Category: Providers

Why? Where? and when? I know personally, when I decided that I wanted to do this, I was looking for people that I related to, that was like minded, had the same kind of passion, and desired to better humanity. As corny as that may sound. So, I reached out to Will and Keon Fraser, who are brothers. We were all working at the same place of employment, so that was my mindset. It was more so based upon having the ability to do things and have your own ideas be implemented without much restriction, so to speak.

We began in 2002 and in 2002 it was actually just to build the self-esteem of a few young ladies in a small cohort and from there we started our Inner Beauty Pageant, and our Inner Beauty Pageant is still a staple today. We are in our 18th year of the pageant and what we like to do is build their self-esteem and their character, their poise, their personality. We do this through a character-building curriculum and, we make sure that we focus on lots of things that the young ladies need and that would be things that they need to know for home, for the community, for school and for life in general. So, we really hit those life skills hard, really hit social skills hard and anything that we can think of that a young lady might need is what we want to, provide for them, and so we

Read our Q&A with Allison Thomas, Owner of Mainstay Music Therapy. What inspired you to become a provider? I’ve always had a heart for helping

When we started the program in 1995, I was an 8th grade teacher in Marion County. I noticed – along with other teachers – that there were too many teenage boys who were not transitioning well into high school. We believed that if we could help youth visualize their future through relevant activities, they would see the importance of their education and maintaining respect for women. By 2003, we needed sustainable funding to keep costs low for participants and, at the same time, support more youth who might not have an opportunity to spend time with like-minded youth and mentors. Our community lacked good male role models who would spend time preparing our next generation so they became strong young men who would provide for their families, protect their families and our community, and encourage a positive atmosphere for their families to reach their full potential.

Read our Q&A with Michael E. Ray, Founder of Mentoring With Magic. What inspired you to become a provider? The late Mr. Eddie Leavell inspired

Read our Q&A with Emily Padgett, Program Director for Agape Therapeutic Riding Center. What inspired you to become a provider? Agape is committed to serving