Our group operates in the Detroit area helping primarily dogs that are chained up and neglected. We provide food, doghouses, straw and any medical care we can. We also work with the owners to spay/neuter their dogs. We go out every Saturday
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I would love to take the children in our area and start a training for the obese children in our area. I know that the parents in my area can not afford or have the time to work there children out. We would like to start in the area around, our school and then hopefully grow to all around stafford, sugar land, houston.
| Started On: | 04/01/2007 | Ended On: | 04/01/2007 |
| People Involved: | 10 | People Impacted: | 100 |
| Money Raised: | 0.00 |
Ashley Rhodes-Courter was born in North Carolina in 1985 and entered foster care in 1989. Over the next nine years, she lived in 14 placements before being adopted at age 12 by Phil and Gay Courter of Crystal River, Florida. By law, she had all the rights and privileges of any other American child, but her circumstances put her in a position where she had no parents, no home, and no voice for almost ten years. Many of her 14 foster homes were illegally overcrowded, one was extremely abusive, and two were modern orphanages serving troubled and dangerous children. When she was seven, she landed in a very abusive foster home where 16 children shared a three-bedroom trailer. They were underfed, beaten, forced to swallow hot sauce, run laps in the blistering sun, and crouch in painful stress positions—similar to the ones used on the prisoners in Iraq.
Since she was 14, her speeches have encouraged children still waiting for permanent homes, inspired more parents to adopt older children, and helped change the hearts and minds of those in power so today’s foster children won’t get lost in a system that is failing them. Ashley has made it her mission to be a voice for the thousands of children who are neglected in foster care each day. Ashley gives inspiration to troubled youth who feel like their lives, actions, and ideas don’t matter.
From kindergarten to the third grade, she changed schools at least twice a year. Yet for her, academic institutions were sanctuaries where she was rewarded for her hard work and given the encouragement and support to succeed despite the horrors that were happening in her “home” life. Even when she was stripped of family and possessions, she knew that she would have a safe place to spend the day and ultimately gain an education she would have for the rest of her life.
Because of this, Ashley gives thanks and a wide variety of motivational speeches to schools and colleges, educators, administrators, volunteers, Court Appointed Special Advocates CASA’s, Guardians ad Litem, and other foster care and adoption organizations. Ashley will make you laugh, cry, but most importantly, will motivate you to overcome your adversities and make the world a better place for yourself and others.
In recent years Ashley has broadened her messages to support a wider range of motivational applications, including overcoming personal challenges and succeeding with educational goals.
| Started On: | I have been an active national advocate since I was 13 years old | Ended On: | I will continue to share my story and fight for change until my last days! |
| People Involved: | Anyone who wants to make a difference in the system or a child's life! | People Impacted: | I have personally shared my story with more than 15,000 people, and have impacted millions through television, documentaries, newspapers, and my writings. |
| Money Raised: | I have helped raise more than $1 million for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, and I have helped raise thousands for other groups like CASA--Court appointed Special Advocates |
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