Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nikki Madden. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Nikki, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

At our nonprofit organization, we are committed to providing assistance to those underserved. This list may include: the homeless community, single parents, teen parents, or even a family who lost everything. No matter who or what the situation is, we are there every step of the way.

One story that stands out to me the most was with a single mom, trying to make a way for her extended family. She was a victim of sex trafficking at an early age, which eventually led to her having children. She knew nothing about the corporate world, or even how to begin entering one. We worked with her for a few months, and created goals, and shuffled the cards she was dealt with. By use doing that, it gave her hope and understanding on how to achieve things in the future.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Lali’s Foundation For Families In A Crisis was born amidst my own crisis! At the early stages of my divorce, I realized that assistance for families were either limited and/or depleted. At that time, I could not help but to empathize the anxious feeling of hopelessness another family might have endured. I began drafting ideas on how to gather resources for assistance. Throughout that process, I acquired a network of business associates. These people helped me mold and shape Lali’sFFC into who we are today. We might not be able to help our clients financially, but mentally we prepare them for what’s to come.

Since 2018, we began establishing community events. We have hosted: a Hygiene Drive (assembled 97 hygiene kits for the homeless community), Baby Product Drive (gathered over 2,000 baby items), a Family Resource Exchange (issuing donated items to families in the community), and partnered with other nonprofit organizations with a Resource Exchange (passing donated items and food to the Homeless Community).

Being able to give back to the community is something we pride ourselves on. Building relationships with our clients is something we strive for. Whether it’s passing out essential resources to the homeless community in “The Zone”, or establishing goals to a family that’s new to its process, we are there every step of the way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the early years of LalisFFC, we gained a client who was lost with in the system. At our 1st meet, I noticed how quiet she was. She was never able to answer a question with driven purpose. After I asked my series of questions, and explained to her our process, I noticed her morale picked up. One of her 3 goals was to get a job. However, I didn’t know the obstacle we were faced with until she conveyed that her only work experience was 12 years on the streets. Creating a resume with 7 years of experience was a huge challenge in front of me. I was able to refer through her memory bank and use volunteer experience as “work experience”.

It worked! She was in our Mending Me Program for 10 months, and for the duration of that time, she was able to contact us for anything. She trusted us with guiding her down a path of self sufficiency. Her purpose changed once she went to her 1st interview in over a decade! Sad to say, she was faced with too many legal issues, and was forced to serve time.

It might not have been a happy ending to this story, but we showed hard work and effort every week we met with her. This was not a complete success, but we learned from this case, and was able to treat similar ones differently.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Having been a single mom for majority of my life, I was taken aback when I was informed of multiple health issues, ending my 12 years of teaching. I had to go from a life of independence, to a life of dependency. At the time, my husband was the only one working; that was in 2016. Two years later, we separated, and eventually divorced. I was not prepared, and I had to go into all out grind mode!

In 2018, in the middle of my divorce, I started a nonprofit organization called Lali’s Foundation For Families In A Crisis. We are geared to assisting families in need. For the last 4 years, we’ve helped the displaced, new moms, teen families, and single fathers. We’ve hosted a Family Resource Exchange, where families can take any items for free. We’ve also partnered with other nonprofit organizations to help the homeless community in a similar fashion. Many of our clientele is by word of mouth, or ones who DM us via our social media pages.

I also began another business around the same time. This one showcases my creative side and allows me to customize personal baskets and sew hair bonnets. Nikki’s Noveltiez is my online business that was a side hustle turn main hustle. I make: customized personal baskets for all occasions (birthday, Easter, Mother’s Day, apology, etc), jewelry, sew satin hair bonnets (eye masks for sleepwear, face masks, and hair wraps). Currently, I’m working on a new pattern for babies and creating durags. I’ve only been sewing for a little under a year, and I’ve attracted customers from other states.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lalisffc.com
• Instagram: LalisFFC
• Facebook: Lali’s Foundation For Families In A Crisis
• Linkedin: LalisFFC
• Twitter: FFCLalis
• Other: Nikki’s Noveltiez Information -FB: Nikki’s Noveltiez AZ -IG:nikkisnoveltiezaz