Miley Cyrus

In 2014, Miley Cyrus won “Video of the Year” at the MTV VMAs for Wrecking Ball.

She didn’t accept the award.

She sent Jesse, a 22-year-old homeless youth, to speak instead.

His message: there are 1.6 million homeless youth in the U.S.
And most of them are starving, scared, and ignored.

He pointed viewers to Miley’s Facebook page, where she’d linked a fundraiser for My Friend’s Place, a shelter in LA.

In 24 hours, they raised over $200,000.

In May 2015, she launched the Happy Hippie Foundation.

Her mission? Support homeless youth. LGBTQ youth. And anyone on the margins.

Happy Hippie took no public donations.

It was powered by Miley’s own money, so she could direct it wherever it was needed most.

She partnered with MAC’s AIDS Fund to help trans people living with HIV find housing and healthcare in LA and San Francisco.

She supported Gender Spectrum to build digital support groups for trans and gender-expansive youth.

With Happy Hippie’s help, those groups now serve 1,300+ families.

She hosted digital “Meet-Ups” to create safe, moderated spaces for LGBTQ+ youth to connect across the U.S.

After the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando (2016), she teamed up with Zebra Youth to provide emergency counseling services.

After the Tennessee wildfires, she contributed to Dolly Parton’s “My People Fund,” supporting families displaced in Gatlinburg.

She gave out 60,000+ meals, 40,000 socks & underwear, and 20,000 snacks to homeless youth with “My Friend’s Place.”

She launched #InstaPride with Instagram, an online portrait series celebrating trans and non-binary individuals.

After the 2016 U.S. election, she launched #HopefulHippies, encouraging fans to get involved in their local communities.

In partnership with DonorsChoose, they funded 60 classroom projects, reaching 10,000+ students.

When Converse asked her to design their Pride Collection in 2017 and 2018, she used it to raise money for Happy Hippie and It Gets Better.

Every dollar of net proceeds went to LGBTQ+ charities.

In 2024, 10 years after registering the domain, she rebranded the organization as the Miley Cyrus Foundation.