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Chuck Milton, William’s House, and Chris Foley, Edward Jones

May 28, 2024 by John Ray

Good2Give Podcast

Chuck Milton, William's House, and Chris Foley, Edward Jones

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Chuck Milton, William’s House, and Chris Foley, Edward Jones (Good2Give Podcast, Episode 10)

On this episode of the Good2Give Podcast, host Maria Walden welcomes guests Chuck Milton, Executive Director of William’s House in Roswell, Georgia, and Chris Foley, a financial advisor with Edward Jones. Chuck discusses the mission of William’s House, which is to empower fathers in recovery to achieve self-sufficiency and housing sustainability. Chris elaborates on his philanthropic journey and how he assists his clients with charitable giving and financial planning. Topics include the innovative housing solutions William’s House provides for single fathers, their long-term support programs, and their efforts in fundraising and grant writing. The discussion also touches upon the benefits of donor-advised funds and strategies for financial literacy.

The article “Can you make charitable giving less ‘taxing’?” mentioned by Chris Foley during the show can be found online, free of charge, by following this link.

The Good2Give Podcast is presented by the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia. The show is produced by John Ray and the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link.

Chuck Milton, William’s House

Chuck Milton serves as the Executive Director and CEO of William’s House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering fathers in recovery to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainable housing.

Before co-founding William’s House in 2020, Chuck accumulated over 20 years of corporate experience as Vice President at prominent boutique retained executive search firms. He excelled in business development and worked with a diverse clientele, including manufacturers, SMBs, and Fortune companies such as Southern Company and Walt Disney, across both Orlando and Burbank.

His inspiration for this mission stems from his personal journey with alcoholism and prescription drug abuse, which led him to enter a rehabilitation program in 2009. Following his rehabilitation, Chuck found himself in a challenging situation without a stable living environment or the necessary tools to rebuild his life. This experience sparked his curiosity about the support available to men with children facing similar struggles.

Shortly thereafter, Chuck coincidentally joined Mary Hall Freedom House, a facility that assists women and women with children. During his time there, he recognized the need for similar resources tailored to men with children, which inspired the creation of William’s House.

Chuck is a proud alumnus of Florida State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences with a focus on Political Science. He was actively involved in the Greek system and student government during his time at FSU. Despite being a Florida native, Chuck now considers Atlanta his home after residing there for over three decades.

William’s House

William’s House empowers fathers in recovery to achieve self-sufficiency and attain housing sustainability.

At its essence, William’s House is dedicated to motivating men in recovery, guiding them through a transformative journey to reclaim their lives, and facilitating their reintegration with families as valued contributors to their communities. The programming at William’s House places emphasis on personal transformation, moral inventory, and reliance on a Higher Power. The strategy is centered around the transformative power of relationships, including the spiritual dimension, to foster lasting positive change.

Recent research highlights the importance of homeless men having the opportunity to share and process their feelings of judgment, guilt, shame, remorse, and separation from their families, as well as their fears about parenting and re-entering family and home life.

William’s House is dedicated to creating an enriching and supportive environment. The strategic approach is grounded in the belief that enabling individuals at William’s House has a positive ripple effect on the broader community. This approach is encapsulated in the Six Pillars: Housing, Financial Literacy-Wealth Building, Family Counseling, Physical and Mental Well-being, Sobriety Maintenance, and Career Heights. William’s House is committed to delivering comprehensive support through a combination of community-based initiatives and on-site services.

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X (Twitter)

Chris Foley, Edward Jones, CFP®

Chris Foley guides individuals, families, and small business owners in an increasingly complex and volatile investment environment by offering clear, straightforward financial advice and helping them make sense of their investments.

