 Mafia Miracle Maker. Tomorrow is August 1. Move-in season starts in the morning. I have been trying to find the right words for this moment all week and I keep coming up short. So I am just going to say it plain. Five years ago, three of us drove to Dallas with $3,500 and a whole lot of nerve. We moved in 13 scholars at 1 HBCU. Tomorrow, we kick off the season by moving in 18 scholars at 8 HBCUs. By the end our numbers will be... Thirty-two HBCUs. 109 scholars! I need you to hold that number for a second. Not because it is impressive. Because every single one of those numbers is a person. A real human being who showed up to college without a safety net, and looked up and found us there. That is the miracle. Every time. And with hundreds of thousands of dollars donated. Plus, thousands of hours donated. Not to mention, countless volunteers. I want you to hear it straight from the scholars. What all of it actually means. Because I can describe what we do all day long. But nothing I say will ever hit the way THEY do.  These are real words from real scholars. Unedited. Unprompted. We simply asked "What does Mafia mean to you?"  THE MOMENTUM BEHIND THE MAFIA You are used to seeing me hyped up and loud about this work. But now I want to show you something most don't get to see. Before one scholar walks into a room. Before one volunteer shows up. Before one care package is packed. There are people working. You see, many of our scholars come from environments where they were sleeping in basements. On floors. Surrounded by boxes. Some have never had a bedroom that was truly theirs. So when they arrive at an HBCU, alone, with whatever they could carry, they are not just moving into a dorm room. They are stepping into the first space in their lives that has ever been built just for them. And that is exactly how we treat it. Nikki Njeri Klugh and her team of designers build out every scholar's room. Not a generic setup. A fully designed space. Before a scholar ever moves in, we send them an exhaustive questionnaire. Their favorite colors. Their interests. The things that make them feel at home. And you know what? Some of them are stunned that we even asked. Because nobody has asked before. Then, LaTerra Wise and Mina Starks take those answers and build out the special touches. The items a scholar spots when they first walk in the room and know, without anyone having to say it, that somebody was paying attention. That somebody cared enough to pick this out specifically for them. LaTerra, Nikki, and Mina have been with me since before Day One of Mafia. Yesterday morning, I was not even out of bed yet when my phone rang. It was LaTerra. Excited and overflowing with joy, describing aaaaaall the items she had found to make sure our scholars know we SEE them. At that hour. I'll be honest. My excitement was not matching hers yet. My brain had not fully woken up. But once it did? I just kept thinking: how blessed am I to have people who love these babies this much.  This is the momentum behind the mafia. MOVE-IN MANIA: WE NEED YOU One of our new incoming scholars got his first apartment this year. When we told him we had a budget for one room and asked which one, I expected him to say the living room. The kitchen. Something big. He said, "Auntie, if I could get a bed, that's all I really need." He had been sleeping on an air mattress for months. His back was paying for it every single morning. I melted. Then his Getting To Know You form came in. In the special requests section, he wrote this:  A bed frame. That is what he called a gamechanger. If you can help us get this scholar a bed near Dayton or Cincinnati, shoot us an email: [email protected] We also have scholars who put sewing as an interest. We want to get them sewing machines. $105 each. Want to cover one? Shoot us an email: [email protected] That is what we do. We ask. We listen. We show up. But we need YOU to show up too on a move-in day if you can. Check out where we'll be this year.  Sign up to volunteer: MoveInDayMafia.org/MoveIn If these scholar stories moved you, share this edition. Post it. Text it to one person. Every share is one more person who learns what these scholars are doing and why this work matters. Hug yourself for me. TeeJ  Laaaaawd Mafia Miracle Maker. I was supposed to give you a full recap of THEE HBCU Bingo Xperience but I don't have our professional pics in yet, and I need you to SEE it, not just told about it. But before I push Bingo completely off 'til next week, I have to tell you something that happened AT Bingo that you need to know right now. Because it leads directly into everything I want to share in this week's edition. At the event, we presented an award for the very first time. We called it "Our First Mafia Miracle Maker." And the woman who received it is the reason Move-In Day Mafia got off the ground. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up. Way back. IT'S MOVE-IN MANIA 2026 This August marks our FIFTH move-in season. F-I-V-E. 109 scholars. 