For Mindy Jones, meaningful change often begins with something simple: recognizing a need and finding the people willing to help meet it.
“Community on Purpose was created around a simple idea: when people know where they can help, they usually want to,” Jones says. “Sometimes that means giving their time, sometimes it means opening their network, sometimes it means making a financial contribution, and often, the biggest impact happens when all three come together.”
That mission was recently brought to life through Rhinestone Ranch, a home created to provide girls in foster care with a safe, welcoming, and thoughtfully designed place to live and grow.
The project was about far more than furnishing a house. The goal was to create a space where the girls could feel comfortable, valued, and truly at home. Every detail was approached with intention, transforming the residence into a place that offered not only necessities, but warmth, personality and a sense of belonging.
When Branching Out invited Community on Purpose to become involved, Jones saw an opportunity to bring even more of the community into the project.
“We were so grateful that Branching Out thought to invite Community on Purpose into the work they were doing to create a home for girls in foster care,” Jones says. “From there, we were able to do what we love most: bring people together around a need.”
Community on Purpose made a financial contribution while also reaching into its network to connect local businesses, donors and volunteers with opportunities to participate. Partners contributed furnishings, services, funding, and their time, while Jones and other volunteers worked hand in hand to prepare the home for its reveal.
The result demonstrated what can happen when many people each contribute what they can.
“For me, Rhinestone Ranch was such a beautiful example of what Community on Purpose is meant to be,” Jones says. “We don’t believe every person or business has to solve the whole problem. Sometimes our role is simply to help people find the part they can play and then connect all of those parts together.”
While Rhinestone Ranch is one of the organization’s most recent projects, it represents a model Community on Purpose brings to many causes. Throughout October, the nonprofit supported Breast Cancer Awareness Month initiatives, volunteered with ICAN for its Harvest celebrations, and supported a costume drive benefiting both HandsOn Greater Phoenix and the House of Refuge.
Now, the organization is preparing for holiday giving efforts, including filling wish lists for local families and organizations. Community members will be able to contribute financially, purchase items, shop, wrap gifts, make deliveries, or bring their own businesses and teams into the effort.
“One of the things I love most about Community on Purpose is that there isn’t just one way to participate,” Jones says. "We encourage people to be the change they want to see because community truly happens when people show up…on purpose."
For Jones, that is ultimately what community is about: people using whatever resources they have to make a difference.
“Community doesn’t have to be complicated,” she says. “It starts when someone notices a need, someone else says, ‘I can help with that,’ and we make it easier for those two people to find each other.”