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Kevin Adler
Founder and CEO of Miracle Messages
Kevin F. Adler is the Founder and CEO of Miracle Messages, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting individuals experiencing homelessness. Established in 2014, Miracle Messages focuses on rebuilding social support systems through initiatives such as family reunification services, a phone buddy program, and basic income pilots. The organization has successfully reunited over 800 families and has implemented a basic income pilot that has shown promising results in helping unhoused individuals secure housing.135
Adler's work is motivated by personal experiences, particularly the impact of his uncle, who lived on the streets for 30 years. This background informs his approach to treating unhoused individuals as people deserving of love and support rather than problems to be solved.45 His efforts have garnered significant media attention, including features in major publications like the New York Times and CNN, and he has delivered a TED Talk on the subject.23
In addition to his role at Miracle Messages, Adler is an accomplished author, with his latest book, When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America, set to be published in November 2023. He also holds an MPhil in Sociology from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Politics from Occidental College, where he was recognized as a top student.12 Adler is a sought-after speaker, addressing topics related to homelessness, social entrepreneurship, and community engagement at various prestigious venues.35
Highlights
Who are our unhoused neighbors, and how did "they" become unhoused? It was a pleasure to reconnect with Spencer Greenberg for a wide-ranging conversation on homelessness, relational poverty, my book When We Walk By, and what each of us can do to help, as part of his Clearer Thinking podcast.
Here's the link: https://bit.ly/ctp-205
#book #nonprofit Miracle Messages
"I've never really had a family."
In my final few hours in Austin this week, after a whirlwind few days of speaking and connecting at SXSW, I decided to visit Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center to get to know some of my unhoused neighbors.
That's how I met Brian. With his warm smile and quiet demeanor, Brian shared a bit of his story with me: Foster care for much of his life. Relocating to Cambodia to try to get a new start overseas. Forming a deep connection with someone there, someone he could finally care for and feel cared by. That precious person tragically passing away from cancer. A few years of aimlessness and spiraling that followed. A choice to repatriate to the United States.
And now, Brian living on the streets of Austin, feeling isolated once again.
Brian signed up for Miracle Messages' phone buddy program, but he was pretty reluctant at first. He said it's hard for him to trust and open himself up to others, after a lifetime of feeling abandoned.
I asked him if there was anything else he needed, and he said he is desperately looking for work. I offered to record a video from him to my network, to see if anyone might be willing to give Brian a chance to return to the workforce.
In the video, Brian shares some of his many skills: he has strong communication skills, honed from his 6 years of teaching experience in Cambodia. And he has worked as a welder and certified nursing assistant (CNA) in the past.
I told Brian that I could not promise that I would be able to find him work. But I did promise that I would try.
To my friends in Austin: can you help Brian find work? And if not, simply be his friend?
"Anyone who can reach out and talk to me and guide me toward the right direction, I'd appreciate that."
Please share any leads in the comments, or be in touch with us Miracle Messages . . . . #WhenWeWalkBy #book #homelessness #nonprofit #basicincome #work #relationalpoverty #Austin #SXSW The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
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