28 HBCUs. And this year? We are moving in students at 8 schools and adding 4 brand new ones. Livingstone College. Stillman College. Xavier University. Central State University. That brings our total to 32 HBCUs. Thirty-two campuses where a scholar who has been navigating college completely alone is going to look up and see a family that showed up just for them. I want to scream a little bit. Okay, a whole lot. But I'll keep it together. For now. Because none of this, not one single scholar, not one campus, not one care package, would exist without what happened on August 10, 2022. THE MIRACLE THAT STARTED IT ALL I knew two things going into our very first move-in season. We were supposed to move in 13 students. And we were going to do it at Paul Quinn College in Dallas. The HOW? A complete mystery. My team at the time was LaTerra Wise, who is now our Chief of Staff, and Nikki Klugh, our designer. Today, Mafia doesn't move without these two forces. So there we were...The three of us headed to Dallas with $3,500 we had raised, knowing full well that $3,500 would barely scratch the surface for one student, let alone 13. But we went anyway. Because the vision was real even when the provision wasn't visible...yet. Let me tell you what that Airbnb felt like that morning. Whew! Nikki had gone for her morning run. LaTerra was moving around like everything was going swimmingly. Calm. Preparing. Meanwhile, I was tucked away in my bedroom. Sweating. Praying. Reminding God, just in case He had done a slow blink, that we still needed $17,000 more and we had exactly one hour before we had to walk out that door. And then I heard it. Call Teri Ijeoma. Now listen. Teri was a former media coaching client of mine. I knew she was living in Puerto Rico. I did not even know what time it was in Puerto Rico. And I definitely did not know her like THAT.  Knees knocking. Teeth chattering. I called. She answered. I described the mission. I described Mafia. I described the vision. And the very last thing I said was: "God told me to move in 13 students. We raised $3,500. But we are short." She asked, "How short?" Whew Laaaaaaawd. I could barely get it out. "$17,000." My stomach was in knots. Teri Ijeoma said, "You'll have it in an hour." I nearly dropped the phone. I stifled the scream that was rising up because I did not want Teri to think I was a crazy person. When we hung up, that scream escaped. It was so loud that Nikki heard it from outside, thought something was wrong, and came running back in the house. That was the moment I knew. This was going to be a miracle-walking, faith-inducing journey. Every single year since, I have watched God confirm our hashtag: #WeBelieveInMiraclesForMoveInDayMafia When she is not being Mafia's First Miracle Maker, Teri Ijeoma is one of the most respected voices in the business of helping people build wealth through investing. Her book, A Risk Worth Taking, is exactly what it sounds like. And I cannot tell you how fitting it is that the woman who bet on Move-In Day Mafia with $17,000 and a phone call wrote a book about that. And Teri was not just at HBCU Bingo to collect her award. A Risk Worth Taking became a whole moment that night. Something people are still talking about. I cannot wait to show you the pictures when they come in.  MOVE-IN MANIA: WE NEED YOU Move-in season runs August 1-10. We are heading to 8 schools and we cannot do this without volunteers.  Livingstone College in Salisbury, NC is our biggest move-in this year (8 students) and we need about 40 volunteers. If you can show up, sign up. If you can't make it, send this to someone who can. Sign up to volunteer: MoveInDayMafia.org/MoveIn Got questions? Email Zoila at [email protected]    Yesterday I did something I have never done in my entire life. I had to be convinced and damn near threatened to say yes. And I only said yes for one reason. It would benefit Move-In Day Mafia. It was still uncomfortable. I am not going to pretend it wasn't. But I was actually pretty good at it. And I want you to sit with that for a second. Because I think you have been there too. Missions and callings do not wait until you feel ready. They do not ask if it is convenient. They just show up and say: will you do this thing you have never done, the thing that makes you uncomfortable, the thing somebody practically had to drag you into? And sometimes, on the other side of that yes, you find out you were more capable than you ever gave yourself credit for. I am betting you have had a version of that moment. The thing you almost said no to. The thing someone pushed you toward. The thing that turned out to be yours all along. I signed an NDA so I cannot tell you what it was. Not yet. Several months from now, I will tell you everything. And I think you are going to laugh. But what I will say is this. I walked out of that experience a little shaky, a little humbled, genuinely surprised by myself, and completely certain I would do it again tomorrow if it meant one more person learned about our scholars. So if somebody is pushing you toward something right now? Something for a mission or a calling that is bigger than your comfort zone? Keep going. Say yes. You might surprise yourself. And looking a little uncomfortable along the way is the easiest sacrifice you will ever make. Alright, that's it for this week. Don't forget to sign up to volunteer if you can OR share please! MoveInDayMafia.org/MoveIn  I had a whole different plan for you this week. I was going to sit you down and tell you every amazing thing that happened at THEE HBCU Bingo Xperience, our annual fundraiser, last Saturday. The draft was written! And ready to go until... I read through this month's scholars care package form, where they have to share good news or things they were excited about. Buried in this section, was an unexpected treat that brought tears to my eyes and validation to my heart. So I'll just have to share HBCU Bingo with you next week. But wait. If you are new here... welcome to the Mafia Miracle Report. Every week I share what is happening inside