Moving On Up!
Mary and Chara
She worked the fastest out of us all. I watched her and followed her steps. Always pushing the limits saying… “let’s get it done” and “don’t wait, finish it now!” I admired her from afar and set out to match her energy. She looked at me funny one day when I told her that she was my rabbit. Ha! Let me explain because you may be looking at me funny too. My grandmother taught me when I was in grade school to pick out the rabbit in the class – the fastest and smartest person in the room, then learn from them and perform. Well, I keep that mindset in life. I was at a new job, in a new industry working within the housing crisis sector living in Atlanta, GA. I saw the excellence that she, Mary Grace King, brought to the table and soon I would find out that I wouldn’t be the only one who noticed her. One day, she announced that she was starting her own agency. She was encouraged by a top leader in the field to branch off. I went with her.
At just 25 years of age, I watched her lead, guide, innovate, create and take action to end homelessness in the City of Atlanta. She called her agency Frontline Housing Inc. Today, Frontline Housing provides housing for homeless families and financial well-being services. Eventually, as the team grew, I became the Assistant Director. The partnership with the United Way of Greater Atlanta became an official merge, a true partnership that inspired me. Things were going well. We expanded programs and I witnessed lives changed before my very eyes. It impacted my daily talk and little did I know I was talking to unknown investors. When they gave, we celebrated, and she planned for the future. As she planned to grow her company, I, on the other hand, started planning to start my own company. My passion to help teens, particularly teens in under-resourced areas tugged on me heavily. My passion to help girls increase self-esteem and build a digital media platform as a safe space for girls wouldn’t escape me. So, in November 2020, I took the leap of faith and moved to Texas to start Chara’s Story Inc.
Always working together. (Mary and Chara)
I took the lessons she taught me and begin the work. One day while simply working on my 8 – 5 job while building CSI on the side, I got a call. It was from one of the old investors that I meet in Atlanta who gave to Frontline. It was giving season. Knowing what was possible, I had a moment whereby I could have raved all about the work that I had branched off to start. I could have bragged about how my book had just become an evidence-based resource tool for teens in need of help with body image issues. But instead, I remembered a book that I read with a modern-day twist on the esteemed Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich classic. The book, Three Feet from Gold: Turn Your Obstacles Into Opportunities stood out to me at that moment. In the book, many of the impressive people that the main character ran into on his path to success asked him one question… “How may I serve you?” When you serve others, good will return unto you.
How did CSI get its first grant? At the moment when I could have pitched for me, myself, and I, I thought of another to serve and that was Frontline Housing Inc. In return, as Frontline Housing grew, our servanthood came back to us. Today, I’m happy to announce that, with the support of Frontline Housing Inc and the United Way of Greater Atlanta, we are starting our first documentary project to help teen girls in under-served communities discover the truth about beauty.
About CSI’s Project - PHASE ONE:
Chara’s Story Inc (CSI) has a plan to build a customizable digital media platform that globally teaches females of all ages, particularly for the next generation, just “how” to like, love, and accept themselves “as is” at the click of a button. We’ve developed a framework that reduces the harmful psychological effects in relation to body image issues. Our digital media platform will host original content of true stories, such as documentaries, podcasts, sitcoms, movies, recorded events, curriculum experiences, etc., from our foundational framework that increases self-esteem while reducing body image issues and a negative self-perception.
CSI plans to implement 8 book clubs in 12 months in Atlanta, GA. Each book club will be recorded to show forth the transformation of girls finding their freedom from body image issues. Body image is unfortunately now considered a norm in adolescents. Research has proven that adolescents who live in under-resourced areas are at a greater risk of behavioral and emotional problems.
We have gained support from renowned psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health therapists from distinct and profound hospitals and programs. These specific doctors and mental health therapists have agreed to join the documentary series to give their insight and knowledge regarding the ugly truth about body image dissatisfactions, the reality of the current mental health status occurring in our youth, and they will reveal how the steps of the CSI’s framework is/can make a difference within the lives of our teens.
We started this mission in 2014 by building DreamChara Productions. We invited women with stories of overcoming body image issues to Atlanta, GA for a recording.
Chara