About Teach One Feed One
Founding Story
While Founder and President Darnell Hinton (who is in recovery himself) was attending an outpatient therapy session, he was asked by his counselor what he would do that weekend. He replied: “I’m going to Kensington to feed the homeless.” He took a leap of faith and trusted that everything would work out. Teach One Feed One began on June 3, 2018, when Darnell and a team of volunteers headed to Kensington with 8 boxes of pizza. “Teach One Feed One began with $42, an iPhone 5, and an Uber account.”
Darnell believes that “If you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day. But if you teach a man how to fish, he can eat for the rest of his life.”
Teach One Feed One is now a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has traveled around the country and grown exponentially in notoriety, size, and other service offerings. Rooted in the Philadelphia region, the organization is driven by innovative thinking, bold actions, and a strong foundation of support.
OUR VISION
Work Towards a Brighter Future
We plan to travel the country to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies related to addiction by mobilizing the power of our volunteers and the generosity of donors.
We plan to open one of our step-down homes in every geographical area of the country, providing structured, independent sober living to as many individuals as possible.
We plan to eliminate the stigma attached with addiction. To be a voice for all. To humanize and advocate for everyone suffering from this fatal disease and beyond. To eliminate the stigma attached with addiction and challenge the way this disease is approached. To expeditiously demonstrate the damaging effect of demoralizing epithets such as “drug addict.” To make the use of such epithets in all forms morally unacceptable and synonymous with other morally unacceptable epithets. To remind people that addiction is in fact a disease as defined by The American Medical Association and should be treated as such.
We will create a space where everyone suffering from this disease and beyond can live openly and free of judgment. A space that is ubiquitous, not confined to an NA or AA meeting where we can freely express how we feel to loved ones in times of need without fear of disapproval. A space where we are loved and accepted with open arms for who we are as we do with all other diseases. A space where we make “I’m in recovery” synonymous with “I’m a cancer survivor” and the reactions from each receive equal levels of overwhelming exuberance and accomplishment.
Addiction is not a choice. Drugs and alcohol are not our problem. Drugs and alcohol have nothing to do with our problem. Our problem lies within our brains. Drugs and alcohol were a temporary solution to our problem. We chose to pick up drugs and alcohol, we did not choose for our bodies to react differently than anyone else’s when we put drugs or alcohol into them. The decision to pick up drugs or alcohol is a choice, being 1 in every 7 Americans with the disease of addiction is not. With your commitment, we will make this vision a reality.