Organization History

This journey of life caused me to experience a season of losses, which included the brutal deaths of my uncle and my brother, the deaths of my beloved grandparents, the sickness and death of my aunt -who had been like a mother to me, the sudden death of the husband of my eldest aunt, the loss of my friend and colleague who I first met at the start of my teaching career, 30 years ago and most recently the loss of my courageous and beautiful mother. There were other losses, but these specific ones took an emotional, mental, and physical toll on me and my loved ones.  

Something For The Journey (SFTJ) was borne out of my desire to release the heaviness and pain caused by these losses. Throughout my lifetime, Wisdom has taught me that focusing on the needs of others helps to shift  focus and aids in the prevention of becoming swallowed up by our pain.  I was exhausted and needed relief. I didn’t want to keep focusing on my problems, and to be frank, I wanted to stop feeling sorry for myself.  I knew many others were experiencing similar things, and even worse in my opinion. I expressed my thoughts to a friend who suggested that I put together an event to give back; this resonated with me and began a series of steps which lead me to create “Something For The Journey.” 

I have always had a heart to help and give comfort, whether it was words of encouragement, opening up my home to offer someone a place to stay, taking my elderly neighbor to the store or to a doctor’s appointment, as a child, taking up a little puppy in my arms to carry with me because I didn’t want him to be left alone, getting into a physical or verbal fight on behalf of a friend, becoming friends with the girl who no one else wanted to be friends with, or promising my grandfather when I was a little girl that I would make sure to take care of him when I go to America.  Few things if any have rivaled the joy on the occasions that I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to give, whether monetary or other types of resources.

Pain and Purpose!! What a relationship! Pain helped to push me into my purpose. Had it not been for these experiences and the impact that they had and continue to have on me, I might not have moved to create this organization. I wanted to “set myself in place” to be able to offer “something” to others in their time of need.   As an organization, we do not seek to prevent your circumstances, we trust that you will make meaning out of each experience; instead, whether in word or in deed, SFTJ seeks to be an instrument of restorative power to bring comfort, alleviate pain, strengthen, and inspire hope in others on their life’s journey.