Chris Foley, Edward Jones, on the Good2Give Podcast — **Chris Foley, Edward Jones**

Since joining Edward Jones, Chris has assisted many families in the community to fund their investment goals and plan for their financial futures. Prior to his career at Edward Jones, he worked in the financial services industry for nearly 13 years. He earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Chris’s finance journey began in his junior year of college at the age of 20. He worked as an intern on the trading desk of a global investment bank and developed an enthusiasm for researching stocks. He saved $1,000 by the end of the summer and picked a blue-chip stock in which to invest. His father opened a brokerage account for them to invest in together. His father purchased the stock Chris had chosen, and Chris was to reimburse him. Instead, Chris used the money to buy an electric guitar (since purchasing that guitar, he has learned to play a whopping nine chords and only one scale). Fortunately, his father held onto the investment, and that initial $1,000 grew and eventually helped to fund his retirement. That experience taught Chris the power of compounding and investing for the long term. While his ability to play the guitar has not grown, his passion for investing, educating his clients, and helping them to create the life they dream of has grown exponentially.

Chris is a relationship builder and cares deeply about his community. He and his wife, Courtney, live in the Crabapple area of Alpharetta, Georgia, with their two curious and very active young boys. Courtney is a classical pianist who still encourages him to play his guitar and master the E minor pentatonic scale. In his spare time, Chris enjoys spending time with his family, watching sports, and traveling.

Website | LinkedIn

Edward Jones

Edward Jones, a Fortune 500 firm, provides financial services in the U.S. and through its affiliate in Canada. The firm’s nearly 19,000 financial advisors serve more than 8 million clients, with a total of $1.7 trillion in client assets under care. Edward Jones’ purpose is to partner for positive impact to improve the lives of its clients and colleagues, and together, better our communities and society.

Through the dedication of the firm’s 50,000 associates and our branch presence in 68 percent of U.S. counties, the firm is committed to helping more people achieve financially what is most important to them.

Website

Topics Discussed in This Interview

00:00 Welcome to the Good2Give Podcast
00:41 Introducing the Guests and Their Missions
01:13 Deep Dive into William’s House: Empowering Fathers
05:33 Financial Literacy and Philanthropy with Chris Foley
10:05 Exploring Donor Advised Funds and Charitable Giving
14:13 The Importance of Community and Fundraising Efforts
21:30 Future Plans and How to Get Involved
32:04 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information

The Good2Give Podcast celebrates the work of donors, nonprofits, and the causes they care about. DePriest Waddy and Maria Walden-Sullivan are the show’s hosts, and the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia is the presenting sponsor.

The Good2Give Podcast is produced by John Ray and the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. You can also find the show on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and many others.

At the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia, everything they do centers around one purpose: improving the world through the power of philanthropy.

On a fundamental level, they do that through managing funds held in trust, donated by individuals, organizations, and businesses. Most funds are donor-advised funds, similar to savings accounts. These funds are pooled for investment purposes, and their income is used to make grants for a wide variety of charitable purposes.

But the Foundation’s goals extend far beyond managing funds. They desire to strengthen the communities they serve in Gwinnett, Northeast Georgia, and beyond by providing leadership, addressing community needs, and assisting individuals and organizations with their charitable giving.

Connect with CFNEG:
Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Effectiveness and Efficiency Help Everything E44

May 16, 2023 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Effectiveness and Efficiency Help Everything E44

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Effectiveness and Efficiency Help Everything E44

On this episode of Collaborative Connections Radio Show and Podcast, we covered everything from capital and grants for small businesses, food insecurity and other social service needs, strategic implementation, the importance of efficiency and effectiveness for non-profits and businesses, and more.

Host, Kelly Lorenzen, was on-air with special guests Albert Loveland, CEO of Strabo; Deborah Arteaga, CEO at Tempe Community Action Agency, Inc. and Stephanie Hastings, CEO of Tax Day Baby.

They all shared so many wise words, great tips, and insights for businesses and organizations, that it is well worth listening to.

Thank you, KLM, for sponsoring the show.

Strabo helps clients in the areas of strategic implementation, capacity building, and effective performance conversations. This is primarily done through working with clients as a fractional chief of staff, helping clients evolve from change to the new normal.

Al Loveland spent 15 years in the Credit Card industry, managing groups of over 100 lenders and leading an inventory management group in charge of allocating resources for over 500 analysts.

After leaving the corporate world, he has been a consultant, coach, and facilitator in the small business and nonprofit sectors. Through this experience, he founded Strabo with an understanding that an organization’s strategic plan is only as good as its ability to achieve it.

