Welcome
to Our Board of Directors
Bonnie Grace Elizabeth Gordon CFA Director//Founder, Owner OWS -29 years
Lisa Dutton Roussos Citi Bank Global Analyst- 35 Years
Cynthia Spencer Shirlyn's Health, General Manager - 31 years
Asia Joy Soto New Age Beauty, Owner - 12 years
Honorary John James Delaney III One World CommUnity, Founder - 5 years
Center for Awakening is a 100 % volunteer run, federally recognized 501 C 3 non-profit organization serving homeless youth and poverty, actively committed to serving the youth and impoverished villages, schools and orphanages globally.
WHAT WE DO
Grace On Fire
We help homeless youth, impoverished schools, communities, orphanages, indigenous and medical centers in poverty stricken area's around the globe. We are committed to a planet and a humanity that is abundant, free, healthy, compassionate and at peace. We are deeply grateful to all our donors that help us to continue the great work we have been contributing since 1997. We are also grateful for our volunteers that allow our organization to continue to help and heal our human race and planet.
Our History, serving since 1997
Our director and founder Bonnie Grace Elizabeth Gordon, affectionately called "Grace" by the children, began serving in soup kitchens and donating to poverty causes since she was 10 years old. At 16 she began visiting nursing homes regularly and continued through college until she became a hospice volunteer. She volunteered serving handicapped children and adults in college and continues to this day.
In 1997 Grace founded Center for Awakening as a volunteer run non-profit organization after learning an organization she was sponsoring several children through had over paid non-profit salaries. Grace and her children and some friends began traveling to Costa Rica, bringing food, clothing, school supplies and toys to impoverished villages and orphanages in the Costa Ballena & San Isidro areas in Costa Rica. Center for Awakening was founded as a volunteer run organization, everyone is a volunteer, minus operating expenses donations received go directly to our causes, we have been volunteer run since 1997. Grace as a single mother, working as a massage therapist, yoga instructor and life coach served as a volunteer tirelessly for humanity. She teaches yoga at homeless shelters, volunteers at schools and the local YWCA, serves at food banks, a holiday volunteer for Salvation Army, goes with Buffalo Blessings to Native American reservations and feeds the homeless encampments downtown Salt Lake City and has never received any salary, and she is still going strong. We have annual projects helping orphanages, schools, indigenous and medical needs globally. Locally Center for Awakening serves bi-monthly homeless youth dinners and projects serving orphanages and homeless youth. John, The Beloved began bringing homeless youth into their home since he was 12 years old. Their home was a mini homeless shelter for the youth until he went off to study at the University.
Elizabeth Dutton Roussos a global analyst with Citi Bank has been on our board since 2003, ofering her volunteer genius accounting services and tax management. Affectionately called Lisa who has a huge heart giving her time in Central America helping the homeless and poverty stricken children. Lisa also volunteers her time filing our 501 c 3 taxes each year, making sure we are up to date and in accordance with all the non profit laws.
Cynthia Spencer is a volunteer, event coordinator for our global meditations for peace, our fairy fundraiser in the spring as well as helps us choose organizations that are in need. She has connected us to Choice Humanitarian who we donate to, Smile Train, many orphanages and animal related non profit organizations we have helped with our donations over the years.
Asia Joy Soto has been active in volunteering, managing events since 2001, a crucial part of our board and team. Her compassionate heart helps out feeding the homeless youth in Salt Lake City as well as volunteering at our Indigenous and Central America orphanages, Schools and Villages project.
John James Delaney III John began our first unofficial homeless youth safe home, as he brought homeless children to his and his mother Grace's home for six years while in Junior High and High school. He continued to help the homeless through college while receiving his masters degree at the Universtiy of Utah. Our vision to open a homeless youth outreach at John's Place in Murray Utah is in honor of John who passed at 25 years of age in 2017. John's Place is currently a homeless youth resource center as we plan to license the outreach to be an overnight safe home in Salt Lake City, Utah. 133 E 4800 South Murray, Utah. Hundreds of homeless youth die in our brutally cold winter nights each year.
Throughout the years Grace, her children, Elizabeth, Cynthia, Asia, John and many volunteers have helped the homeless and struggling youth as well as donated to many other organizations such as:
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