Welcome!! At Your Service Foundation invites you to take a journey with us through our website. We hope that by the end of this journey we have helped increase awareness, educated you a little on homelessness, and motivated you to give back or to pay it forward by supporting our fundraising drives, donating money and/or your time! We Thank You for your time and interest in visiting our website. We feel there will be more meaning to our lives as we take this journey together!
So, let's begin: The Founder and board members of AYSF have consciously chosen not to do the typical biographies. We each possess higher education degrees. We have 114 years of combined experience. Our fields of experience consist of accounting, business, charitable causes, finance, global humanitarianism, legal, management, marketing and medical. Perhaps a Bible Scripture as it pertains to Charitable Deeds will help you to understand why we have chosen "not to travel the usual path for an "About Us" page".
What we want to accomplish with this "About Us" page is to share with you how it all started. The Founder of At Your Service Foundation would like to relay her experience and inspiration that resulted in the formation of AYSF. So please relax and take this journey with her as we begin!
It was a very cold night last fall with a heavy, heavy rain falling on my tin roof as I sat alone at my dining room table having my favorite bowl of hot soup. The sound of the rain falling on my tin roof mingled with an occasional clap of thunder left me feeling strangely nostalgic. I was reminded of my childhood and the nights I lie awake listening to the rain fall on our tin roof. For just a moment, I was that child once again; listening to the rain pounding loudly on the roof and hearing the roll of thunder. My family had so little and yet, we had a house to keep us dry and warm. As I listened to the rain beating on my tin roof, a strong awareness of life and my surroundings occurred. My eyes scanned my home and noticed my favorite books, electronics, and numerous possessions. Suddenly, my heart was heavy with a thought, "What if I was homeless? What if this very night I had no roof? What if my only clothes were the ones on my back and my only possessions I carried in a backpack or plastic bag?"
How would I feel?
What would I do?
Where would I go?
How would I eat and have water to drink?
How would I cope?
How would I survive the many dangers on the street?
How would I protect myself?
What would my life be like without my little castle where my personal space is critical to me?
What would happen to "me", the whole "me", my spirit, my body, my mental,
psychological, emotional and social well-being?
How would I maintain my sanity in such a desperate state of existing?
How would I function without my many books and electronics?
What would happen if there were no daily access to showers, baths, toilets, makeup and hair preps?
How would people look at me without these things? What would I want others to
know about me as a human being?
As I sat at my dining room table, I closed my eyes. I envisioned a homeless community and, in that moment, I brought all of my awareness into mentally placing myself there with them. I imagined cold, rain-soaked clothes clinging heavily to my body. I imagined wet blankets around me. I imagined my stomach growling and hurting from hunger as I tried to close my eyes and just sleep through it.
I'd like to invite you to experience this feeling. As you play this audio, please close your eyes, take a few minutes to put yourself into their daily reality. Imagine the sounds, the smells, the stinging cold as you try to rest your head at the end of another seemingly endless day!
Meditation Experience with Rain & Thunder
Something happened to me that night as I sat in my dining room. I believe that a divine message was placed into my mind and on to my heart. The experience that I had on that cold and rainy night remained in my thoughts for days and months following, prompting an urgent desire to do something for the homeless in our community. I had a calling to serve those individuals among us classified as "homeless" who once led relatively normal lifestyles and now, were relegated to less than favorable status; regarded as societal miscreants - remaining invisible to most within our communities.
There are so many events capable of occurring within a 24-hour day, the problem of how to be part of the solution to Homeless Veterans and Homeless Individuals survival situation is the current challenge facing our communities on a nation-wide basis. The plight of both groups serves as a reminder that most of the nation's population barely survives from one month to the next, with most, literally, two paychecks away from succumbing to poverty and homelessness.
Homelessness can happen to anyone, at any place and at any time. It's a condition that can be caused by unexpected or regular life events such as divorce, loss of job, unexpected expenses (major medical situation), major car repairs and other unforeseen circumstances that abruptly impact limited budgets. Homelessness may also be impacted by drug abuse, mental and medical conditions left untreated, family tragedy, domestic violence and major health circumstances. Any or all these factors represent common denominators capable of destroying one's life foundation.
According to a recent National Coalition of Homelessness article of 12/21/18 the following was stated:
"People who experience homelessness have an average life expectancy of around 50 years of age; almost 20 - 30 years lower than housed individuals/general population."
"The National Coalition for the Homeless has estimated that annually, there are 13,000 individuals who die on our streets."
"The National Coalition for the Homeless has analyzed bias-motivated violence that leads to many deaths among the homeless community. Vulnerable to Hate Report only documents a fraction of these deaths."
"The data collected by the National Coalition for the Homeless demonstrates that bias-motivated violence against homeless persons continues to be highly prevalent in our communities. As evident from the crimes outlined in Vulnerable to Hate, a cultural shift is needed to change how US society treats and values our homeless population, in order to prevent hate crimes and to build healthy and compassionate communities."
"An average of 36 people who are experiencing homelessness die every day."
At Your Service Foundation (AYSF) is devoted to providing emergency survival supplies to Homeless Veterans and Homeless Individuals in need. Being homeless and living in poverty is not only stressful but can result in feelings of fear, hopelessness and prioritizing of daily survival over long-term planning and well-being. AYSF is impassioned to be "a sunrise and sunset, a 24-hour catalyst of hope" to those that live a day to day existence.
One of the many goals of At Your Service Foundation (AYSF) is to raise awareness of the plight of Homeless Veterans and Homeless Individuals through education; engaging in activities in proactive activities that respond to and mitigate homelessness; and partnering with other institutions bearing comparative strengths and expertise in life-recovery, human development and societal re-integration transitioning.
A safe, stable and affordable home is the foundation for a healthy life. As advocates for our Homeless Veterans and Homeless Individuals, we believe that every human being has the right to a place they can call home, their own little castle. By helping to provide relief, recovery and development activities, collaborating with committed partners and promoting a culture of self-development and self-sufficiency, we believe that, together, we can change many lives in our community. With God's guidance and help from each of you as donors, volunteers and contributors we can and will succeed - one person, and one life at a time.
We Welcome You To Take This Journey With Us!