His mission is to partner with clients to help them develop people, create effective positions, and streamline procedures to drive desired performance.

Connect with Al on LinkedIn.

Tax Day Baby is the resource to bridge the gap between survive to thrive. Oftentimes for new entrepreneurs or those around 5 years in business, the struggle with building business credit, getting capital, and managing their books…can be a heavy weight on their minds.

We’re able to provide accounting support, education, implementation, and accountability to get your business growth goals in alignment with your revenue and cashflow.

We’re the “Dollar Doctors” for your bottom line, mapping out a clear plan for you to regain peace of mind and passionately play full-out. – Tax Day Baby, all things accounting…and more!

Stephanie Hastings is an accountant, financial consultant, professional speaker, author, trainer, wife, and mother. With more than 19+ years in various Executive Administrative roles, she struck out on her own to make a positive ripple effect by supporting individuals and small business owners with their finances and entrepreneurial dreams.

Stephanie’s business and financial expertise, along with her background in Hotel/Restaurant Management (HRM), has allowed her to humanize the numbers and relate to her audience and clients.

Stephanie’s a notary, a wedding officiant, and served on Northern Arizona University (NAU) Alumni Board. Through her various personal trials and triumphs, Stephanie has been able to hone her skills and gifts to grow a community of resources and affiliates. She knows how valuable it is to have a solid network that you can refer to and rely on. She is always learning and striving to do her best.

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Tempe Community Action Agency is Tempe’s largest non profit social services agency. TCAA was established in 1966 and since then, has remained true to its core purpose to eliminate poverty and advance equitable communities. TCAA operates 8 unique programs.

These programs drive positive change in the areas of food security, housing stability, health and well-being, and economic empowerment among the more than 30,000 individuals served each year in communities across the East Valley.

Deborah Arteaga joined Tempe Community Action Agency as Chief Executive Officer in 2016. She has dedicated a 30-year career to bettering lives for individuals and improving community well-being through leadership positions within corporate, nonprofit, and public-sector human service organizations.

In prior roles Deborah led programs that moved welfare recipients to work, helped women transition from prison, fostered senior independence, empowered domestic violence survivors, helped bring an end to homelessness, strengthened families, and fed the hungry.

She also launched a business which brought capacity building and successful proposal writing services over 8 years to organizations within and outside of Arizona. Influenced by her Hispanic heritage, Deborah works to promote inclusiveness and access for people from backgrounds of disadvantage and across all walks of life.

When not roughing it with her four children ages 17-31 years and her 3-year-old granddaughter, Deborah can be found painting, traveling, writing, or gardening.

Follow TempeCommunity Action Agency on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

About Collaborative Connections

The purpose of Collaborative Connections Radio Show and Podcast is to build a connected community, one collaborative show at a time. We highlight local non-profits, associations, small and family-owned businesses.

By bringing 4 like-minded people together for an hour of in-depth conversation, our hope is that they connect and collaborate in life and business in the future.

About Our Sponsor

KLM is a business development firm helping entrepreneurs, small and family-owned businesses start, grow and scale through consulting, marketing and project management. Combining those three things has been a trifecta, or triple advantage to business owners.

Entrepreneurs & small business owners come to KLM for support in all areas of business. If you need to duplicate yourself in any area of your business, we can help. If we don’t do exactly what you need, we know someone who can.

Business owners can continue to do what they love while having the support they need when they need it, with the help of KLM. We help you figure out what needs to get done AND DO IT FOR YOU!

About Your Host

Kelly Lorenzen, CEO of KLM, is an award-winning entrepreneur with over 15 years of business-ownership experience. She is also a certified project management professional.

Kelly’s expertise is in business development, customer service, marketing, and sales.

Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn, and follow KLM on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

It Takes A Village E30

March 21, 2022 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

It Takes A Village E30

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It Takes A Village E30

On this episode of Collaborative Connections Radio Show and Podcast, host Kelly Lorenzen had the pleasure of interviewing some amazing leaders in our community.

Ania Kubicki, CEO & Founder of ANGLES Communications and President-Elect of NAWBO Phx, Laura Bode, Director of Community Engagement of A New Leaf, and Shana Duffy, Principle Consultant, Blue Ocean Advisory and owner of Yellow Day Marketing joined Kelly on-air for an enlightening conversation.

