The Happy Hippie Foundation is an American

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

founded by entertainer

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

on September 17, 2014, and officially launched to the public on May 5, 2015. The foundation focuses on youth homelessness (particularly among LGBTQ youth), the

LGBTQ community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...

, and other vulnerable populations.

Background

By 2014, Miley Cyrus had a history of using her fame as a platform for philanthropy, including significant donations to charitable organizations, charity singles, performances at

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

s, and the donation of personal items to

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

s. At the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards (in August 2014), Miley Cyrus's award for Video of the Year ("

Wrecking Ball A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An e ...

") was accepted by a young man named Jesse Helt in honor of "the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now." Helt directed viewers to get involved by visiting Cyrus's Facebook page and donating to

My Friend's Place My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Mark ...

, an organization helping homeless youth in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area; they raised more than $200,000 in twenty-four hours. Cyrus took inspiration from the 45th Academy Awards in 1973, at which

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

sent

Sacheen Littlefeather Marie Louise Cruz (November 14, 1946 – October 2, 2022), better known as Sacheen Littlefeather, was an American actress, model, and activist on behalf of Native American civil rights. Littlefeather represented Marlon Brando at the 45th Aca ...

to decline his Best Actor award. Cyrus began planning and developing her organization in over the summer in 2014, after getting involved with My Friend's Place, and registered the website on September 17. Cyrus drove even harder to launch her non-profit to the public after the death of Leelah Alcorn in late December. Alcorn was a male-to-female transgender teenager whose suicide attracted international attention. Cyrus stated, "That's what I wanted to do. That's what made me happy. And that's what Happy Hippie is about: doing what you do, being happy, and not hurting anyone. It gave me meaning in everything." Cyrus was also a spokesperson for the

MAC AIDS Fund M∙A∙C AIDS Fund (M·A·F) is a public charity established in 1994 to support people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. It donates funds to communities and organizations that offer services to people with HIV/AIDS and help to prevent the disease ...

in 2015, to help transgender people living with HIV in L.A. and San Francisco find medical care and housing.

Activities

By 2016, Happy Hippie and My Friend's Place had donated "40,000 meals, 20,000 snacks, and 40,000 pairs of underwear and socks" to homeless children. Happy Hippie "treats at-risk kids with art and animal therapies". In an effort to provide a safe, moderated, and interactive space to discuss gender, Happy Hippie and Gender Spectrum hosted a digital "Meet-Up". As a result of donations received, Gender Spectrum was able to begin hosting weekly digital support groups, serving "over 1,300 transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families". Happy Hippie often aims to provide immediate relief in the wake of emergencies or tragedies. For instance, the foundation partnered with the Zebra Coalition, a network of organizations providing support for LGBTQ youth in

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

, to offer immediate counseling following the 2016

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a 9- ...

. In the aftermath of the 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, the Happy Hippie Foundation contributed to the

Dollywood Foundation The Dollywood Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Dolly Parton, with headquarters in Sevierville, Tennessee (as of 2022). Shortly after the opening of the Dollywood theme park in 1986, the Dollywood Foundation was created in April 1 ...

's My People Fund to help those affected in the Gatlinburg,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

area. The Dollywood Foundation was founded by Cyrus's godmother, country music icon

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. In June 2017, Cyrus performed at Capital Pride in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, wearing the Happy Hippie Foundation's logo on a white t-shirt. She released the song " Inspired" in honor of

LGBT Pride Month LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically in June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and ha ...

, with her portion of any proceeds going directly to the Happy Hippie Foundation. Cyrus also created a collection of 22 pride-themed sneakers and 11 t-shirts for shoe company

Converse Converse may refer to: Mathematics and logic * Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement ** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication ** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...

and their 2017 pride collection. All net proceeds from the 2017 Converse Pride Collection were donated to the

It Gets Better Project It Gets Better is an Internet-based 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe. It was founded in the United States by gay activist, author, m ...

and the Happy Hippie Foundation. The 2018 Converse pride collection was designed by Cyrus with the Happy Hippie logo being featured on the line and the net proceeds going to the foundation along with other pride related charities. The design theme, motto and hashtag was "Yes to all."

