our mission
At The Snack Sack, we know that economic oppression is not single-faceted. Our mission is to provide community-based services and support to marginalized families via financial assistance, life essentials, and experiences of joy.
about the snack sack
Founded by Chamieka House-Osuya in April 2020, The Snack Sack’s original mission was to fill the nutrition gap created when kids were suddenly forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic instead of attending school, where many of them got their meals.
However, since then our operations and mission have grown. As child hunger is not an isolated issue, we have expanded our services to offer wraparound support to families facing food, housing, medical, safe harbor, and other insecurities as a direct result of systemic racial oppressions. While this does often include food and nutrition, we also provide financial assistance for other life essentials—including experiences of joy. You can read more about our beliefs of foundational needs, positive identity, crisis prevention, and spreading joy.
Initially, The Snack Sack relied solely on peer-to-peer mutual aid. However, we have now shifted into the nonprofit space via Fiscal Sponsorship Allies (EIN 85-0839183) and are seeking grants from mission-aligned funders. See our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about this change.
Meet the team
Chamieka House-Osuya
founder & CEO
Chamieka House-Osuya is a dedicated child, family, and community advocate. She is skilled in community outreach, crisis management, and relationship building.
When COVID-19 hit, she noticed that she was buying more food with her kids home. She thought of the thousands of other families across America experiencing the same. From what started as a simple idea, The Snack Sack was born.
Chamieka is not only the founder of The Snack Sack, she also has a long history of being a community champion and advocate for those in need, especially children. Her career background is in education administration and social work, and she is a court appointed special advocate (CASA), and a was previously a big sister in Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organization.
While in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she was a foster parent and then became an adoptive parent. She now lives with her partner and their wonderful children in Texas.