If you want to be inspired, get more involved in the Arizona community, or learn something new about PR, non-profits, business ownership, or women in business, then check out this episode.

Did you know there is a media collaborative in Phoenix that focuses on Positivity? The Center for Positive Media just opened and Ania was excited to share about it. https://www.thecenterforpositivemedia.com/

Did you know that NAWBO advocates for women in business? They are a great resource in our community. https://www.nawbo.org/phoenix

Did you know that A New Leaf helps sexual and domestic violence victims? They are opening a Rap Crisis Center next month. Check out all of their services at https://www.turnanewleaf.org/services/

Did you know there is a consulting firm that helps brands connect with financial institutions for co-branded credit cards and loyalty programs? Shana Duffy is a principal consultant with them and a great resource for small and large businesses needing help with customer loyalty. https://boadvisory.com/

These ladies shared some GREAT resources, stories, and quotes during the show about everything above and more. It is worth the hour to listen to this episode of Collaborative Connections.

Thank you, KLM Consulting, Marketing, and Management for sponsoring Collaborative Connections Radio Show and Podcast.

A New Leaf advances its mission of “Helping Families…Changing Lives” by providing meaningful opportunities to empower disadvantaged individuals and families, and to create a stronger and healthier community. A New Leaf’s 30+ programs in the Phoenix Metro area address households’ immediate and longer-term needs through a continuum of care that promotes social and economic health and stability.

Services include emergency shelter, supportive housing, domestic and sexual violence support, financial empowerment, behavioral and primary health care, foster care, early childhood education, and family preservation. With 51 years’ experience providing social services to local communities, A New Leaf anticipates improving more than 30,000 lives this year through culturally responsive programming that cultivates equity in the community.

Laura Bode serves as A New Leaf’s Director of Community Engagement. She has worked with A New Leaf for 10 years and is passionate about advancing the critical services the organization provides for the community.

She engages community corporations, foundations, civic leaders, and service groups to build awareness, funding, in-kind donations, and volunteer service to support all of A New Leaf’s programs.

Follow A New Leaf on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

ANGLES is a communications agency with a mission to connect ideas and the people behind them to those who benefit from them. ANGLES works with visionaries who challenge the status quo and disrupt industries that need change.

We help our clients bring positive change to industries, communities and the world through highly curated communications strategies and programs.

Ania Kubicki started her career in public relations in New York City, working on high profile campaigns for destinations and political organizations. She moved to Phoenix in 2002 and started her agency, ANGLES Communications in 2006.

Ania is passionate about her clients and works with growth-oriented companies, powerful organizations and meaningful non-profits. She firmly believes that if you are not telling your story, someone will tell it for you.

Ania is an active member of our community serving on multiple committees, supporting and volunteering for causes in education, arts & entertainment as well as women and children. She is the President-Elect of the Phoenix Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and is passionate about helping people overcome adversity and own their stories!

Connect with Ania on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Blue Ocean is a multi-faceted advisory firm that excels in brand loyalty and payments solutions with a strong emphasis in the co-brand credit card space. Blue Ocean uses their vast experience and industry knowledge to successfully align brand partners and merchants with issuing banks and payment providers.

The Blue Ocean team has spent many years effectively negotiating co-branded programs nationally and internationally for travel, auto, retail, and financial institution brands. Additionally they manage RFP’s and contracts with Issuers and all three Card Networks; Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

Blue Ocean also provides operational and marketing guidance on credit card programs to maximize growth and revenue, create winning marketing and focused strategies that enhance consumer loyalty through enhanced product value and innovation.

Beyond marketing and business development the Blue Ocean team has strong operational backgrounds that cover Credit, Risk, Fraud, Customer Service, Forecasting, Financial Analysis, and user Analytics.

Shana Duffy is a Principal Consultant with over 25 years of experience in the credit card and co-brand industry. Her experience runs deep across Operations, Marketing, and Business Development.

Shana spent over 20 years at Bank of America where she managed Credit Underwriting, Fraud, and Risk teams and strategies before transitioning to co-brand marketing where she spent 10 years managing a suite of successful programs such as America West, Alaska Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines.

