Council of the Gods

For an organization not connected with religion, this may seem an unusual name for a project or page.

The Council for the Gods is a special projects, which copes with a need we have not covered elsewhere, in allowing us to provide first line help, in small numbers where we are able.

We as you may know, generally do not support bailing people out with donations, but empowering people to improve their own lives, we show them how to do something that will help them over the problem they have and support them as they move forward. Where we do offer financial support, we look for something to be done in exchange, so that the individual gains skills, confidence and a feeling of achievement, and is then equipped to take on other challenges.

There are occasions where this is just not viable, lets look at just a few recent UK situations we came across, we could have equally well looked at others in any other country.

A 24 year old single mother with a one child aged 3, was living in an old caravan, as she had housing the local council saw her as a low priority, and was not likely with other needs they had, to be able to help any time soon. However the heating was poor, and she had to spend so much of her income of trying to heat the old caravan, that she had to prioritize food to the child and was short of food herself. She had no ability to work, to raise a loan, nor did she have family or friends nearby to help her. There could be hundreds like her, and many will be eventually forced to put their children into care.
An elderly couple had a pension, but its value had now basically run out, they were left with very little income and a large draughty home, that was slowly falling apart around them. Only a small part of the house was used regularly and now this part was subject to leakage when it rained and one ceiling had partly collapsed.
A young man had been in prison and was released, but the amount of cash he was given on his release and able to get from other sources would not allow him to feed himself until the next was due, he had no accommodation provided, he was therefore faced like many thousands are with the choice of not eating for many days of committing some illegal act to survive, with the risk of being locked up again. Many survive only because they know others who have been in prison who will help them, although this makes them likely to be mixing again with the wrong crowd.
Another person had been in employment, hard working, and had a nice life, then fell out with the woman he lived with who accused him of threatening her, he was held on remand in prison for over a year, he had lost his home, car and all his possessions, the woman moved and took the children as well, so he lost his children, before all charges were shown to be without any foundation, she had just not wanted him to see the children any more, and all charges were dropped. As he had not ever been convicted or sentenced, he did not even get a bus fare and was completely dependent on scrounging, with no criminal connections, he did not even have this source open to him.
A person had worked hard, but had heart attack and bypass operation. although improved, he was not fit enough to work or sick enough to qualify as disabled, so did not qualify for any state benefit at all. Then the local council reassessed there housing benefit, not eliminating it but reducing it, and reclaiming overpayments. So how did they live at all, their only option was on a credit card with ever increasing balance.
A young person is heartbroken the love of their life has just left them suddenly without warning. They cant eat or do anything other than cry. There is no help at all available to them.

As you will see, our philosophy of helping people to help themselves, although helping many, will not help any of these initially, we need to move them at least one step first, to overcome the initial obstacle, before we can help them to move further ahead. Without help most of these will either have a very poor life or end up as suicide statistics.

This is where the Council Of The Gods comes in. We together need to take on the role of a god, and change things for as many of these people as we can. Still not as an unconditional gift, but as a part of a life package, where we not only show them how to move the first step from their problem with a grant from us, but how to keep on moving in the direction to give them a quality life.

So how does this work

Well we allow you, anyone, you don't have to be a member or anything, to work with us towards solving these problems. We call these people who help us angels.

You tell us the sort of situations you would like to help people in, the size of the maximum grant you can afford to fund and any criteria that you want to set. You can be as biased and restrictive as you like, that's just between us. This totally confidential list we call the role of honor, its cost you nothing at this time and you already have an inner warm feeling developing, we call this angel glow.

When we hear of a need, we get someone to look at it, then look through our list of angels to see who may be able to help fund a grant, and what help package we can put together. In many cases unfortunately we cannot help, we just don't have enough angels.

We then contact you, the angel, to give you some details as to the case and what we propose to do. If you agree you fund the grant, and send us a cheque, or pay via credit card. If you don't agree we seek another angels support or do nothing.

Only at that point, do we see the individual and offer the package and grant to them. If they accept it and they will, as its never presented as charity, but a grant aided assistance package from a non profit organization.

