Today we’d like to introduce you to Garelyn Sauls.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Garelyn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The ReAlign Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is based out of Houston, and our mission is to reset, restore & rebuild single parents homes, by empowering and equipping them financially, emotionally, and professionally. The ReAlign Foundation started as a vision and passion that was put on my heart, two years before I decided to bring my vision to life. I was raised in a home with both of my parents present up until the age of 17. My parents divorced by the time I reached the age of 18, and I saw the effect that separation had on my younger siblings, my mother, and myself.
Although both my parents did the best they could with making sure we adjusted well to this new way of life, we still dealt with emotional and financial struggles. After becoming a wife and mother, I spoke to my mom about the challenges she faced when she became a single parent, and she revealed the difficulty of being able to be in touch with our mental health because she was so overwhelmed with her own grief. Then, I decided to speak with my mother-in-law, who was also a single mother and she explained how grateful she was for an extended family who stepped in and helped her in any way possible when it came to raising him and for his coaches who were positive impacts in his life. I sat back and thought of these two conversations, along with my personal experiences, and decided to birth The ReAlign Foundation.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I am extremely blessed with the connections that I have, but that doesn’t mean that the road has been easy at all. I have had struggles with having the confidence to birth my dream. I often fought myself on everything when it came to taking the first step in launching, but one day I decided, that I have to just take a leap of faith after speaking to my mentor and she told me, there are people who need you and everything your foundation offers. I use to allow my big dreams to deter me and frighten me, but I made the decision to take one step at a time.
Alright – so let’s talk about your foundation. Tell us about The ReAlign Foundation – what should we know?
Well, The ReAlign Foundation is a nonprofit organization that serves single mothers, as well as, single fathers in the Houston area. We are set apart because often times foundations cater to single mothers only, but I have come to realize that there are a lot of men that have stepped up to raise their children on their own, and there are not a lot of resources for men, so we wanted to bridge that gap.
We offer:
*Mentor programs for the children as well as for the parents
*Scholarships for higher learning
*Sponsorship for extracurricular activities (music programs, sports leagues, gymnastics, dance, etc.) that aren’t offered at the school, and aren’t free of cost
*Family Counseling
*Financial Literacy for the parents as well as, the children
*ReAlign Closet offers gently used items, kids clothing, and professional clothing for the adults
*Food Pantry
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My family has been the best support system I could ask for. My mother, Dr. Cassandra Scott, pushed me to “Birth My Brilliance,” my husband, Baron, and our daughter, Bailey, have never let me back out of the things that I set out to accomplish, and Hope Ewing, the founder of the Diaper Foundation, has been my mentor and impacted me in ways that I could have never imagined! I love each of them and thank them from the bottom of my heart for pushing me and believing in me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.therealignfoundation.org
- Phone: 281-671-4735
- Email: TheReAlignFoundation@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/realign_foundation
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheReAlignFoundation
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