A Community of Collaboration

A Community of Collaboration
Lynn Merritt, Ascend Humanitarian Director 

We invited nine other non-profits to join us and to benefit from our gala, it was an opportunity to multiply our impact in this important work. 

 Humanitarian work comes from our heart. It is the core of who we are as a person. Often it is sparked by an encounter, an experience or a person that has touched our soul and we are inspired to change, to make a difference, to make things better. It may have been in the eyes of a child or in the needs of a mother or the hopelessness of a father that we find the strength to act. With this new found courage we look for ways to serve, to lift others, to make that difference, but in the journey of service, we find that we ourselves have been lifted. There is wisdom in the saying that as "we lose ourselves in service, we find ourselves". So to find our true core, our true self, we have to give of ourselves and look outside our own needs and desires to find who we truly are or who we want to become. Service gives us the chance to renew, redeem and to grow. We will find that we have not only have a greater capacity but we find ourselves on the path to our destiny. At Ascend, we create the opportunity to "become the humanitarian you were meant to be". 
Our focus and vision is to make a difference for those that we serve. We become inspired to create programs and projects that come from listening, watching, learning and then listening more. We listen because knowledge is our ally and as we understand cultural differences and what defines happiness and peace for those that we serve, we have the opportunity to make true change. Those that we serve know joy and their divine nature allows them to find the true joy that comes from within. By finding ways to share knowledge, we allow them to learn, to grow and find their own capacity. By collaborating with other non-profits we multiply our impact, determine efficiencies and eliminate overlap and waste. We believe that humanitarian work is allowing all people the chance to become who they were meant to be by meeting basic human needs, teaching skills to create income, and sharing opportunities for the same. It is something that we can all do together, won't you join us in developing a "Community of Collaboration"?