We then put the plan into operation, make things Ok, photograph the individuals and send you a confidential report on what you have allowed us to do, including copies of photos and of receipts for monies spent etc.

There is no publicity ever, the individual receiving the grant will not know who you are, unless you want them to be told and we suggest you do not. You never get to meet them unless you want to and then normally as an observer in the implementation of the package. We ask that you never make contact with them other than by contacting us.

So what do you get out of this, not a great deal, no publicity, no public recognition for your action which has probably saved a life, no letter of thanks from the individual. Just the warm inner feeling (angel glow) of an angel that knows that you have made a real difference to a person in need, and that through your action they will now have the opportunity of a more pleasant life ahead.

Of course if you believe in karma, luck for those who have done good, or in the concept of what you do within your life being entered in a ledger and later being weighed up, then you will see other benefit to you as well.

Few others will give you the chance to act like a member of the gods, and have real effect on improving peoples lives. By being added to the role of honor, you also share in the glow resulting from all the good, that all the other angels have been able to do.

The reason we do not put you in touch, by the way, is so that you have no further commitment and cannot be approached by them or others, that they have come across in need. Sometimes we will give a follow up report, and sometimes we may ask you if you want to meet them later, if they have really got their life together, or ask if you would like to represent us at their university graduation or whatever. Many of these people will go on to help others, become angels themselves, and join in projects and clubs to help themselves and others.

We may also be able to arrange other help for them, nursery places for a child of a single parent, help from a local council of health authority for an older person, sort out grants towards insulation, conversions or special equipment and more.

We can also bring about reconsolidations, such as the case of a girl who has fallen out with her parents and they don't even know they have a granddaughter at risk. A business troubleshooter is often the best person to sort out a set of conditions both can agree to and allow a friendly meeting and rosy future. The reason for this is that he deals in absolutes, so everyone knows exactly where they stand, is firm enough to get each to agree a reasonable set of conditions, and won't have a problem getting on with either party.

So what else is special about this:-

None of the amount you fund towards a grant goes to us, we cover all our own expenses, so 100% goes to the benefit of the recipient.
You don't pay up front, only when the need arises and can cancel any time if you change your mind.
You set the range of cases you will consider grants on, and any exclusions, we can advice on this if you want us to
You get offered a case to grant aid and can turn it down if you want
You are anonymous throughout
You know exactly how your grant has been used and even get a photo of the individual or family involved
You know this is not just a quick fix, we will be putting a package in place
You can withdraw from the list of angels we call the role of honor at any time you like
All you get is the knowledge that you made a difference and the angel glow
We never approach people to become angels its entirely up to you to volunteer, so do it today in case you forget.

You may think that this is for the very wealthy, but it is not, the amount you would spend on your annual car service, or could spend at will if you saw an item that was useful to you, is all that is required. A few hundred pounds will fix a persons roof, $1000 (£500 to £800) will put in an economic heating system to a home, $1,500 (£800-£1200) will pay the deposit to get a private rented home for someone in need. Still having doubts as to if you could afford to make a difference, then consider what you could afford to pay out extra each month on your credit card, without it hurting you and multiply this by 20 to get the amount that you can afford. If you don't want to spend now, then fine, arrange it now and say when you will be able to. We never suggest you spend more than you have offered.

If you are already benefiting through some of the clubs we have set up, why not look at setting aside a small percentage of what we have helped you to make, towards helping others as an angel.

If you know of a case we should consider

Tell us the basics of the case, we may want to arrange for someone to go and see the potential recipient, probably not from New Atlantis itself, but from Independent FactFinders, a non profit organization that undertakes lots of investigations on a wide range of topics. There is an overlap between the Independent Inquiry Society which is a part of New Atlantis and Independent FactFinders.

You can also if you wish, ask us to look at a case and at the same time offer to become an angel to this case. This can be attractive where you wish to help, but don't want to do so openly, or the person you wish to help is in need of help to get their life back straight, and you feel that the package from us would be more acceptable, than conditions you would wish to stipulate.