MY PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT
My mission is to help marginalized women because I have found a gap in print material that addressed and inspired the how-to of their personal development. I am able to do this because I lived and worked in the inner city and was in their homes and stores on a weekly basis for nine years. I founded a strategic magazine called Reach UP that is distributed by organizations whose work is with disenfranchised women. Their clients, Reach UPâs target audience, love the special attention they receive when given a FREE magazine just for them with articles that speak directly to their felt needs and circumstances.
Summer of 2003âŠ. I had been asked to speak for a womenâs retreat at a church in the inner city where Iâd worked for nine years. Many of these ladies were my friends from the ministry or on my route in East New York. I lived as they did in government housing.
They knew that I knew what it was like to hear gunshots in the night (or day), smell
marijuana through the windows, sweep up coke vials on the sidewalks, stop up holes with steel wool in my apartment so rats couldnât squeeze through, guard every belonging so that it wasnât stolen, walk âon guard,â outside constantly aware of whoâs around, wear little to no jewelry so as to not attract an attack â as well as why brown water comes through the faucets in the summer.
They may not have known that in my apartment the holes in the flooring were so big I could see through to the basement or that I had to wear a coat inside if I didnât turn the oven on for warmth in the winter. They knew that I knew what it was like to live in an oppressive environment and pray to God for relief.
âPeace in the Homeâ was the subject given to me to speak about. I decided we would discuss peace in spiritual terms with practical application. The afternoon sessions revolved around seasonal decorating, cleaning and washing clothes.
The response by the women was amazing and immediate. They told me they went home and cleaned the bathroom; others began a total overhaul of their living environment. Something new was happening in old neighborhoods.
Thatâs when the idea of a magazine designed to encourage and empower women came to mind. Actually, I became ALIVE with the idea: Â A magazine with articles of spiritual encouragement and practical tips on any number of subjects. The possibilities were endless. I talked about it all the time. I can even recall how its name, Reach UP, came up in conversation.
I asked lots of questions and did my âdue diligenceâ trying to figure out how to start a magazine.
Unfortunately, I didnât have enough faith to see how God would help me do what He wanted done. I told the Lord I couldnât do it; I wouldnât do it. I went so far as to tell God in prayer in the summer of 2007 that He had better tell someone else to do it, because it needed to get done.
September 2007âŠ. As I was exercising, I spun around and looked at my computer. INSTANTLY I knew how to start Reach UP magazine. It was a God moment. I quickly forgot about Tai Bo and sat down to write out a plan.
The first issue came out on my birthday, December 6, 2007. Itâs hard to describe how excited I was. Every issue since that first one has almost been like my child.
Since the very beginning, God has blessed us with professional and passionate men and women who have given generously of their talents. Weâve become a team who loves to encourage women to reach up. Our writers have stories similar to mine of living or working in tough circumstances. They have lived it and overcome.
Reach UP is being read all over the U.S. and in some closed, oppressive nations throughout the world! God has dropped even more dreams in my heart working with the mission of Reach UP.
Itâs such a joy and a delight to bring articles of encouragement to women everywhere, no matter their status or circumstances.
