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Our Story
Where THRIVE ON! Began
THRIVE ON! began in the spring of 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when communities were navigating uncertainty and urgent needs.
At that moment, young people stepped forward.
Within less than a week, youth connected to what would become THRIVE ON! organized a crowdfunded campaign that raised $4,500 to assemble and distribute care kits for people experiencing homelessness. More than 200 community supporters and over 30 grassroots collaborators made the effort possible.
Those kits were built through community collaboration. They included handmade face masks sewn by a group of Guatemalan women in Kingston, New York, along with blankets, tote bags, water bottles, meal cards, and other essential items.
It was a modest campaign — but it revealed something foundational.
What That Moment Revealed
That first effort showed what happens when barriers are removed.
Young people did not need permission to lead.
Community members did not need convincing to support one another.
Skills, care, and resources already existed — they simply needed coordination, trust, and space to move.
This was our first experience of eliminating barriers: not by inventing capacity, but by allowing what already existed to connect and flow.
Growing Through Community-Led Campaigns
Following that initial campaign, THRIVE ON! continued organizing multiple crowdfunded and community-supported efforts in the years that followed. These campaigns responded to evolving community needs and deepened youth leadership, collaboration, and logistical coordination.
Each effort reinforced the same lesson: community-led action was effective, trusted, and capable — but increasingly limited by a lack of formal infrastructure, sustainability, and long-term support.
The work was growing. The question became how to support it without losing its spirit.
From Campaigns to a Pilot Model
In 2024, THRIVE ON! launched its first formal pilot to move beyond individual campaigns toward a more durable, community-rooted model.
The pilot focused on:
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Paid leadership pathways for young people
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Support and incubation for grassroots leaders and projects
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Shared infrastructure to reduce administrative and operational burden
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Democratic and decentralized decision-making rooted in community
This pilot was supported by the NoVo Foundation and concluded at the end of 2025, marking a key transition point in THRIVE ON!’s development.
What emerged was not a fixed program, but a platform — one capable of supporting leadership, projects, and partnerships over time.
What We Built — and
Why it Matters
THRIVE ON! did not replace the energy that fueled early campaigns. It built structure around it.
Youth leadership became compensated and sustained.
Grassroots work gained stability without losing its roots.
Community trust was preserved while accountability and capacity increased.
The core belief remained the same: people already have what they need to thrive. Our role is to remove barriers, share access, and support what is already alive.
Where We Are Headed.
Today, THRIVE ON! continues to grow as a youth-powered and community-rooted platform that supports leadership, collaboration, and long-term community ownership.
Our story is not one of sudden scale or disruption. It is a story of emergence — shaped by community response, refined through practice, and strengthened through partnership.