This week’s post, I’d like to talk about something a little bit different, and that’s what I do outside of outreach to try to make our programs functional.
A large part of my time is spent trying to source avenues of revenue. Our Patreon community has been exceptionally good to us over the past 5 years. In the last 2 years, however, we’ve seen a drop in monthly donations by about 50%. This has been a slow decrease over time. Until this year, approximately $200 per month of the Patreon funds were going to pay for phone bills for a pair of formerly unsheltered neighbors who’ve moved indoors. Those phone bills have now been moved to the responsibility of Blossoming Transitions, as the purpose of this phone bill falls under transition support. Currently we earn approximately $319 per month from Patreon (you guys are awesome!), 100% of that goes to outreach.
I’ve also been managing a TCGPlayer store where I sell Pokemon, Lorcana and Star Wars Unlimited cards. 100% of the profits from the TCGPlayer store goes to outreach. Managing this store is actually quite time consuming. I spend, on average, 15 hours per week managing inventory, pulling and shipping orders and this store has been quite successful for us for this year. Since the beginning of the year the TCGPlayer store has brought in $1,136.97 in extra outreach funding, which is an average of about $142.12 extra per month so far. However, the last 3 months, the store has been averaging about $65 – $70 per month, which is typical compared to previous years.
I also typically spend about 5 hours per week writing new posts, updating our BlueSky page, and making an occasional TikTok post. On 8/23/2025 I’m running a shave ice fundraiser in my neighborhood to try to raise some more funds.
Prior to taking on a larger role trying to secure funding so we can continue to operate our outreach and transition support programs, I used to cook a meal for outreach every week. I honestly no longer have time to do this every week. While it still does happen, it’s rare.
Currently Blossoming Transitions is receiving $125 in recurring monthly donations, and pretty much $0 in other donations. Currently, our Transition support program is spending approximately $530 per month on a storage unit, 2 phone bills and utility bills for 4 formerly unsheltered neighbors. The difference is being covered, currently, by myself.
Beyond the 20 hours per week I put into Blossoming Transitions, I’m also a full-time student and full-time parent to a rambunctious 6-year-old.
If you have any way of helping us out, spreading the word, and getting our message seen, I would be eternally grateful. Blossoming Transitions also has an open volunteer board position if you’re interested in volunteering!
Sincerely,
Christina
Leave a Reply