We’ve all heard the sayings: Be the change you want to see in the world. Get involved. It takes a village. But with busy lives and pinched budgets, not to mention trying to figure out where to begin, turning charitable thoughts to action can seem daunting if not downright unfeasible.
We asked four Coloradans how they circumnavigated those barriers to found or build the charitable organizations that spoke to their hearts. Each one, motivated by personal experience and conviction, has succeeded in making a difference in the causes they hold dear.
Here they share their inspirations and “aha!” moments, obstacles and reservations, goals, accomplishments and advice. And they also describe how the work has changed them.
For Ashley Devery, an eye-opening travel experience helped give birth to a girls school in Tanzania.
A family medical crisis was the impetus for Brad Ludden to create an adventure therapy program for young adults with cancer.
The challenge of raising a daughter in the midst of degrading pop-culture messages spurred Patricia Houston to action.
And in Joy Eckstine’s case, a tough childhood, personal experience and the challenges of motherhood translated into a rare compassion for the homeless.
These are their stories.
Ashley Devery
“I don’t have Rockefeller pockets”
Ashley Devery of Lafayette is a married mother of two young children and a marketing consultant in the sporting- goods industry. After a trip to Africa left her with a desire to educate impoverished girls, she was stumped by a lack of time, funding and foundation contacts. Nonetheless, she helped found Nurturing Minds Inc./SEGA Girls School, now in its third year educating underpriviledged girls in Morogoro, Tanzania. With six employees in Africa and a crew of volunteers in the U.S., the organization raised $418,000 in 2010, and has, to date, built four school buildings, including dorms and kitchen space.
Her role: I fundraise and I’m on a five-person steering committee that deals with logistics and other school issues. I’m now spending 15-20 hours per week but there have been stretches when it’s required more than 40.
Accomplishments: We now have a school in Tanzania. We purchased land, built two classrooms, a dorm and kitchen. The third class of students started last month.
Inspiration: I went to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro for my 40th birthday. My high-school friend Polly was working there, and wanted us to see the “real” Tanzania, so she took us to see some villages. The girls were getting no services, had no rights, no running water. There’s no library, no food bank. I was really moved and thought about it a lot when I got home. Then Polly contacted me and told me she wanted to start a school, and asked me to help.
Goals: To raise funds and awareness until the program is self-sufficient; to have all buildings built by 2015; and have five businesses in place (in Tanzania) to fund the program.
The aha! moment: I was at work. I got an e-mail from Polly, and I just responded. I hadn’t even told my husband. I absolutely knew I had to be involved. I didn’t know how I would contribute. I only knew I would just do the best I could.
The point of no return: There were two times. When we admitted our first class of girls and told them “We’ll educate you for a year.” The second was when I threw a party to tell some friends what I was doing. People handed me checks when they left. That’s when I knew this was something people in Colorado would support.
Reservations: Absolutely. (Laughs.) I had reservations about committing to something I wasn’t going to be able to fulfill. I didn’t have the time. I don’t have Rockefeller pockets. I don’t know what I had. A can-do attitude? Then a few doors creaked open, and that’s all you need.
Stumbling blocks: The biggest challenge was that I didn’t have contacts at major organizations. I got a lot of rejection and no response. My second obstacle was time.
Advice for others: Don’t worry about how you’re going to do it if you really want to do it. Commit to doing it. Set realistic goals. Don’t take on too much. Don’t get discouraged. It takes time. And if everybody’s not as passionate about it as you are, don’t take it personally.
How has this changed you? I’ve been humbled. I recognize that I have the luxury of being able to care.
Information:
Brad Ludden
“Never, ever, ever give up”
Denver resident and professional kayaker Brad Ludden was 13 years old when his aunt was diagnosed with cancer, and just 18 when he began working to create an outdoor program for cancer patients. But his age didn’t hinder him from founding Vail-based First Descents, a free outdoor adventure-camp therapy program (kayaking, rock-climbing and surfing) for young adults with cancer. Currently operating in seven states, it has eight full- time employees, 15-20 contract camp employees and hundreds of volunteers.