Move-In Day Mafia, a nonprofit that supports HBCU students who have aged out of foster/kinship care, are unhoused, or are navigating the demands of college on their own. We deck out dorm rooms and deliver monthly care packages. I'm TeeJ, the founder and I'm glad you're here. And since 2022, we have moved in 109 Scholars at 28 HBCUs! She Used to Sleep Behind an AutoZone. There was a season of M.N.'s life when she did not have a bed to sleep in. Not a couch. Not a floor at a friend's house. The best she could do was find safety behind an AutoZone. I need you to sit with that. And although it wasn't a straight path, she still made it to college. And not just make it... She went on to graduate number four in her class! Unless she goes on to grad school at an HBCU, this will be her last official care package from Move-In Day Mafia. We continue support for 3 months post graduation. On this care package form, M.N. shared her heart. These are her unedited words. "I was recently able to purchase a vehicle, I’m not sure if I said that in my last care package form but I’m still very excited about it. I’ve been wanting a car for a very long time and the sense of independence that comes with it. I’m so grateful that I was able to purchase it and to do it on my own. I’m very proud of this accomplishment. I’m very grateful for my family at move in day mafia, I don’t take lightly the words of encouragement and sense of safety I feel with you all. I greatly appreciate just knowing that you all are there for me. In my eyes it’s about way more than the monetary value you all bring, it’s the emotional and mental support that help me to get through the hard feelings and bad times. To Ms.Niqua, I would like to specifically thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support and your willingness to help me. No matter how bad things get or the time of day, you’ve always taken out the time to speak with me and speak life into me. There have been plenty of instances where I didn’t know what to do or where to go or what to look for to get out of certain situations and through your love, support, and advice, I was able to figure it out. I pray for you often, I pray that all of the good you’ve poured into me comes back to you 10 fold, that one day I’m able to pour back into you and into move in day mafia. From the moment you became my mentor, you’ve never left my side, and that’s a debt I can never repay, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying. I hope to make you very proud in the future. To Auntie TeeJ, initially when trying to enroll in this program, I didn’t know how big of an effect it would have on not only my college career but also on my life and my perspective of people. I always had people who would say they care and then leave me to fend for myself, I always had people who would say they love me, then hurt me, I had people who were supposed to be my safe space, but I never felt at ease. I’m blessed to say that with you and this company, I feel loved, supported, cared for, and safe. You are such an amazing person and this work that you’re doing means more than you can even imagine. I’m happy to know that people who have been in my position, that have experienced things similar to what I have, will never be alone again, and they’ll have the chance to succeed and know that they deserve it. I truly view you all as my family and I can’t say it enough, thank you, thank you, thank you for believing in me and believing in this mission to further the education and support of people like me. I hope to make you very very proud one day. My last care package form🫶🏾 much love from your favorite niece." Did her words hit you as hard as they hit me? H.U.G.S. Hope + Understanding + Generosity = Stability. That was the guiding principle I knew I needed to build Mafia around. I did not know how I was going to build it. I did not know who would show up. I did not have a roadmap. But I knew that if we could pour those four things into a scholar consistently, something would shift. Something would stabilize. And stability changes everything for a young person who has never had it. Our students have slept in basements with boxes, never knowing when the rug would be yanked out from under them. So if you are here reading this, then there's a pretty good chance that M.N. is thanking YOU! Every time you bought toothpaste. Every time you bought deodorant. Every time you bought detergent every time you helped us pay for a flight to an internship. Every time you contributed to a temporary Airbnb to keep them safe. You were providing H.U.G.S.! And I thank you. ADOPT A SCHOLAR WEEK The key way we provide H.U.G.S. happens from the 14th - 21st of every month through Amazon wishlists. With items to fit various budgets, just head over to MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar One thing though...we are in what we call Summer Survival Season. Our students are often in between places, which means Amazon deliveries are not predictable for them. So instead of items off a wishlist, for some scholars, we send them $25 Visa gift cards so they can get what they need, wherever they are. We need all items purchased by the 21st.  MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar Hug yourself for me and I'll see you next week to tell you all about HBCU BINGO! 💜 P. S. Can you share this blog with someone who appreciates our work and want to shop for a scholar too? |
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
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