 Straight off the first week of classes, one of our scholars came out SWINGING. And I mean that literally. But first... If you are new here...welcome to the Mafia Miracles Report. I'm TeeJ, the person responsible for steering this ship. Move-In Day Mafia provides fully-equipped dorm rooms and monthly care packages to HBCU scholars who have aged out of foster and kinship care, are unhoused, or are navigating college completely on their own. We do this for four years: move-in day, and every month after, until they walk across that stage. This is where we celebrate the miracles. Let's get into it. At the top of August, one of our scholars, F.T. was scheduled to move-in at her HBCU. She had everything lined up. But at the last minute, her uncle (the person who promised to get her there from Illinois) not only backed out but he told her he'd be taking her to a whole other state and would have to figure out the rest on her own. For a young woman who has been in and out of foster and group homes for years because her parents simply could not get it together for her and her siblings...that betrayal hit different. Sooooooo! Move-In Day Mafia leaped into action. With the help of some of you (yes, YOU) we got F.T. to school. We decked out her dorm room with decorations that give her a sense of stability and joy. She walked into her room surrounded by people who showed up for her, maybe for the first time in a long time.  Oh. But wait...I'm not done... This move-in season, we moved in a total of 18 students across 8 HBCUs. Monday was their orientation with us. I asked for volunteers to share how their first week(s) of school had been. What they'd been up to. What was new. Ooooooweeeee when this baby raised her hand, I wasn't ready for what she'd told she'd been up to. Guess what Y'all! SHE IS RUNNING FOR FRESHMAN CLASS PRESIDENT FOR THE COLLEGE OF NURSING!!! Baaaaaby. F.T. did not ease into her freshman year. She came in ready to step up to bat and SWING. I'm smiling even as I type this because I know this baby's story. I know what she has fought through to get there. Our scholars have Ph.D.'s in Resilience already. Every single one of them. And to see her, and all 18 of our move-in season students, push through to get their education? It warms my heart and makes me smile down to my soul. Laaaaaawd. Thank y'all for helping us say yes to these scholars. Because of you, F.T. got there ready. Move-In Season 2026. We Just Came Out The Other Side. This made move-in season #5. F-I-V-E. And a move-in team that showed up and showed OUT moving in 18 students at 8 HBCUs, with three teams going on in THREE different stages on the same day! OUR TOTAL? 127 Scholars. 32 HBCUs total later and I feel like this next phase is going to be epic. We are not done celebrating yet. As soon as we get the footage sorted, you are going to SEE this season, not just hear about it. We have video, photos, and moments that need to be seen to be believed. And trust me when I say...you are going to want to see them. So stay close. That's coming. But for right now? We just want to breathe for one second and say: WE DID IT. This move-in season was funded by a Mafia history-making grant by the T.D. Jakes Foundation! I wrote all about this miracle in last week's MMReport and told you how falling on my face landed me into a miracle. You can check it out here. Another season of yes. Another season of scholars walking into rooms they never expected. Another season of watching this mission do what God said it would do. We are so grateful for every volunteer, every donor, every person who said yes alongside us. More to come. Stay tuned.  Every month when our scholars submit their care package requests, they have to finish a sentence. They choose one: “I’m grateful that…” “I’m excited that…” “I’m looking forward to…” So we like to share some with you:  ONE MORE THING I'm often asked by some of you how can you help more or are there any specific things we need for our students. Well, we've been toying around with the thought of creating one special page on our website that would list student special requests. For example, we currently have students requesting:
We don't have full deets on exactly how it works yet but would you let me know if you like this idea. Either comment or shoot us an email at [email protected] See you next week. Until then....Hug yourself for me. 💜  If this were a TikTok video, this would be one of those that would start: "Yeah, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up here." Whelp! I have been sitting on something for MONTHS. Like Moooooonths. And it's the hardest thing for my team and me to keep secret. If you were at THEE HBCU Bingo Xperience, you might have heard it. But most have probably been out here living your lives, minding your business, not knowing what I have been carrying around, trying not to scream about. But finally... THE T.D. JAKES FOUNDATION CHOSE US. AND IT IS THE LARGEST GRANT IN MAFIA HISTORY!!!! Cue the screams now...Ok my screams...not yours. But if you know our testimony, then you probably did at least a little squeal, right? If you are new here... welcome to the Mafia Miracles 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 for four years. I'm TeeJ, the person responsible for steering this ship. WHO IS T.D. JAKES? If you are not already familiar, Bishop T.D. Jakes is the founder of The Potter's House, a 30,000-member church in Dallas. TIME magazine has called him "America's Best Preacher" and named him one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America. He is an author, a filmmaker, a global voice. The man has a FOUNDATION named after him that distributes millions in grants to nonprofits. I have followed Bishop Jakes for about 30 years. Read his books. Attended his conferences. Listened to his sermons at every turn in my life when I needed to hear something that made sense. Never in a million years did I think my little name would be in the same sentence as his. And yet... WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS... Jack & Jill of America has become a big fan of the Mafia. Multiple chapters have raised money for us. So when they invited me to their Southern Regional Conference in Austin to be presented with a donation check for Mafia, I almost didn't go because of a scheduling conflict. But the Holy Spirit was like, "Figure it out." So there I am. They'd asked me to say a few words of motivation for the room before the presentation. I walked out on stage, missed a step, and went FLAILING in front of hundreds of people. Full on. Flat. On my face.  