By AmeliaCarrie, Founder
I’ve been chasing an idea for over two decades.
It started in 1998 when I registered ChancesforChildren.com – a simple website built on a simple belief: kids in struggling neighborhoods deserved chances to participate in after-school programs they couldn’t afford.
Back then, I was a single mom living in a mobile home, working whatever jobs I could find. I taught myself web design at night, after the kids were asleep, dreaming about ways the internet could help people connect and support each other.
I built the website. I had the vision.
Then I made a mistake—I let the domain registration lapse.
When I tried to re-register it, I discovered that Fergie, the Duchess of York, had taken it. She was running a charity in New York with my domain name—the same name I’d chosen, the same mission I’d dreamed of, but with resources I could never imagine having.
I could have given up. Instead, I searched for a new name.
In 1999, I found Chances.org—somehow, impossibly, still available. I registered it immediately. Not just for children anymore, but for everyone. Any age. Any dream. Anyone who needed an opportunity.
The Long Road
In 2004, I built a classifieds section on Chances.org where people could post requests for help – job opportunities, community support, connections they needed.
And something amazing happened: people actually used it.
Traffic grew. Real people were finding real help. I watched the numbers climb and felt this rush of… this is working!
Then I shut it down.
I was terrified someone might get scammed. I felt responsible for every person who visited, every connection made. What if someone got hurt? What if I couldn’t protect them? The weight of that responsibility was crushing, so I closed the doors on the one thing that had ever really worked.
A few years later, GoFundMe launched. Then Kickstarter. Then Patreon.
I watched them build exactly what I’d imagined – platforms where people could ask for support and receive it. They had something I didn’t: capital, teams, confidence. I had the idea first, but they had the resources to make it real.
I didn’t feel bitter. Mostly I felt… stupid. Like I’d let fear win.
A Different Path
While Chances.org sat mostly dormant, I found another path: art and design. I started selling on Zazzle in 2011, creating graphics and products. The first year I made $25. Not $25,000. Twenty-five dollars. Total.
But I kept going. I uploaded designs, wrote descriptions, learned what worked. Year after year, slowly building. By year six, I was making $6,000 a month – more money than I’d ever made in my life. For the first time, I felt financially free. Independent. Confident. I became a platinum level seller.
Then AI happened. Competition exploded. My income dropped from $6,000 to $1,200 a month. Thirteen years of work, and I watched it crumble in real-time.
I’m still grateful for what Zazzle taught me: persistence pays off, but only if you own what you’re building.
Why Now? Why This?
GiveMeChances is what Chances.org was always meant to be – but evolved, focused, and ready.
I’m not asking people for money. I’m asking them to give what costs nothing but means everything: attention, a follow, a like, a moment of their time to check out someone’s dream.
New creators are drowning in algorithms. They pour their hearts into podcasts, shops, videos, art – and nobody sees it. Not because it’s not good, but because the algorithms decide who gets seen and who doesn’t.
I want to be the human alternative. The place where real people curate and discover real creators. No algorithms. No ads. Just chances.
What’s Different This Time?
I’m not shutting down if this site starts to grow. I’m not running when it gets real.
I’ve spent 26 years thinking about chances – how we give them, how we miss them, how they change lives. I even made a card game about it (because apparently I can’t stop creating, even when I should probably just relax).
This time, I’m building something I own completely. Something sustainable. Something that helps people without requiring me to be perfect or protect everyone from everything.
I’m building this for every creator who’s been ignored by the algorithm.
For every person who just needs one person to notice.
For my younger self – the single mom who had an idea but not the courage.
And for anyone who’s ever thought: “Maybe I’m just a nut for working on this.”
You’re not a nut. You’re a dreamer. And dreamers need chances too.
What Happens Next?
GiveMeChances launched in December 2025. It’s imperfect, evolving, and completely sincere. I’m featuring creators every day, building the community one chance at a time, and finally doing what I should have done 26 years ago: believing in the idea enough to let it grow.
If you’re a creator who needs visibility, post your chance.
If you’re someone who remembers what it feels like to need a break, give someone a chance.
And if you’re someone who’s been working dreams that only you understand, thinking you’re crazy – you’re not. You’re just early.
Keep going. I am.
– AmeliaCarrie
Founder, GiveMeChances.com
Designer, Dreamer, Believer in Second Chances