Hello! My name is Melissa Chwalinski, the founder of the Chwalinski Foundation which offers life skills and social support programs. Nice to meet you.
A compilation of many years of experience, with all kinds of people, has turned into a passion for teaching foundational self care, domestic and workplace skills, fostering multigenerational and interdependent communities, social advocacy and public service. This organization works independently as well as collaboratively with other organizations to better meet the needs of our communities regardless of location, background, or socioeconomic status. Through a variety of programs, we and community partners have come together to educate, encourage and empower those in need of foundational life and workforce skills. These skills empower our program participants to live fulfilling, successful, and holistically healthy lives and promotes a functionally elevated society and workforce.
Feel free to click on any of the icons below to explore the programs and services we currently offer.
Quality of life directly correlates with the quality of what we consume and the sustainable cultivation of it. We work toward educating our communities about what clean, high quality food is, how and where to source it and how to prepare it in a nutritious as well as delicious way as affordably as possible. Meals are such a significant part of our life and health. When we make changes in that area it usually triggers other lifestyle changes as well. We partner with a life skills education provider to offer encouraging and practical advice on how to navigate the connective lifestyle changes that come with a decision to begin a healthier lifestyle with food. Portions of this education are delivered at in-person workshops but for ease of accessibility and to ensure everyone has the support they need at their fingertips, we have created and compiled digital classes and cooking demonstrations for ease of use anytime.
We believe our maturing community is a vibrant and rich resource to the world around us. We are committed to assisting our 65 and up population in living their life, as and where they desire, with dignity, comfort, competency and confidence. We do this in a variety of ways. Some of which are through education and support services such as:
Hand over hand, side by side, or even done for you task completion
Actionable lifestyle improvement coaching and support
Virtual assistant/personal assistant/executive assistant services
We strive to facilitate our elders becoming more successfully integrated into multi-generational, interdependent communities. Through an empowered elder population projects like "Reclaiming Community" could be nationally implemented successfully. This process sometimes involves some updated life and relationship skills training to allow for better understanding and connection across generations. Other ways we celebrate and tap into the wisdom of our elders and integrate that wisdom into the day to day lives of coming generations is through capturing their, orated, lived experiences. These "Porch Light Talks" are often real life tales of having a vision and overcoming obstacles to reap the joys of success to come later on. Sometimes we even have the opportunity to capture the story of a common person that has been behind the scenes or alongside some of the most remarkable, even famous, people or events. We feel this is a priceless yet rapidly disintegrating resource from which many generations to come could draw inspiration, encouragement and hope from. We work to capture these stories, produce them digitally to preserve them, and make them easily available for the greater good of humanity.
Some elders need this help but cannot afford it. We accept these elders on a case-by-case basis. They pay what they can, and generous donations from people who support our work cover the rest.
Cultural experiences are essential for learning how to integrate diversity in a community. Travel provides priceless education about different cultures and geographical terrain. Through the extra special journey of one lucky and devoted support animal as well as the food and travel adventures of his furless family and friends we share all we learn with those seeking low anxiety, comfortably accessible, resource conscious, high quality travel experiences.
Humans were designed to live in interdependent communities but as time has passed and many changes have happened in our world we have become more hyper independent and isolated making us less able to engage in healthy community practices in sustainable and supportive ways. This has left many people with rapidly declining health and well being. Our desire is to both create and come alongside existing established micro-communities to strengthen them through teaching healthy life and self care skills, multigenerational interdependence practices, and functional community relationship skills. Many hands make light the load and a warm smile comforts a weary soul.
Is life piling up faster than you can handle it? The mail, the bills, the paperwork, the appointments, the house. You are not lazy, and you are not failing. You have just been carrying it alone.
LifeOps Allies comes to you, in person and one on one, for adults ages 21 to 64. We work right beside you to set up simple systems for your home, your paperwork, and your week, and we stay with you until they work. When life has gotten away from you, our transformational boot camps help you reset fast.
You end up with a home that runs, systems you understand, and the confidence to keep it going. See Services and Pricing for rates.
We are planning places where life skills become hands-on: tangible, accessible, and enjoyable. Our long-term vision includes a three-acre permaculture kitchen garden that will host in-person workshops, internships, and the filming of educational content. Projects like these take time, partners, and people who believe in them. If you want to help bring this vision to life, we would love to hear from you.
The Chwalinski Foundation partners with independent organizations to bring curriculum, coaching, and practical tools to the people we serve.
Ways to support our nonprofit efforts
Every elder we sit beside, every family we equip, and every life skill we teach happens because someone decided to stand behind this work. Right now we are raising $24,000 to cover our basic yearly operations. We have plenty of volunteer opportunities, and we would love your hands. But if what you have read here moves you, and you want to see this work grow across Little Rock, the question is simple: how much of it will you carry?
Will you be one of:
80 people at $25 monthly
40 people at $50 monthly
20 people at $100 monthly
8 people at $250 monthly
4 people at $500 monthly
2 people at $1,000 monthly
or
1 person to cover the entire $24K
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Prefer to give once? We welcome one-time gifts from any individual or business that wants to help equip and elevate our community. Click the button below and choose your one-time gift amount.
We're a bootstrapped, grassroots organization that is still being discovered across the greater Little Rock area. Until our programs are self-sustaining, we rely on neighbors who see the need for this work and want to help carry it. Thank you in advance for paying it forward.
Chwalinski Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity (EIN 42-2978877). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.