But get this... I wasn't even embarrassed. The whole room went quiet with such concern that, in a split second, I had a completely different motivational speech. Just like that. Off the top. Because the moment was right there, the reminder that vulnerability doesn't disqualify you. It connects you. Not to mention...everybody falls at something, but in the words of gospel great Donnie McClurkin..."We get up!" Now, what I didn't know was that there was a woman named Bobby Bryant who was witnessing my unintentional acrobatic act. Bobby had just started at the T.D. Jakes Foundation. And when her boss asked for suggestions of nonprofits to partner with for the upcoming Thriving Seven Summit in Atlanta, guess whose name came to mind? Yup. The woman who went flailing on stage. And guess what else...OMG OMG OMG Apparently falling on my face wasn’t the end of the story. This November, Move-In Day Mafia is the official philanthropic partner for the T7 Summit, presented by Wells Fargo!!!!! Crazy thing is, they probably told me that news earlier but it still didn't hit me until HBCU Bingo Xperience last month and they brought flyers. OMG...Right there was Move-In Day Mafia's logo!  It took aaaaaaall of me not to embarrass my mama and act a fool when they showed the flyer to me on the red carpet. Taking place November 12–14 in Atlanta, T7 brings together leaders, innovators, and mission-driven organizations across business, technology, media, wellness and social impact, connecting people and organizations to relationships, resources and opportunities that can help scale their impact. Plus! I got a surprise for YOU...So keep reading. THE MOMENT I STOPPED LISTENING If you have never met me, then you don't know I'm a crybaby, especially when I get news that blows me away. When the Foundation zoomed with my team to share the news that we got the grant, they mentioned the amount like it was just another item on the agenda. Our benefactor kept talking. I stopped listening. Completely. Gone. Just gone. I could not even fake it anymore. I finally interrupted: "Sorry, Y'all, but I have to confess. I didn't hear you say anything after you mentioned how much the grant would be." And then I lost all professionalism and cried. Full tears. On a work call. With the TD Jakes Foundation. LawdHamMussyGeezus.🤦🏾♀️ But wait...There's more! I got the hookup for YOU! If you want to come to the summit and connect with like-minded folks who want to make impact, I gotchu. Because you are connected to us, I have a special code you can use for 50% off any level of registration. The catch? You have to purchase by August 31, 2026! That's it. So skip over to t7summit.com, use code MIDMPartner50, and I'll see you at the summit. Be sure to stop me and grab a hug. WHAT IT ALL MEANS The T.D. Jakes Foundation is the partner of the inaugural Move-In Day Mafia Scholar Circle. That means they are not just writing a check and walking away. They are covering our 18 new scholars, every single one we moved in this 2026-27 season, fully. The Scholar Circle funds move-in day (we are talking a completely decked-out dorm room, built from scratch), PLUS monthly care packages, PLUS full wrap-around support through the entire year. Eighteen scholars. Eighteen rooms. Twelve months of care packages. Every. Single. One. With these 18 new scholars added, it brings our total to 127 scholars moved in at 32 HBCUs. One hundred and twenty-seven. 32 schools. AND BY THE WAY... I never finished the Jack & Jill story. After I picked myself up off that stage... They presented us with a check for $15,000!!!!  I freaked the whole room out when I took off RUNNING...Again! Laaaaaawd. I'm sure they were thinking..."The woman just fell off the stage. And now she's running again?" The room did not know what to do with me.  What can I say? I cry or run whenever I'm happy watching God surprise me. Thank you Jack & Jill and thank you T.D. Jakes Foundation! ONE LAST THING. IT ENDS TODAY. We are in the final hours of Adopt A Scholar Week. New to Mafia? Once a month (14-21st), our scholars share wishlists of the things they need for the next month. Things like cleaning supplies, kitchen essentials, laundry detergent. Items start at $3, and you, our Mafia Miracle Makers, pull together and purchase. If you are like me and don't like shopping, you can donate, and we handle the rest. Today is the last day, and here are a few items that are left.  MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar We celebrate what the T.D. Jakes Foundation did for our incoming scholars. Aaaand we keep going for the returning scholars who need us. Hug yourself for me. See you next week!  Heeeeeey Mafia Miracle Maker. We are in the midst of our FIFTH move-in season. About 15 years ago, I prayed what I thought was the most ridiculous prayer I had ever prayed in my life. I was sitting somewhere. I still remember the spot. And I felt immediately, completely stupid for even saying it out loud. Here it is. "Lord I want to travel around. Hug a bunch of people. And surprise them." That's it. That was the whole prayer. I had no idea what it meant. I had no plan. I had no framework. My heart just... said that. And my brain immediately responded with: what does that even mean, TeeJ? And yet... ABOUT THAT STUPID LITTLE PRAYER Today, I TRAVEL to HBCUs. I HUG a bunch of HBCU students. And I SURPRISE them with decked-out dorm rooms. That prayer I thought was stupid? I had no idea that it would lead me to the BEST JOB EVER! SMILE PRODUCERS This week we kicked off our 5th move-in season. Seven scholars walked into their rooms this past week. Seven.   LOOK. AT. THOSE. FACES. Joy! Pure Joy! That is the split second. The exact moment they see what we built for them. Before they know what to say. Before they find the words. That is the prayer. Right there. Answered. Seven times over. YOUR GUESS COULD WIN We moved in one of our Livingstone College scholars this past weekend. What in the world did we give him that made him light up like this?  Wanna guess to win? Send your best guess to [email protected] with the subject line Smile Producer. Every right guess goes into a drawing. One winner takes home Mafia merch. WE STILL NEED YOU Move-in season is in full effect. This Saturday, August 8, we are on the ground at two schools: - Howard University in Washington, D.C. - Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. If you are anywhere near either of those campuses, or you know someone who is, I am asking you personally to show up.  Sign up to volunteer: MoveInDayMafia.org/MoveIn If you can't make it in person, you can still show up right here: MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate Every dollar funds the moments you just saw in those photos. Let's go get them. 💜 See you next week and don't forget to send in your guess. Hug yourself for me. |
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
August 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed