June 29, 2021 • 8 mins
When Peyton was in third grade she learned that there were homeless children in her home town of Milwaukee. She wanted to invite them to her birthday party; when that proved impractical she raised $500 and started a nonprofit. And she didn’t stop there.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day, we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for Today. We've said it before, but one of the
things that gives us the most hope during these challenging
times is seeing younger generations tackling today's problems. Today, we're
going to share the story of an amazing young woman
who had just eight years old, started her own nonprofit
to help the homeless in Milwaukee pay and saw firsthand
(00:48):
the gravity of homelessness when she learned that her mother's
uncle was homeless. She initially wanted to invite homeless children
to her birthday party so they could have a good time.
The pandemic complicated that plan, so Peyton went on to
found her nonprofit, I Have a Child. Their children and
adults can make donations to give homeless children sustainable gifts
(01:09):
as well as everyday living necessities. We spoke to Peyton
to learn about I Have a Child and her inspiring work.
Here's what she had to say, Peyton, thanks so much
for joining us, Thank you for having us. So you
started a nonprofit for homeless children called I Have a Child.
What does I Have a Child do? And how did
you come up with the idea? Well, first, what made
(01:31):
me come up with the idea is I've seen homelessness
close up with my own uncle, and I didn't like that.
And I did some research and figured out that there's
also children that are homeless. And I also learned that
there are more than two point five million children that
are just like me that are homeless. And so I
(01:51):
didn't like that, and I asked my mom if I
could invite homeless children to my eighth birthday party and
she said, well, not quite, but maybe you can do
something to bring awareness to it. And I said, okay,
how about we starting organization or a business or something
and she said yeah, sure, um. And of course, my
(02:13):
both of my parents helped me come up with a name,
and that name was I Have a Child. And it's
an organization that helps bring awareness to child homelessness. And
how we do that is we make card crabs and
T shirts and we sell those items, and the money
(02:34):
that we get from people buying it goes to the
homeless shelters, so we go to and also we get
hygiene product donations and toys for the younger children that
are there. And the pandemic was especially hard on the homeless.
What did I Have a Child do differently during the pandemic, Well,
what I Have a Child did differently was we kind
(02:54):
of took a pause with pop up shops and interviews
her podcast, but we still got donations and toy donations
and um, we still were raising money for I Have
a Child, And whenever we got to five dollars, we
(03:15):
went to a shelter and we gave it, and we
gave that five hundred dollars to the shelter that we
want to And I recently just gave a lot of
donations and a five dollar donation to Joy not Joy House,
but Surjourn the Truth. That's amazing. Well, I do want
(03:35):
to talk about Joy House, the women's homeless shelter that
you work with. What's been your experience working with Joy House.
My experience was big. I was very elated at that
time and it it it just it feels good to
give back and like you don't need to keep everything
for yourself. You could, I mean you could, Like I
(03:58):
I love helping other said are less fortunate than me,
and I just I love helping anybody actually, and so
that's why I love I have a child. So you
originally wanted to share your birthday with other homeless children,
but you couldn't because of COVID. Do you have any
plans for your next birthday? Well, a couple of weeks ago,
(04:21):
I just had a birthday and I turned nine on
May two, And for that birthday party was it was
a community community birthday party, and so a lot and
a lot of people came. A lot of close friends
and close family came, um and even the police officers
in that spot came, and people in the community. And
(04:44):
whatever gifts they got me, I donated them to the
homeless shelters that we went to. And a lot of
the gifts I got, like I said, I donated it,
and it felt good actually doing that. Like I wasn't
sad or anything because I don't need anything, like the
children needs stuff. Like not in a rude ray, but
(05:08):
I'm saying like they deserve it, after all they've been through.
They deserve the gifts that I got. Well that's incredibly
generous of you. I'd like to know what have you
learned since you started I have a child. What I
learned is I love giving back to children or adults
who are less fortunate than me, and it you can
(05:29):
do whatever you want. I mean, I don't have to
do I have a child, but to my choice, I
want to do it. And it's amazing. I love it.
It's so fun and it's not sad. It's just it's
re awarding and just it's amazing to give back. You
(05:50):
don't have to give up on anything. You might make it,
you might make a mistake, but that doesn't mean you
can't do what you want to do, follow your dream
like I am. Do you have any role dolls that
inspire you. My role models are really just my parents
and and close friends and close family because without them,
I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this. And I've
(06:14):
and my dad, my mom, my stepdad, and my mom's
really close friend Mr. Tony, just a lot of people
and a lot of close family and friends. Like I said,
And lastly, I'd love to know what your dreams are
for the future. Well, I'm very interested in science and
I really want to be a scientist when I grow
up and i'm and of course I'm still gonna keep
(06:38):
track of Eye of a Child and keep giving different
shelters five dollars in different donations. And also I want
to be an Olympic swimmer. If talking to young women
like Peyton doesn't give you hope for the future, nothing will.
So here's something good for today. Peyton is a shining
(06:58):
example of the generosity and empathy of the next generation.
She saw an opportunity to help even at her young age,
and continues to spread her generosity and inspire other children
to do the same. Peyton shows us that even the
smallest spark of an idea, such as inviting homeless children
to her birthday party, can inspire a greater movement. Today,
(07:18):
she receives donations from all over the country on Behalf
of Homeless Children. If you'd like to learn more about
Peyton's incredible work or where you can donate, visit I
Have a Child dot org. Thank you for listening, and
(07:41):
please share Today's something good with others in your life.
