Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Sandra Henry
Hi Dr. Sandra, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a child I was very driven and surrounded myself with older professional women. Although I had my first child at sixteen and two in college and my fourth at twenty-three my my world did not end, my dreams grew stronger. I became a owner of a beauty salon, restaurant and earned several professional licenses. Faced with the responsibilities of being a business owner and single parent of four kids that was very active in sports. My sons were playing baseball and I needed financial support for Chet Lemons Baseball Camp. I called Pat Williams the Co-Founder of the Orlando magic and he paid for the camp for my boys. I was determined to pay it forward. I founded ReachBack Foundation Inc. so I could go back and give back to the grass root level. Like Pat Williams I knew that the poor is a diamond in the ruff that has to be cultivated. As a teenager I use to take the elderly to the grocery store and help them with their mail. I realized that they could not read and I enrolled them into a reading program for seniors. Helping people is in my DNA and my calling from God. Being the founder and operating a non-profit requires a lot of time and money. We are a mobile food pantry that provide free food and essential items for seniors that can not pay for food and their medications, single parents that is struggling to buy food and pay rent, kids that would go to bed hungry and expected to excel in school, people who has to steal to eat, the homeless that are eating out of the garbage can. ReachBack Foundation Inc. had two major food distributions at Camping World Stadium for 3,000 and 5, 000 people. ReachBack Foundation Inc. does more than giveaway food we are using food as medicine to combat health issues due to a poor diet of fatty, cheap, high sodium and processed food. We are also providing medically tailored food for people who are being discharged from the hospital. We provide door to door delivery services for seniors. As a result of our services we are preventing homelessness, improving health issues, preventing crime, child abuse and providing stability. ReachBack Foundation Inc. has out grown our small office space. We are in desperate need of a building with warehouse space. We are currently raising money to purchase a building that we have found that will allow us to have a nursing school, training for Veterans, shelter for women and children, job training for careers that pay a living wage for unskilled workers. Our food distributions consist of making bags on the back of a 26ft box truck in the cold, rain and heat. Getting this building will allow us to have walk-in freezers, refrigeration, pallet shelving and this will allow us to make more distributions and have a greater impact on the community, With this building we can expand our youth development programs, college tour, college preparations, crime prevention and teen pregnancy’s. Having this building will create jobs and opportunities for seniors to volunteer. We are a 501 c3 non-profit. Please go to reachbackfoundation.com to see what we are doing in the community
We provide food for low -income apartments, senior apartments, community centers, schools, parks and shopping centers. Provide food for kids to have on the weekends and after school. Reading /Math Coach: We will provide books for the kids to read with us and books to take home. We will have reading roll playing activities that will keep the kids engaged while they are reading and having fun. We will explain the importance of reading and the role it plays in our daily life and careers. We will review math assignments from school, explain the techniques used to get the answers. We will give the kids math assignments to complete. We will have math contest and games to play that will keep the kids engaged while having fun. We had a Learn To Read Book Fair at Elementary School where Fireman, Police Officers, City Officials read books to the kids. The kids were given books to take home and food. We provided food and books to football players to read after practice and they took books home to read. We have a third grader that was tested and reading on a tenth-grade level. This kid read the proclamation of 1763 for Juneteenth. Youth Mentoring: Establish a relationship with the kids and determine what their need are and personal issues they are dealing with (Bullying, Peer Pressure etc.) Help the kids set short and long-term goals, job readiness, collage preparations, college tours, financial aid for college, prepares for SAT testing, review careers in various trades. This program has a sports component of football and basketball. One of our kids was chosen FACA District 11 Players Of The Year. Entrepreneurship/ Financial Programming: We will teach the kids what is required to start a business, cost to start a business (permits, insurance, staff, equipment, supplies, rent/mortgage etc.) We will visit various jobs, utilize a food truck for the kids to sale food out of. Teach them budgeting, how to shop for deals, shop with coupons, set up a savings account, research the cost to rent a apartment, lights, food, etc. how much you have to make per hour to pay this bills and what type of job pay that amount per hour, what degree needed. The kids will also do research on the number of kids and young adults that are in prison. What are the prison sentences for various type of crimes ( rape, murder, home invasions, assaults’, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, drugs possession, theft and car jacking. They will be required to do research on crime prevention and the dangers of the web/internet. Our program will be conducted in one on one sessions and group settings. We will offer OSHA approved training in construction, forklift, CDL and computer programming.1. They live to retirement age or older. 2. They remain drug and prison free. 3. They get a college degree or trade and have a financially sustainable life. 4. They take the skills and knowledge they have learned and apply it to their life and family lives. 5. Break the generational cycle of death, crime, incarceration’s, working poor, depression and drugs and alcohol dependency in poor undeserved black communities. 82 percent of the kids complete the program. 90 percent of our students graduate from high school. 100 percent of our students shows improvement in their attitudes, self-esteem and a desire for a better live. 70 percent go to college or trade school. It is more difficult to get 18-24 year old to participate in programs. Providing Construction training, Forklift and CDL with job placement along with food and essential items to each participant to help sustain their family will mitigate that challenge.
