The Smile Trust, led by Co-Founders Valencia Gunder and Brayland Brown, is on the ground to help neighbors in need in Miami, Atlanta, and communities worldwide
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The Smile Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that needs your support. Please help us support our ongoing programs by donating today!
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How your donations help
The Smile Trust has a long track record of providing community-based disaster relief, including our Community Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) and wellness check programs, which were originally launched in 2017 when we served 23,000 households in response to Hurricane Irma.
More recently, during 2022’s Hurricane Ian, we supported 46 hubs and aided 64 organizations that together served 187,000 households throughout the state.
Our active mutual-aid network includes 33 hubs that we run in close collaboration with our sub-granted community-based partners. For our network of hubs statewide, we provide pass-through funding and technical support. We also coordinate information-sharing, advocacy, and a state-of-the-art, door-to-door wellness check program.
All of these efforts are designed to protect vulnerable and hard-to-reach Black and brown residents in impacted areas or who were displaced by the storms.
In 2024, we are also focused on fighting the media disinformation that is taking hope away from those affected and discouraging the neediest from accessing needed resources.
The Smile Trust is working closely with a coalition of other Miami-based neighborhood organizations to deliver disaster relief services, including The Black Collective, Date County Street Response, Koncious Kontractors, The Village Freedge, Dignity Power, Community Justice Project, Miami Worker’s Center, Power U, WeCount!, Faith in Florida, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Student Power Network, Transinclusive Group, Check out these articles:
- A Tale of Two Irmas: rich Miami ready for tumult as poor Miami waits and hopes (The Guardian, September 9, 2017).
- Florida volunteers step in to prepare for Hurricane Irma (USA Today, September 8, 2017).
- Poor In Miami: Hoping to Ride Out Irma On Bread and Cans of Tuna (WLRN, September 8, 2017).
- Why some Floridians aren’t leaving their homes for Hurricane Irma (Mic, September 7, 2017).