Move-In Day Mafia helps former foster kids that are starting college
JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson native TeeJ Mercer created a solution to relieve the stress of students who have aged out of foster care and have been accepted into college.
Two years ago, former Hollywood film and TV producer TeeJ Mercer created Move-In Day Mafia, a national nonprofit that provides historically black colleges and university students who aged out of foster care with a sense of community and family.
“The mafia takes care of its own and we are walking with these students for four years. We’re not just moving them in. They get monthly care packages and regular check ins with my team. As a result, we are taking care of them all the way to the finish line of their dream of graduation,” said TeeJ Mercer, founder of Move-In Day Mafia.
When she moved from Hollywood to Atlanta in 2020, during that time, graduations for students were being canceled because of Covid-19.
She came up with the idea to create a virtual bingo game which morphed into ‘TeeJ’s HBCU Bingo’ where over $1 million dollars was raised in less than 4 weeks in cash and prizes.
That money was given to the 2020 grads of HBCU’s who had their graduation taken away from them.
“She is known as the walking exclamation point and the world’s greatest hugger, so when you put that together along with someone who’s walking in their gift which is bringing joy to others, it’s a great experience,” said Mina Starks, the assistant ‘don’ of design.
Starks said it’s a great experience to make a difference in children’s lives.
“When we’re doing the interviews, we always ask them, ‘What’s your favorite color?’, ‘How do you like your room to feel?’, ‘What motivates you or inspires you?’, so being able to take those little bitty details and execute that in the room. We take all their little details and we just bring excitement and pleasure to their room,” said Starks.
Mercer and Starks will be at Lane College this Saturday, August 24, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. helping former foster students get settled in.
They are also looking for volunteers.
“We need volunteers to go to moveindaymafia.org/volunteer and we need help with opening the boxes, sorting out the rooms, cleaning the rooms, decorating the rooms. What else Mina?” asked Mercer. “Putting lamps together, snack carts together. We really try to show them that we really paid attention to the things that are most important to them,” responded Starks.
Mercer also stated that her mother, uncle, and god-mother are all alumni of Lane College and that it feels good to be back home.
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