Social media campaigns

Cyrus met with Instagram in 2015 to offer the photo-sharing platform feedback on their product, discussing potential features like allowing users to designate " word sensitivities" that would ban certain words from appearing on their feeds. The Happy Hippie Foundation and Instagram collaborated on a social justice campaign called Happy Hippie Presents #InstaPride, a

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

-focused portrait series that launched on June 15, 2015. The portraits, which lived on Instagram, aimed to increase awareness and acceptance of people outside of the

gender binary The gender binary (also known as gender binarism) is the classification of gender into two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system, cultural belief, or both simultaneously. Most cultures use a gender bina ...

. "The portraits and the people in them are meant to serve as positive examples for young people who might be struggling to figure themselves out, as well as reference points for those who might not personally know anyone who doesn't feel at home in their own body," Cyrus told ''Time''. Notable participants included

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

personalities

Gigi Gorgeous Gigi Loren Lazzarato Getty (born Gregory Allan Lazzarato; April 20, 1992), known professionally as Gigi Gorgeous Getty, is a Canadian YouTuber, socialite, actress, and model. In 2008, Lazzarato began uploading video blogs onto streaming platfo ...

and Brendan Jordan. In September 2016, Happy Hippie teamed up with the band

Phantogram Phantogram may refer to: *Phantogram (band) *Phantogram (optical illusion) Phantograms, also known as Phantaglyphs, Op-Ups, free-standing anaglyphs, levitated images, and book anaglyphs, are a form of optical illusion. Phantograms use perspectiv ...

and

The Trevor Project The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...

to support LGBTQ youth and raise suicide prevention awareness across Instagram,

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

; the campaign coincided with Suicide Prevention Month. The foundation, Cyrus and Phantogram shared mental health facts, suicide prevention resources and crisis intervention hotline information. Following the result of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, in which

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

was elected the 45th President of the United States, Cyrus launched a new campaign called #HopefulHippies that "encourage people to take action in their communities." In an Instagram post announcing the #HopefulHippies campaign, Cyrus announced that Happy Hippie would begin supporting

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

classroom projects with

DonorsChoose DonorsChoose is a United States-based nonprofit organization that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom projects. The organization has been given Charity Navigator's highest rating every year since 2005. In January 201 ...

. Cyrus stated that the focus on education was "in honor of Clinton". The #HopefulHippies campaign was able to raise over $11,000, helping over 10,000 students across 60 schools between November 10, 2016, and February 13, 2017.

The Backyard Sessions

In 2012, Cyrus had released a series of videos called the

Backyard Sessions The Backyard Sessions are a series of music performances by American singer Miley Cyrus. The first sessions featured Cyrus performing cover versions of classic songs in an outdoor setting, and were released in 2012. Subsequent sessions have sinc ...

, in which she performed covers of her favorite songs in her own backyard. In 2015, she released a new set of Backyard Sessions videos to publicize the launch of the Happy Hippie Foundation, beginning on May 6 when she performed "Different" with

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

. The sessions were a collaboration with

, and allowed for donations to be made to the foundation through the site. Cyrus also collaborated with singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

to perform the Crowded House cover of "Don't Dream It's Over". The video became the most popular from the sessions, and the duo also performed it in honor of

One Love Manchester One Love Manchester was a benefit concert and British television special on 4 June 2017, organised by American singer Ariana Grande, Simon Moran, Melvin Benn and Scooter Braun in response to the Manchester Arena bombing after Grande's concer ...

, a benefit concert for the attacks at the singers' concert in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. Some of the songs in the sessions reflected the foundation's themes: Cyrus's cover of

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

's "

No Freedom "No Freedom" is a song by English recording artist Dido (singer), Dido. The song was released on 18 January 2013 as the lead single from her fourth studio album ''Girl Who Got Away'' (2013). The song was written and produced by Dido (singer), Di ...

" was dedicated to Leelah Alcorn, and she performed " Androgynous" and " True Trans Soul Rebel" with Laura Jane Grace, who came out as transgender in 2012.

References

External links

* {{Miley Cyrus Foundations based in the United States Homelessness organizations LGBT youth organizations based in the United States Miley Cyrus Organizations established in 2014 2014 establishments in California