Community Partner: Butterfly Wisper

In 2021, Butterfly Whisper, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, served 152 homeless, transient, and at-risk families, one urgent need at a time. This year is already showing the needs will be even larger than last year, and the organization’s clients are ready to bounce back with the generous support of their Whispers. At this nonprofit, donors are called “Whispers” because of the quiet strength, experience, and hope they provide to Cherokee’s “Butterflies” (their clients) to help them soar using their own “wings.” Butterflies are the forgotten members of our community, the ones among us who need the most support.

Urgent needs are ever-changing, and Butterfly Whisper rises to meet needs such as coordinating the delivery of 60,000 pounds of food to 11 mobile home communities in Cherokee, the placement and replenishment of two small food pantries in our community, care bags for our homeless community members, and one-time emergency rental assistance to vetted individuals to prevent homelessness. Butterfly Whisper fills existing gaps in other nonprofit services. Nights and weekends are their strongest support hours, as staff members meet needs that cannot wait until Monday or tomorrow.

In 2021, Butterfly Whisper coordinated the disbursement of $40,000 in donations raised exclusively within our community, all of which was distributed solely in Cherokee County. This is no small feat for a 100% volunteer-based organization, helmed by Tonya Reynolds, a decade-long Cherokee resident, who established Butterfly Whisper after her own experience with homelessness. Permanently laid off from her job in 2010, Reynolds lived in a motel for more than a year. She knew that if she ever made it out of homelessness, she was going to do everything she could to prevent others from going through what she went through. Reynolds is a success story, and she works tirelessly to create success stories for others.

Last year’s Christmas program was an enormous success with 50 families being provided Christmas wishes including items like AirPods and hoverboards, which are not normally fulfilled by nonprofits. The organization stands behind the belief that all children deserve the same magical Christmas, regardless of economic status. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter meal boxes were provided thanks to the generous support of Publix.

With growing corporate sponsorships, Butterfly Whisper has received donations from retailers such as Apple, Amazon, and Walmart, and they are strongly supported by local small businesses such as Atlanta Bread Company (Woodstock), Scrappy’s Junk Removal, Longview Lighting, McDonald’s (Hickory Flat), and Align (Woodstock). This support has given the organization the ability to take on special interest projects such as a recent clean out of a hoarding situation.

Butterfly Whisper also offers GED scholarships, and computers with internet access are available in their office to apply for jobs and create resumes.

For more information and to learn how you can help, please follow Butterfly Whisper on Facebook and/or visit their website. The organization currently has 2,700 Facebook followers, which is where interested parties can see upcoming events, current projects, fundraisers, and updates about members of our community who are doing the right thing.

 

Butterfly Whisper, Inc.

2555 Marietta Highway, Suite 202, Canton
470-222-6066
ButterflyWhisper.org