Happy Hippie Foundation

Happy Hippie Foundation is a nonprofit organization created by Miley Cyrus in September 2014 to fight injustices facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations.^[1] Cyrus stated that Happy Hippie Foundation's mission is "to rally young people to fight injustice, starting with youth homelessness.".^[2] The foundation provides those who visit the site with links to support groups, crisis intervention hotlines and ways to donate to the cause.

At MTV's 2014 Video Music Awards, Cyrus was awarded "Video of the Year" for her music video of "Wrecking Ball". Rather than giving a traditional acceptance speech, Cyrus invited a young man on stage who introduced himself as Jesse. He continued by telling his own personal homeless story as a youth as a call-to-action to partake in Cyrus' campaign to bring awareness to youth homelessness, benefiting the homeless center, "My Friend's Place". The following month, Cyrus formally launched The Happy Hippie Foundation. Six months later, in March 2015, Cyrus penned a letter to New York State Governor Cuomo and state legislators asking for more funding in the budget for homeless youth. A year and a half after Cyrus' MTV VMA speech and campaign launch in March 2016, Happy Hippie Foundation and My Friend's Place reported that they have been able to provide 1,539 homeless youths with programs and services.

Programs and Partnerships

Backyard Sessions

On May 5, 2015, Cyrus and Happy Hippie Foundation partnered with Facebook to create "#HappyHippiePresents: Backyard Sessions". The sessions consist of Cyrus paired with another well-known artist singing in her personal home's backyard to raise funds for the foundation. Videos of the performances were later posted on Youtube. Past guests in these sessions include, Joan Jett and Ariana Grande.^[3] The sessions received positive recognition as Cyrus' session video with Grande singing, Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" has almost 44 million views as of October 2016.

InstaPride

In June 2015, Cyrus collaborated with Instagram to launch a social justice campaign called Happy Hippie Presents: #InstaPride. The campaign featured portraits photographed by Cyrus of people who identify as transgender, genderqueer and gender non-conforming. Those who were photographed wore yellow clothing against yellow backdrops, a choice made by Cyrus because she believes yellow is happy and non-sexualized like blue and pink.^[4] The campaign was shared on Cyrus' Instagram account as well as those who participated.

The stars of the campaign include: Precious Davis, Brendan Jordan, Tyler Ford, Mariana Marroquin, Alex Schmider, Gigi Gorgeous, Greta Martela, Nina Chaubal, A.J. Lehman, Kenzie Normandin, Hailey Jordan, Leo Sheng, Nancy Barton, Laura Zeff and Myles Brady.^[4]

Digital Meet-Ups

In an effort to provide a safe, moderated and interactive space to discuss gender, Happy Hippie Foundation, while partnering with Gender Spectrum, hosted its first Digital Meet Up broadcast in March 2015. People from around the world discussed gender terms, how they are used today and asked/answered any questions about gender. As a result of the broadcast and the donations that Happy Hippie had received, weekly video support groups hosted by Gender Spectrum were started.

Happy Hippie x Phantogram

In honor of "National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month" in September 2016, the foundation paired with musical duo, Phantogram to raise awareness of the importance of mental health. Happy Hippie Foundation and the musicians shared facts about mental health and where to seek help and provided resources for crisis intervention hotlines.

References