Our 2024 Case For Support

Reinventing Home for Human Flourishing in the 21st Century

thehearthmatters.com

–Ellen Swallow Richards, Home Economics movement founder

THE UNTENDED HEARTH When women left home to work in the Public Sphere in the 70’s, there wasn’t much of a plan for who was going to mind home and hearth.

Western women have made incredible gains in the Public sphere during the last 60 years, achieving levels of education, equality and financial independence that our great grandmothers could only dream of.

But there has been a price: we’ve had to leave the Domestic Sphere largely untended.

Homemade has in many cases been replaced with profit-focused market-made versions that simply can’t replicate the love, care and wisdom of home and hearth.

Women are exhausted as they attempt to manage both spheres. Our kids are struggling with alarming rates of obesity, illness and depression, and men are unmoored.

Amidst the sweeping tide of change, and in our collective pursuit of progress, we believe we have inadvertently dimmed the flame that nourishes the human family.

NOW IS THE TIME TO RETHINK, REVALUE AND REINVENT HOME AND HEARTH.

WHEN THE HEARTH MATTERS, HUMANS FLOURISH Hearth Matters is a new nonprofit committed to developing pragmatic solutions that improve the lives of mothers, householders, and our entire human family.

OUR VISION

We envision a world where women are empowered with the knowledge and resources to create a nourishing home and every child is given the care they need to thrive.

OUR MISSION Our mission is to elevate the social and economic status of the care provided in our homes with 21st century solutions

OUR INITIATIVES REVIVE HOME & HEARTH CHAMPION THE DOMESTIC SPHERE We embrace the philosophy of early feminists who viewed home as a sanctuary that required loving and skilled leadership, and saw the roles of householders as essential to human well-being.

Our goal is to reintroduce and amplify this perspective in our cultural consciousness through our podcast, social media, speaking engagements, strategic partnerships, and a forthcoming book.

We also actively engage with tech leaders to ensure their technologies are aligned with human flourishing.

BUILD A 21ST CENTURY COTTAGE ECONOMY Our Neighbor-to-Neighbor Network model reimagines and upgrades our ancestors’ cottage economy by uniting producers and consumers in a homebased "sharing" economy model. This model prioritizes human flourishing and makes financial sense. Multiple NTN Networks form a Domesteconomy that coexists with the Market Economy.

REIGNITE THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT OF HOME Our business training program for home-based ‘cottage’ businesses provides a viable route for those trying to escape the ‘two-income trap,’ and significantly reduces the economic vulnerability of full and part-time householders and mothers.

TEACH HUMAN FLOURISHING The skills and knowledge required to manage a household, find a mate, start a family and successfully navigate the complexities of our new era are now largely absent in our academic institutions.

Taking inspiration from both the practical skills taught in early Home Economics and the ‘whole person’ educational philosophy of the 19th century Scandinavian ‘Bildung’ movement, our 21st century version will aggregate online classes from best-inclass thinkers from around the world and blend them with our own courses to create a ‘Hearthology‘ curricula that teaches human flourishing.

$250K TO IGNITE A MOVEMENT CHAMPION THE DOMESTIC SPHERE Phase I - 2023

Phase II - 2024

Establish the Hearth Matters Nonprofit Publish and engage readers with a series of articles and chapbooks that tell the story of the Hearth on Substack Build a home podcast studio and record 3 podcasts Start developing strategic partnerships with potential allies

REVIVE THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT OF THE HEARTH

$100K

$60K

Develop a home-based ‘Cottage’ Business Training Program: Identify 1-2 educational consultants to oversee the development of our curriculum Research and identify potential coteachers like New Economics for Women (NEW) Collaborate with online education platforms (like Udemy) to produce and host our curriculum

TEACH HUMAN FLOURISHING (LAUNCHING 2025) Develop an online Home Economics-style course that teaches and valorizes the practical life skills and emotional maturity required for young people to become well rounded, self-reliant, happy people Develop a more comprehensive version for those interested in pursuing householding as a vocation and/or cottage business skills

Develop and publish written, spoken and visual content, and build a website Recruit additional staff members Create and manage an online community forum Tell our story at conferences and events Create a robust donor campaign and seek grant opportunities

RECONNECT COMMUNITIES WITH A HYPERLOCAL $90K SHARING ECONOMY Prototype the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Network and the Domesteconomy Model Contract legal and accounting expertise to ensure our prototype is within the letter of the law Establish principles, guidelines and standards, and a governing body Identify, train and support 2-5 householders across a variety of demographics

Your support helps us build a world where every woman is empowered to create a healthy and loving home and every child thrives.

CAPABLE & PASSIONATE LEADERS Co-founders Kathryn Lukas-Damer and Erin Szuma, with their unique blend of multi-generational perspectives and complementary life experiences, are extraordinarily suited to breathe life into the Hearth Matters vision.

Kathryn embodies the wisdom and practical knowledge of a lifelong entrepreneur and innovator whose foresight enables her to perceive patterns and new possibilities for the future.

A relentless solution seeker, her vision for Hearth Matters started to crystallize in 2016 when it occurred her that reunifying home and work could dramatically improve women’s lives.

As President and Chief Visionary Officer, she is wholeheartedly committed to bringing her Public Sphere expertise and leadership skills to the Domestic Sphere.

Erin, with her first baby on the way, embodies the Hearth Matters vision as a new mother making a living while making home.

The intense economic and social pressures facing young women today are deeply familiar to Erin and shape her ‘why.’ She hopes to model and promote paths to motherhood and family life that include the freedom, fulfillment and financial security that the next generations want.

Erin’s professional background is in start-up marketing, program and people management, and human resources leadership, which makes her ideally suited to grow and develop our organization as Executive Director.

HEARTH

MATTERS

Hearth Matters is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, independent, non-profit organization. thehearthmatters.com Hearth Matters Boulder Creek, CA 95006 Email: hearthmatters@gmail.com

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