My friend Fran Held wants to make very sure that you pay more attention to her work on the Mitzvah Circle Foundation than to her. I know that she was born in New Jersey and raised there by a single mother, and that she now lives in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
Though I do not have much information about her, I know a great deal about Fran.
I know that Fran is kind, insightful, and has integrity. I know that she is willing to work very hard and make sacrifices to put what she believes into practice. I know that she has a very good sense of humor, that I trust her.
What is the story of Mitzvah Circle?
Mitzvah Circle evolved over time to meet the needs of people who struggle because of crisis, poverty, homelessness and serious illness. We often forget that over the course of a lifetime each of us will need help and have opportunities to give help. During times of struggle, it is often difficult to secure the support that is truly needed. When a situation appears dire and others think, it is too difficult to solve—it is my honor to try to solve it.
The difficult part of explaining how Mitzvah Circle was born is that it evolved. It never crossed my mind to say “No” when anyone needed help. Mom of two young children had cancer and when it looked like she wasn’t going to recover, people were uncomfortable and unable to visit and participate in her care. I visited with her and assisted her family and created a volunteer network for specific tasks, until she died. There have been dozens of situations like that one– where people fall through the cracks and don’t get what they so desperately need. Students who want to drop out of college because they can’t afford laundry soap and deodorant. I have always known that it is possible to fill those gaps and nurture people through times of great difficulty.
What is the greatest challenge you have faced during the last five years? What did you learn from that?
Aside from building a non-profit that serves about 20 thousand people a year from the ground with no seed money….My greatest challenge has been learning that help comes from people who believe what I believe. People who share my beliefs crave opportunities to create a better world for all people.
What are the core values in which Mitzvah Circle is based?
Mitzvah Circle is based on the simple idea that every person matters. Every individual is beautiful, unique and is of value. Every person is worthy of hope and dignity. Everyone is deserving of good things.
How do they fit with your own personal core values?
The values of Mitzvah Circle are my values. The work of Mitzvah Circle Foundation is an opportunity to live my beliefs every day with my hands, feet and heart. Giving hope and dignity without barriers or judgment is the only way I can give. Our Classroom4Good.org allows me to communicate these values to students, which I am very excited about!
What do you expect to be the greatest challenge you will face during the next five years?
My greatest challenge will be how we individualize our response to every person in need as we continue to grow. Mitzvah Circle Foundation gives individuals who contact us, the opportunity to tell their story to a person who is listening, a person who really cares. We create an individualized response for each situation knowing one size doesn’t fit all.
Thank you, Fran.
You can learn more about the Mitzvah Circle Foundation and Fran’s work mitzvahcircle.org, and by following Fran on Twitter at @MitzvahCircle.
[Image by Matthias]
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