Prior to joining Blue Ocean Advisory in June 2020, Shana spent 7 years managing Retail, Airline, and Financial Institution co-branded programs at U.S. Bank.

Shana’s skills span across executive leadership, program management, product development and innovation, contract renewals and negotiation, revenue generation, and relationship management.

Follow Blue Ocean on LinkedIn.

About Collaborative Connections

Kelly Lorenzen started the “Collaborative Connections” show to bring her clients and favorite charities together to meet each other, connect and collaborate in life and business. She hopes to build a stronger community one show at a time.

About Our Sponsor

KLM is a one-stop support shop for small business owners who are starting, growing, or trying to sustain. Our purpose is to foster the growth and prosperity of small businesses in our community.

Entrepreneurs & small business owners come to KLM for support in all areas of business. KLM clients think of us as a concierge, business snuggy, another arm, or duplicate for the business owner; They call us when they need us. Business owners can continue to do what they love while having the support they need when they need it.

About Your Host

Kelly Lorenzen, CEO of KLM, is an award-winning entrepreneur with over 15 years of business-ownership experience. She is also a certified project management professional.

Kelly’s expertise is in business development, customer service, marketing, and sales.

Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn, and follow KLM Consulting on Facebook.

Atlanta Cares Radio: Shilpa Jadwani with One Path Legal, Nicole File with Softer Streets and Karen Cramer with TechBridge

December 19, 2019 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

Atlanta Cares Radio: Shilpa Jadwani with One Path Legal, Nicole File with Softer Streets and Karen Cramer with TechBridge

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Shilpa Jadwani is the Owner & Managing Attorney at One Path Legal with its head offices in Alpharetta, Georgia. Originally from New Jersey, she graduated from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School in 2012. Ms. Jadwani holds the CALI for Excellence Award in Immigration Law, Attorney of the Year Georgia from Corporate America Magazine, Super Lawyer’s Rising Star Award, Top Attorneys of North America Recipient and Top Women Attorneys Recipient to name a few.

In addition to her Juris Doctorate, Shilpa also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Seton Hall University and a Certificate in Paralegal Studies for Farleigh Dickinson University. Ms. Jadwani specializes in all areas of Immigration Law including employment-based classifications, family-based applications and victim-based petitions. The Firm also handles Family Law & Business Law Matters.

Follow One Path Legal on Facebook.

Nicole File is the Control Room Editor at CNN, responsible for “the last line of defense” for CNN’s on-air broadcasts. A four-time Peabody Award winner and an Emmy nominee and judge, Nicole has over 20 years’ experience crafting CNN’s breaking news and is a highly esteemed editorial trainer and mentor at the company’s world headquarters.

Nicole has extensive experience in volunteering, fundraising, organizing and logistics in the nonprofit sector. An expert on human trafficking and slavery, she has coordinated nationally and internationally broadcast segments on those issues and has extensively researched risk factors including poverty and homelessness. She has conducted groundbreaking research into child sex trafficking, and has worked and gathered information on the ground in India, Guatemala and the U.S. She maintains relationships with philanthropists and nonprofits in multiple countries.

Her experience gives her valuable expertise in building relationships with those traumatized by extreme stress or abuse, as well as an understanding of the holistic challenges many such people face. She was a leader in a campaign that raised $30 million in 100 days for Sweet Briar College, and organized medical and relief flights to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake — totaling more than a dozen specialized surgeons and nurses and more than two tons of equipment and supplies, in less than 36 hours.

As Softer Streets’ co-founder, Nicole helped expand the organization to seven states and raise just under $50,000 in its first year, with 87% of the funds being used directly to help our clients.

Follow Softer Streets on Facebook.

Karen Cramer is the Vice President of Community Impact at TechBridge. TechBridge is a national nonprofit with a vision of poverty alleviation through collective action. Karen is passionate about data sharing and building data collaboratives across the broader nonprofit community that allow for the better coordination of services and the matching of service demand and capacity to improve community outcomes.