His role: Founder. I’ve been working on this project for 12 years. It’s been a 501(c)3 for 11 years and offered programming for 10. I’ve done everything from cleaning toilets to giving speeches to kayaking with participants. I do a lot of development. I spend every waking second on this. I kept track of my hours before I became an employee earlier this year, and I was averaging 90-plus hours a week, but I love what I’m doing.
Accomplishments: For the past 10 years we’ve been able to offer life- changing experiences through challenge and adventure, and been able to allow participants to live beyond cancer. I’m proud that we’ve never grown the organization at the expense of that experience.
Inspiration: Every good cause is born from a moving experience, and for me it was my aunt’s cancer diagnosis. Cancer makes a pretty big ripple effect through your family and community. Everyone finds their own way to cope, and mine was to offer her kayaking. In kayaking with her I realized there was something very therapeutic for both of us. So I started volunteering at local pediatric oncology programs. I took my kayaks up to Montana (outside of Glacier National Park), and it grew from there. I saw this huge need for people with cancer who had no money, no support groups, and I realized kayaking could be a tool — a release, an escape, all sorts of things.
Goals: In 2011 we’ll deliver free, week-long adventure programs to 400 young adults with cancer. In 2015 it’ll be 1,000, and in 2020 we’ll be able to deliver the program to 2,000. When you look at those numbers at the individual, personal level, it signifies a pretty big accomplishment.
The point of no return: For me it was looking around for existing organizations that did this and realizing there weren’t any. From that moment forward I couldn’t walk away.
Reservations: I had no reservations, but I blame that on ignorance. It was the people around me with more experience who had the reservations.
Stumbling blocks: The biggest challenge is creating that light at the end of the tunnel when you don’t know where your plan is going. I worked on something for two years that didn’t exist. So having to wake up every day and believe that I could do it, that it would work, that my work would pay off when there was no guarantee — that was the challenge. During that time my mom told me it would go. She believed in me.
Regrets: I regret that I listened to anyone who doubted this.
Advice for those thinking of starting an organization: Know you’re capable. There’s nothing preventing you but yourself. Never, ever, ever give up. If you give up, people won’t experience what you have to offer. The world needs you.
How has this changed you? I live life differently and approach life differently because of my time with the participants, and that’s really been a gift.
Information:
Patricia Houston
“A greater good can and will surface”
Back when she was a working mother and busy making ends meet, Patricia Houston saw the need to create a mentoring organization for young African-American women. Her organization, EspeciallyMe LLC, has held annual conferences since 1999 that focus on teaching high school and middle school youth (mostly young women) to depend more on their “inner voice” to determine right from wrong, rather than being influenced by media or peer pressure. While her four children are now grown, she continues her mission.
With two employees and an army of volunteers, her high school mentoring conferences host 500 youths annually, stressing the issues of dignity, excellence, respect and self-value.
Her role: Founder, executive director. I do everything from PR and fundraising to budgeting, outreach, and conference planning. Initially, I was heavily involved in all aspects of the conference planning and details, but now I oversee that work — with the help of many volunteers. I’ve been working on this daily since 1999.
Accomplishments: Slowly we’ve been able to change a culture — a negative culture. And been able to help young women understand their self-value and how special they are. For the last five years we’ve also included conference workshops for 75-100 adults.
Goals: In addition to continuing the annual conferences, we would like to offer monthly ongoing workshop events in the high schools and to grow the annual middle school conference, now in its second year. We’ve been asked to take the conference to other states, but right now that’s a funding issue.
The aha! moment: I have a daughter who was in high school at the time I started this, and I felt very strongly about the values I was teaching her. It was for her and her friends and the girls in her high school. They needed a positive message. These girls get all sorts of messages of what not to do: Don’t get pregnant, don’t do drugs, don’t smoke. But there were no positive messages telling them what to do, how to make positive choices, choose positive activities. They have to know how special they are.
