’s H.U.G.S. in action. That’s Hope when things looked bleak. That’s Understanding showing up month after month. That’s Generosity filling in the gaps. That’s Stability when life tried to shake everything loose. This is why five scholars are graduating this May. This is why R.D. is still enrolled today. This is why the race continues.  Life doesn’t remove the hurdles. It just keeps putting them in your lane. And sometimes the miracle isn’t finishing first. Sometimes the miracle is staying in the race when quitting feels justified. So if you’re tired…rest but get back in the race. If the hurdle looks too high…remember you’re not jumping alone. And if you’re helping someone else clear theirs…know that you’re part of the miracle. That matters more than you know. If this celebration stirred something in you, help us keep showing up for the scholars still running. Support the next stretch of the race at: MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate Thank you for being family. Thank you for showing up consistently. Thank you for refusing to let our babies quit. Hug yourself for me! – TeeJ Oh and don't forget to share, like, and comment!  Hey Mafia Miracle Makers! We're back but whew...barely! I owe y’all a quick word before we go any further. I missed last week. Life has been lifing. A couple of weeks ago, I lost two cousins within 24 hours of each other, and if I’m being honest, I just didn’t have the mental capacity to write a Mafia Miracle Report last week. Grief will do that. So will responsibility. So will carrying students you love. And truth be told, I didn’t really have the capacity to write this week either. But then…miracles started interrupting me yesterday. And I could NOT, not tell you. Hold on... If you’re new here, Move-In Day Mafia stands for Hope, Understanding, Generosity, and Stability (H.U.G.S.). We’re the crew that moves HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused or fighting against financial challenges...we move them into their dorms and send them monthly care packages to surround them with family for the four years. And baby…family shows up even when they’re tired. I ALMOST TALKED MYSELF OUT OF A MIRACLE I've been a little down. My Mafia babies are going through it, and looking at everything coming down the pike had me feeling overwhelmed and anxious about how to manage it all. So this week, I woke up with the overwhelming urge to reactivate my membership at my co-working club. Working at home in isolation is no longer working for me. I need people. But of course…I started negotiating. Should I really go? It’s late. They close at 9. Is it worth it for just a few hours? Around 4pm, in the middle of a meeting, the urge to go got so strong that as soon as the meeting was over, I knew I was supposed to head on over. So I obeyed. But then...something small but very specific happened. At the last minute, I changed my shirt. And let me be clear…this was not nothing. I decided to throw on a shirt that repped my sister’s alma mater, Spelman, instead of my own beloved Howard University. Now listen. Anybody who knows me knows I am insufferable about Howard. So this was…suspicious. There was no big reason. Just a nudge. I didn’t know then that it would matter later.  I walked into the club a little after 5…and immediately ran into an old friend I had thought about two weeks earlier. Then, as I was setting up to work, I ran into another friend I hadn’t seen in a minute. And then… As I’m catching up with him, I look up…and a woman I met last year is walking straight toward me. We met because of another divine setup. An unexpected detour on one of my daily walks. I learned she worked in community affairs for a professional sports team. We hit it off, then life happened and we lost touch. Y’all… She tells me she’s since moved on and now works for a multi-BILLION-dollar fast food company. I catch her up on the latest with Mafia. And without hesitation, she says, “Let’s do lunch. I have something for your babies.” Did I mention that day was her first day back at the club? And THEN it hit me. The Spelman shirt I almost didn’t put on? It's HER alma mater! She sees the shirt. We start talking about Mafia covering Atlanta's four HBCUs but not getting any Morris Brown students to apply and she tells me she knows the new interim president and will text her about us! What???? But I'm not finished Miracle Maker... Since I was wearing that shirt, two Spelman alum came up to me. One brought ideas and wants to volunteer. The other turned out to be the membership coordinator for the club. She wants to send out a blast about Mafia AND introduce me to her mentor, who happens to sit on the board of the local Jack & Jill chapter. Jack & Jill chapters across the country has shown Mafia so much love. That’s not luck. That’s obedience doing what it does. BUT WAIT. IT GETS BETTER! It's currently Adopt A Scholar Week. Yesterday, I made a simple post asking for a pink stethoscope for a Delaware State scholar who wants to go to medical school.  What most people didn’t know is that this same scholar had already asked us about MCAT help, and I just hadn’t even had the chance yet to tap into our Move-In Day Mafia network. Then Jeannie Avikainen Burlowski, an academic coach, stepped in and said she would help her with her medical school application...FOR FREE!  Decades of experience. Thousands of dollars worth of support. Freely given. A prayer I hadn’t even prayed yet…answered. Oh, and yes. The pink stethoscope got bought! Y’all…this is why I’m loud with #ScholarStories. Because when we share, miracles find their way to the right ears. AND THIS IS WHERE Y'ALL COME IN Because on these #AdoptAScholar wishlists right now, we’re not talking about luxury. We’re talking about focus, comfort, and dignity. We’re talking about a student at South Carolina State asking for laminated calculus tables A Spelman scholar asking for therapy coloring books. A Shaw student asking for a heating pad. A Texas Southern scholar asking for cologne. Please pop over to MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar to grab items by January 21st. Short on time? Head over to Prairie View, Clark Atlanta, or Savannah State. They need love. Don't have time to shop, you can always let us do it for you by donating at MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate  OBEY THE NUDGE I didn’t think I had the capacity to write this week. Grief and responsibility had already taken up all the space I had. But the nudge showed up anyway. Obedience doesn’t always arrive with energy or clarity. Sometimes it shows up as a quiet discomfort, a last-minute shirt change, or an urge you can’t explain away. And when you obey it, you don’t just step into your own miracle. You make room for someone else’s answered prayer too. So if something small keeps tapping you on the shoulder this week, don’t overthink it. Obey. The motivation you think you’re missing might be waiting on the other side of your yes. See you next week Miracle Maker. Thank you for everything! |
AuthorTEEJ MERCER - TeeJ never set out to be an entrepreneur. She definitely didn’t plan to run a nonprofit. But after 25 years in Hollywood, editing and producing for major TV shows and movie studios, she saw a story that needed to be told. More importantly, she saw a PROBLEM that needed to be solved. Archives
February 2026
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