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(08:08):
from I heart Radio, check out the I heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day, we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for Today. We've said it before, but one of the
things that gives us the most hope during these challenging
times is seeing younger generations tackling today's problems. Today, we're
going to share the story of an amazing young woman
who had just eight years old, started her own nonprofit
to help the homeless in Milwaukee pay and saw firsthand
(00:48):
the gravity of homelessness when she learned that her mother's
uncle was homeless. She initially wanted to invite homeless children
to her birthday party so they could have a good time.
The pandemic complicated that plan, so Peyton went on to
found her nonprofit, I Have a Child. Their children and
adults can make donations to give homeless children sustainable gifts
(01:09):
as well as everyday living necessities. We spoke to Peyton
to learn about I Have a Child and her inspiring work.
Here's what she had to say, Peyton, thanks so much
for joining us, Thank you for having us. So you
started a nonprofit for homeless children called I Have a Child.
What does I Have a Child do? And how did
you come up with the idea? Well, first, what made
(01:31):
me come up with the idea is I've seen homelessness
close up with my own uncle, and I didn't like that.
And I did some research and figured out that there's
also children that are homeless. And I also learned that
there are more than two point five million children that
are just like me that are homeless. And so I
(01:51):
didn't like that, and I asked my mom if I
could invite homeless children to my eighth birthday party and
she said, well, not quite, but maybe you can do
something to bring awareness to it. And I said, okay,
how about we starting organization or a business or something
and she said yeah, sure, um. And of course, my
(02:13):
both of my parents helped me come up with a name,
and that name was I Have a Child. And it's
an organization that helps bring awareness to child homelessness. And
how we do that is we make card crabs and
T shirts and we sell those items, and the money
(02:34):
that we get from people buying it goes to the
homeless shelters, so we go to and also we get
hygiene product donations and toys for the younger children that
are there. And the pandemic was especially hard on the homeless.
What did I Have a Child do differently during the pandemic, Well,
what I Have a Child did differently was we kind
(02:54):
of took a pause with pop up shops and interviews
her podcast, but we still got donations and toy donations
and um, we still were raising money for I Have
a Child, And whenever we got to five dollars, we
(03:15):
went to a shelter and we gave it, and we
gave that five hundred dollars to the shelter that we
want to And I recently just gave a lot of
donations and a five dollar donation to Joy not Joy House,
but Surjourn the Truth. That's amazing. Well, I do want
(03:35):
to talk about Joy House, the women's homeless shelter that
you work with. What's been your experience working with Joy House.
My experience was big. I was very elated at that
time and it it it just it feels good to
give back and like you don't need to keep everything
for yourself. You could, I mean you could, Like I
(03:58):
I love helping other said are less fortunate than me,
and I just I love helping anybody actually, and so
that's why I love I have a child. So you
originally wanted to share your birthday with other homeless children,
but you couldn't because of COVID. Do you have any
plans for your next birthday? Well, a couple of weeks ago,
(04:21):
I just had a birthday and I turned nine on
May two, And for that birthday party was it was
a community community birthday party, and so a lot and
a lot of people came. A lot of close friends
and close family came, um and even the police officers
in that spot came, and people in the community. And
(04:44):
whatever gifts they got me, I donated them to the
homeless shelters that we went to. And a lot of
the gifts I got, like I said, I donated it,
and it felt good actually doing that. Like I wasn't
sad or anything because I don't need anything, like the
children needs stuff. Like not in a rude ray, but
(05:08):
I'm saying like they deserve it, after all they've been through.
They deserve the gifts that I got. Well that's incredibly
generous of you. I'd like to know what have you
learned since you started I have a child. What I
learned is I love giving back to children or adults
who are less fortunate than me, and it you can
(05:29):
do whatever you want. I mean, I don't have to
do I have a child, but to my choice, I
want to do it. And it's amazing. I love it.
It's so fun and it's not sad. It's just it's
re awarding and just it's amazing to give back. You
(05:50):
don't have to give up on anything. You might make it,
you might make a mistake, but that doesn't mean you
can't do what you want to do, follow your dream
like I am. Do you have any role dolls that
inspire you. My role models are really just my parents
and and close friends and close family because without them,
I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this. And I've
(06:14):
and my dad, my mom, my stepdad, and my mom's
really close friend Mr. Tony, just a lot of people
and a lot of close family and friends. Like I said,
And lastly, I'd love to know what your dreams are
for the future. Well, I'm very interested in science and
I really want to be a scientist when I grow
up and i'm and of course I'm still gonna keep
(06:38):
track of Eye of a Child and keep giving different
shelters five dollars in different donations. And also I want
to be an Olympic swimmer. If talking to young women
like Peyton doesn't give you hope for the future, nothing will.
So here's something good for today. Peyton is a shining
(06:58):
example of the generosity and empathy of the next generation.
She saw an opportunity to help even at her young age,
and continues to spread her generosity and inspire other children
to do the same. Peyton shows us that even the
smallest spark of an idea, such as inviting homeless children
to her birthday party, can inspire a greater movement. Today,
(07:18):
she receives donations from all over the country on Behalf
of Homeless Children. If you'd like to learn more about
Peyton's incredible work or where you can donate, visit I
Have a Child dot org. Thank you for listening, and
(07:41):
please share Today's something good with others in your life.
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(08:08):
from I heart Radio, check out the I heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
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