TechBridge is a national nonprofit that breaks the cycle of generational poverty through the innovative use of technology to transform nonprofit and community impact. TechBridge improves the capacity of front-line nonprofits and service providers to share data and coordinate care with other providers, funders, and cross sector organizations. This allows for the more efficient allocation of resources and funding to the combination of programs and services most effective in moving residents out of poverty.

Karen’s 18 years of nonprofit professional experience have been focused on performance measurement, program evaluation, program development, and grants management. She is a proud co-founder of Helping Mamas, the metro Atlanta baby supplies bank and winner of United Way of Greater Atlanta’s spark prize.

Karen received her master of science in social work degree from the University of Texas at Austin and serves a peer reviewer for the Council on Accreditation.

Follow TechBridge on LinkedIn and Facebook.

About Your Host

Grace Hayden is dedicated to building comprehensive wealth management strategies to suit each of her clients’ financial paths. By establishing and maintaining good relationships with her clients, Grace is able to set up her clients’ accounts based on their needs, goals, and objectives.

In addition to being a familiar face around Atlanta Planning Group, after obtaining two bachelor’s degrees in Economics from the University of Venice – Ca’ Foscari and Georgia State University, Grace went on to work for some of the most well-known names in the financial industry, including Jackson National and Invesco, a global asset manager headquartered in Atlanta.

In Grace’s spare time she enjoys hiking, rock climbing, traveling and exploring Atlanta’s culinary scene.

Palm Valley Church and Community Impact with Tere Tucker and Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank with Leanne Leonard E17

March 21, 2019 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Palm Valley Church and Community Impact with Tere Tucker and Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank with Leanne Leonard E17

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Palm Valley Church and Community Impact with Tere Tucker and Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank with Leanne Leonard E17

Palm Valley Church created a non-profit entity, Community Impact. Community Impact exists to work together with their neighbors, local government, businesses and schools to build relationships by bringing all together for the good of the community. Their goal is to discover the assets, talents, gifts and passions in the community to meet the needs for transformation and hope by creating those partnerships. Palm Valley Church is a PEACE Plan Church which means that there are five giants that bring chaos in the world in various degrees locally and globally; they are spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease and illiteracy. If the Church can begin to take steps in addressing these giants it will bring peace to the world and will bring about a servants heart, actions and the important of serving others.

Tere Tucker has been a member of Palm Valley Church for over 6 years and the Director of Local Missions and Community Impact for 2 years. She comes from a background of owning her own software business where she has semi-retired and is now more available for volunteer work. Her passion is helping to make life a little easier and giving hope to those struggling, by looking at what the specific needs are in the community, and working with the community partners to bring about sustainable change. Since Palm Valley Church is a “PEACE Plan” Church it gives her this chance to be used by God to make these changes.

Follow Palm Valley Church on Facebook and Twitter.

For the past 23 years the Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank has been faithfully serving the people of the southwest valley. Their mission, as a faith based non-profit organization, is to provide services to families and individuals in the southwest valley who are hungry, in need, or facing crisis. AFFCB has two locations, Avondale and Tonopah, with a variety of programs and services, some shared, some unique. At each location, they offer monthly emergency food boxes and access to their clothing bank. In Avondale, they also provide monthly food boxes for seniors and infants, they have a shower on site for bathing, and they offer hygiene products and daily lunches for
individuals.

Each year, AFFCB partners with other local agencies and churches to collect and distribute school supplies (Backpacks & More) in July, Thanksgiving meals in November, and Christmas food and gifts (Toys & More) in December. All their programs and services are only contingent on need and residency. Individuals seeking assistance at the Avondale or Tonopah location must have proof of residence in a neighboring city (Avondale, Goodyear, Buckeye, Tolleson, Cashion, or Litchfield Park – or – Tonopah, Arlington, Palo Verde, or Harquahala, respectively).

The Agua Fria Food & Clothing Bank is a community supported organization. They rely heavily on in-kind and monetary donations, as well as grants. They are also an approved AZ charitable tax credit organization. Their day to day operations are possible only through the thousands of generous hours served by volunteers.

Leanne Leonard has served as the Executive Director of the Agua Fria Food & Clothing Bank since August of 2015. Prior to coming to AFFCB she worked for Ottawa University’s Arizona campus for eight years. She was serving as the Director of Business Program’s for their four Arizona locations, and was a full time faculty member teaching courses in business, communications, and liberal arts.