Reservations: I asked myself, “How am I going to make this happen? How will I get the funding? Will I find people who this dream to come true and assist in helping it?” I knew I needed the help of others.
The point of no return: When a public-service announcement ran about the conference, and when I sent out the notification and information about when it was taking place.
Stumbling blocks: The challenge really was and is money. And another challenge in the beginning was convincing people of the need. When you have a dream, everybody doesn’t share it.
Regrets: None. It’s been rewarding, and I feel like I’ve made a contribution to the community and our young people and, in that, to our future.
Advice: If in your heart you know that working to your cause is what you need to do, you have to follow that feeling, but know that there will be lots of obstacles and hurdles.
How has this changed you? It has given me more of an understanding of determination and willpower. I see challenges as brief obstacles, know that there will be setbacks, and realize that there is a greater good that can and will surface.
Information:
Joy Eckstine
“We’re all someone’s child”
Six years ago, Joy Eckstine of Boulder parlayed her personal experience as a client of public services into a job as a service provider. She is now the executive director of The Carriage House Community Table, a daytime homeless shelter in Boulder. During her tenure she has expanded both the organization’s budget and its service reach. Now 43, she juggles that job with her role as a single mother of two young children, one with special needs.
Her role: I’m responsible for fundraising, volunteer training, grant writing, staff supervision, operations, PR, client-services and whatever needs to be done. I work way more than full time. I have to talk to every Sunday-school class, every Rotary Club I can.
Accomplishments: I’ve personally led an addiction/recovery group for six years, and I helped Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow get off the ground. During my time here, the budget has grown from roughly $50,000 to $500,000. We’ve expanded our hours, the number of days we’re open, and have more year- round services. I started the emergency warming center and ran that for two years before BOHO took it over. One year, I saved a woman’s life here on Christmas Day.
The aha! moment: I always knew, even when I was a teenager, that I would do this work. I’ve always worked with “undesirable” populations. In my life I’ve used many of the services that people here use, WIC, CCAP, etc. I also have a child with special needs. When I used these services I saw how humiliating it was to ask for help. All of those things gave me a perspective that I brought here. Many people helped me along the way, and though I know it sounds trite, I really want to give back.
Goals: I’d like to make it better for homeless people in Boulder. Everything falls under that rubric. I’d like to be open longer hours and weekends and have another caseworker. I’d like to provide concrete resources for survival, and resources to help them heal and transition. The largest goal currently is to get into a bigger building.
Point of no return: Two years into my tenure here, a deaf, homeless client named Ryan died on a cold night after he set up a makeshift shelter in a storage container, knocked over a heater and candles and burned to death. His death caused a real shift in perspective in how I was doing this work. I developed a relationship with Ryan’s mother and we would talk about what it was like to raise a disabled child. In making the decision to tell her about my situation, I took a chance that flew in the face of my formal training, but it humanized me in her eyes and I gained wisdom from her. That was a personal shift, and it made me realize we’re all someone’s child.
Reservations: Each time I share a piece of personal information, I need to make sure I’m doing it for ethical reasons. Also, most of the time I’m very comfortable with a modest lifestyle, but sometimes I look at my children and question whether expensive therapies could help, and ask myself if I should be trying to earn more.
Stumbling blocks: When I started there was no money, no space. Generally people look down on homeless people. Also, I found out I was pregnant soon after starting my job.
Regrets: I do a lot of memorial services, so letting myself get connected to people to the extent I do sets me up for a lot of grief.
Advice: First, find smart people, ask their advice, and then do exactly what they tell you to do. Second, believe in yourself. If you have a vision that’s meeting a need in the community, the community will support you. And third, say yes every time someone offers help or money.
How has this changed you? I feel incredible love and support from many, many in the community. I’ve opened myself to many more experiences than I thought possible. As you get older you want to know you’re doing things that have meaning. I never have to doubt that.
Information:
Monnie Nilsson: mnlisson@denverpost.com; 303-954-1049.