Orlando Florida is second in the country for the worst affordable housing. The average wage in Orlando is $11.00 per hour $1,906.00 a month. The average two-bedroom apartment in Orlando is $1,933.00 a month that is a deficit of $26.43 a month in rent only. The price of food is extremely high and unaffordable. It is cheaper to buy high fat fast food that is a major contributor for high cholesterol, obesity and other health related issues due to a poor diet. Providing access to healthy food not only decrease health related issues it also free up money that can be used to help pay rent to avoid being homeless. Providing food to seniors that have to choose between buying food or paying for their medications is a lifesaving event. 1 in 5 kids go to bed hungry and their primary food source is at school. Providing food to families with children and to children directly allow the children to have a good restful night and are better prepared to go to school with an attitude and attention to learn without being hungry and worrying about food. Due to a lack of income and no financial assistances some people have to steal to eat and provide food for their family. Providing a mobile food distribution address all of these issues that the most vulnerable are facing every day. We are raising 4.5 million dollars to get the building, supply the nursing school and change lives for generations.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been very difficult and I have sacrificed a lot of time and my personal money to keep our foundation alive. When I get a call from someone who needs food I will go buy it, cash app or deliver it. A lot of grants require you have a match, certain amount of money or several other contributing donors. Exposure is vital to the survival of an organization. having money for media ads is very necessary to reach donors. We are very blessed to get a wide variety of merchandise. We currently have five 10/20 storages and two shipping containers full of things for our thrift store that will generate revenue to sustain us. We have donated furniture and household goods for flood victims in the area. We need a constant stream of money!!!!!!!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about ReachBack Foundation inc.?
ReachBack Foundation Inc is a local non-profit that provide food and essential services for people that are poor, seniors, disabled and suffering from food insecurity and basic necessities. We are a mobile food pantry that allow us to go where the need are and service a wide variety of people. One of our proudest moments are our Camping World Stadium events and providing food for Jones High School Choir and Band in New York for their Carnegie Hall Event. We provided 125 meals from Olive Garden and 125 meals from Red Lobster. Being a choir member at Jones High that traveled I knew that a lot of the kids would be lucky to leave home with forty dollars. The cost of breakfast at the hotel was forty dollars. I was very happy to take the stress of food off the parents and kids. We care, we have walked in their shoes, we know what suffering feels like and we know what it takes to break the generational cures of poverty. The services we offer are designed to change lives from childhood to adults. We understand that when you are building a house you start with the footer/dirt. Without a solid foundation the roof and walls will not stand. In order to make this country safe, stable and thriving we must help the poor elevate to the middle class and higher. Poor people have dreams and do not want to live the life or in the environment they are living in. With the right support and opportunity a dull rock can sparkle like a diamond. I love doing what God has called me to do. This is my mission in life and will continue through my kids and grandkids. My 87 year old mom gets on the back of the truck and help make bags. Matthew 25:35-45 says when you saw me hungry, you fed me. When you found me thirsty, you gave me a drink. This is bigger than me this is Gog working through me. It was a very special moment to be among the celebrities to speak at Pat Williams funeral. He did a lot for people in need. Donations can be mailed to 2814 Silver Star Rd Ste 216 Orlando, Florida 32808. Cashapp $ReachBack28, Zelle 321-217-7017 Sandra Henry
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Stay in the fight. Never give up, Trust God. Knowing that this is bigger than me. Things will get better. I went to an international event in New York last December to network. I passed out cards at every event and on the last day a lady that I gave a card to at an event set next to me and I gave her another card and she asked me what award did I get? I said none. She asked what honor did I get? I said none. She looked at my website and said you came all the way here to honor us and I said yes. She emailed me a request for my bio and and on December 10th world Human Rights Day I became an Ambassador and on December 16th I became an Honorary Doctor. You don’t know who God will sit next to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://reachbackfoundation.com
- Instagram: reachback_foundation_inc_fla
- Facebook: ReachBack Foundation Inc.