Leanne earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Psychology from Ottawa University, and a Master of Science in Leadership from Grand Canyon University.

Follow AFFCB on Facebook.

Shoes for the Souls

June 10, 2016 by Mike

Giving Back To Gwinnett

Shoes for the Souls

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Matthew Hermes, McClain Hermes, Lynn Robinette

Matthew Hermes and McClain Hermes

McClain Hermes and her father Matt began Shoes for the Souls as a small service project in 2009. The first year she collected and donated 365 pairs of new and slightly used shoes to the Atlanta Mission, which serves homeless men, women, and children. That “small service project” started by an eight year old has now collected and donated over 15,000 pairs of shoes to The Atlanta Mission.

Joe Skopitz with Centennial Olympic Park, Maureen Kornowa with Gwinnett Children’s Shelter and Vanessa Anderson with Covenant Christian Ministries Academy

January 28, 2015 by Mike

Silver Lining in the Cloud

Joe Skopitz with Centennial Olympic Park, Maureen Kornowa with Gwinnett Children's Shelter and Vanessa Anderson with Covenant Christian Ministries Academy

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Joe Skopitz, Maureen Kornowa, Vanessa Anderson, Dom Rainey

Joe Skopitz/Centennial Olympic Park

Less than two decades ago, Centennial Olympic Park’s neighborhood was a run-down part of town. That all began to change on the day Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games CEO Billy Payne gazed out his office window and a brilliant inspiration came to him – to convert a multi-block eyesore into a glorious gathering spot for visitors and residents to enjoy during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and for years to come. Tremendous support, coupled with the willingness of the State of Georgia to take the lead in the Park’s development and to assume ownership after the Games, transformed a dream into a grand reality – Centennial Olympic Park.

Following the Olympic Games, a large portion of the park was closed and redesigned for daily public use. Today, this unique 21-acre park performs a dual mission: it serves as Georgia’s lasting legacy of the Centennial Olympic Games and it anchors efforts to revitalize residential and commercial development in Georgia’s capital city. The Park sponsors community-wide free events including the Fourth of July Celebration, Music@Noon, the Wednesday WindDown concert series, and Park Market. The Park also hosts festivals, fundraisers and private events. These events, in addition to the normal day-to-day traffic, bring an estimated three million visitors to this urban oasis each year.

Maureen Kornowa/Gwinnett Children’s Shelter

The Gwinnett Children’s Shelter has been serving their community for more than 27 years. This past year GCS has embarked on a new journey with a program called “The Next Step…” where they now help homeless children of all ages along with their young moms. They are also looking to assist young girls who “age out” of the foster care system and those young women who have served in the Armed Forces who find themselves in a homeless situation with children. Their new idea is fresh and unique in that it is designed to keep the family together, determine the cause of the homelessness, and set each guest on a path to sustainability. For more information on “The Next Step…” visit gwinnettchildrenshelter.org.

Vanessa Anderson/Covenant Christian Ministries Academy

Covenant Christian Ministries Academy, a ministry of Covenant Christian Ministries Church, is a fully accredited school (ACSI and SACS CASI) established in 1994 which provides educational services to students both foreign (SEVIS approved) and domestic. Excellent learning opportunities are available at CCMA! Class sizes are moderate to allow individual needs to be addressed. Their academic training, which includes advanced placement and honor’s classes, has produced notable achievements. Student accomplishments include: Zell Miller scholarship recipients, perfect scores on advanced placement exams, and national winners in history, spelling, geography and math, and participants in the People to People Ambassador Program to Harvard in Cambridge, MA.

All students, K5 – 12, are required to take Spanish each year with the goal of developing spoken and auditory proficiency. Latin instruction begins in 3rd grade for their elementary students providing them with additional tools to decipher new vocabulary as formal phonics instruction ends.

Various activities are available to students in addition to the academic rigor – basketball, volleyball, cheerleading, chorus, yearbook, spelling bee, and more. Their basketball program produces true student-athletes with several recruited to NCAA Division I colleges.