Unlocking Communities; A Nonprofit Organization That I'm Apart Of

During these uncertain moments, one thing that we CAN be certain of, is that this is the perfect time to do everything we always said "if I had more time, I would do ____". There has never been a better time to cross things off of your "if I had more time" bucket list, than right now.

One thing on my personal list was to fulfill my desire to serve and help others. I have always wanted to be more active in my local community, or serve others in any way that I possibly could, but I always thought "I don't have time". Where I went wrong was focusing less on "I'm too busy" and focusing more on "where can I make even the slightest bit of time to help?". COVID-19 really opened my eyes to realize that life is too short. We need to utilize this time to take a step back, appreciate life in all it's beauty and wonders, and start focusing on real time things that actually matter and will leave an impact behind instead of focusing on material things, trying to stay busy, and doing the next thing on our list which will only benefit ourselves, rather than benefit others.

How I Discovered Unlocking Communities

This past summer, I traveled to California with my best friend. We stayed at Freehand Los Angeles where we shared a room with other individuals. One of those individuals was the founder and CEO of Unlocking Communities, Josh Goralski. Upon getting to know what a genuine and amazing person he was, he started spreading his knowledge and passion for Unlocking Communities with us. Immediately, I was captured. This nonprofit organization really tugged at my heartstrings. I let Josh know that once I graduated in December of 2019, and got settled in with a full time job, I would reach back out to him to become apart of this amazing organization and volunteer. I retained as much information as I could, took pamphlets, flyers, business cards, and stickers back home with me to have for future reference.

What Is Unlocking Communities?

Unlocking Communities recognizes the talent and capabilities of the people in Haiti and sees the opportunity to unlock these and other entrepreneurial strengths within the community for the purpose of putting economic power in the hands of the Haitians, thus elevating Haiti. Their mission is put economic power into the hands of those who need it most by empowering individuals and their communities to unlock their economic potential through entrepreneurial ventures.

How Can You Get Involved?

There are so many ways to get involved. From donating, volunteering, corporate involvement, and spreading the word. For starters, if you are interested in knowing more and becoming involved, reach out to me! I can help, and I will also let founder and CEO, Josh Goralski know. Their website is: https://unlockingcommunities.org/

I hope to grow and advance with Unlocking Communities and to one day travel with them to Haiti, do service work, and meet the amazing individuals in that community. I know this would be the experience of a lifetime, to really see the different lifestyles, observe what others go through daily and to KNOW that I can help make a difference in their daily lives. I want to go to Haiti and come back as a changed and better person than I was before I left. I hope this blog post has inspired you want to go and figure out what you can do for others, whether it is becoming apart of Unlocking Communities or just simply going out and doing local community service. Let's use this time to lose ourself in the service of others. If we have the ability to give something so simple and small as time, why are we not taking advantage of it?

XOXO, Tess