A letter to our community

Dear friends,

I owe you an update—and an apology for the gap since our last one. You have given this organization your time, your money, and your trust. You deserve to know what is happening, especially when things are changing.

We have been working through significant administrative changes, reviewing budgets, and putting new outreach programs in place. The goal is to build a responsible path forward for Mississippi: practical help for our neighbors, with real respect for the people who make that help possible. Your gifts are not just numbers in an account, and your volunteer hours are not an unlimited resource.

The Porchlight Initiative is about showing that our commitment to life does not end at birth. It means valuing people at every stage—and showing up when a mother needs help keeping the lights on, a child needs a stable home, or a family needs somewhere to turn. We fought for life. Now we fight to live.

I have also been trying to preserve familiar events while building what comes next. Those traditions matter, and so do the people who built them. But I have come to recognize that keeping everything on its usual schedule, simply to avoid disappointing anyone, is not necessarily the most responsible use of our time or our funds.

Good stewardship sometimes means changing the plan. My responsibility is not to keep every familiar thing in place at any cost. It is to make sure our decisions and resources serve the people we are here to help.

For that reason, I am recommending that we move the Walk for Mississippi to December. This would be a postponement, not a cancellation—giving us time to regroup, set a realistic budget, organize the work properly, and give the event the preparation it deserves.

Right now, four mothers have come to us needing help, and we do not have enough in our benevolence account to help them all. Their needs include a threatened power disconnection, an impending eviction, and rent assistance. Those needs cannot wait for an event to come together.

I believe our immediate energy belongs in raising the money to help these families and building a stronger plan for the work ahead—not rushing to finish a walk that needs more preparation than we can responsibly give it right now.

These mothers and their children are why we do this. The walk is supposed to bring attention and resources to that work. It should never come before it.

There is also something personal I want to share. Those of you who have had the distinct pleasure of meeting my children know they come with plenty of personality. Since February, my oldest son, Hunter Wayne, has been going through something I would not wish on any child or family. I am keeping the details private, but I am doing everything in my power to be present, stand up for him, and be the steady wall he needs his mama to be.

That is part of my life in this season, and it reinforces the need for our ministry.

I am asking for your understanding and your blessing on this direction. I also welcome your questions, concerns, or a different perspective. If you have already made plans or commitments around the walk, please reach out so we can talk through what a change would mean for you. We will share a new date once it is confirmed.

Thank you for every hour you have given, every gift you have trusted us with, and every time you have shown up. I do not take any of it lightly. Please email or text me anytime. You do not have to agree with every decision to be welcome in the conversation. God bless, Amanda Hawkins Executive Director Mississippi Life Alliance | The Porchlight Initiative Email: ahawkins@mslifealliance.org | Text: (601) 669-2026