When I was four, my family was homeless. We stayed with friends from church, and I still remember falling asleep beside their fish tank. What carried us through wasn't one big rescue but a string of small kindnesses: a meal, a gift card, a bag of hand-me-downs. In this talk I share how those small acts added up to stability, why the dignity of work matters, and how giving back, from cutting hair at community events to coaching clients as a personal trainer, keeps the cycle going. Small sums, given with love, add up to transformation.

Delivered at Small Sums' 2025 Stories Matter Fashion Show (St. Paul, MN). Full speech: https://www.smallsums.org/blog/2025-stories-matter-fashion-show