Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashla Glass.
Hi Ashla, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was the youngest and only girl of three children my parents had. My Father came from good stock, but after coming out of the service, my grandmother said that he was never the same. My father was an addict and was not the father that his family needed. He wasn’t a bad person; he just had this problem. My mother was a godly woman who took us to church and did the best she could as a single mother to raise us right. My mother battled with cancer and sickness as we were growing up after marrying my stepdad, who was also an addict. There was much dysfunction in their relationship, and my dad was not around often. I often performed/sang in school, church, and functions around the city, and my mother was my biggest supporter. I can remember times as I was performing, looking out at the doors over the audience to see if my father had come, but he never did. I remember longing for the love of my father and seeking that love through men as an adult. I brought down the shame and embarrassment on my mother and self by getting pregnant by a married man at the age of 17. I was a single mother and completely lost and clueless of my future. I wound up getting an opportunity to go to Hollywood and did an appearance on the MOESHA show and lay vocal tracks for that episode on January 8, 1999, but the curse of addiction followed the bloodline from my oldest brother to me, the youngest, in chronological order. After the Hollywood experience and returning to Houston, I found myself going through a breakup with my daughter’s father; depressed and saddened by this situation, I found myself in the presence of an older man who offered something that he said would remedy my hurt and pain, it was crack cocaine, I resisted and adamantly said no, but after staying there instead of leaving, I flirted with the devil and lost. On November 28, 1999, at the age of 23, with my whole life ahead of me, I took my first hit of crack. 8 days later, the man that coaxed me into trying it was found dead, and 2 weeks later, the house we smoked our last piece at that initial night that had stood abandoned for over 10 years got demolished. God showed me that this was death and destruction. I remember one night, after binging on crack and coming home to my mom and daughter, my baby sat in my lap, laid her head on my chest, and became very concerned, asking why my heart was beating so fast. I knew that I had made a very bad decision in my life but did not know how to reverse it now, as I had begun to enjoy this life, the addiction, the high. I moved to Los Angeles in May of 2001, but I was now struggling with this addiction as compared to the first time I went. I lived in Los Angeles for 7 years with my daughter. I was a functioning addict and managed to keep a place to stay, food to eat, and our necessities, but I was miserable because the addiction would not allow me to be great. I tried to go to school a few times in Los Angeles, but that was not successful. I had many close calls of putting myself in harm’s way in that lifestyle; I had a gun to my head once, almost went to jail several times, almost got caught up with CPS, and many negative things. I can say that God was with me every step of my journey, keeping and covering me and my daughter. I did contract work for a Television Music Producer for the WB Network, writing lyrics and arranging and singing vocals in the studio for placement on various shows. I had songs placed on shows such as Half and Half, One on One, and All of Us, and still receive royalties for my songs. In October 2007, my mother bought me a one-way plane ticket to relocate back to Houston. I left Los Angeles owing hundreds of dollars to a few dope dealers, leaving all of that behind. After coming back to Houston that October, December 17, 2007, I met a man who became my husband on December 17, 2010, after we completed our first college degree together. This man walked through the fire with me and waited until I got free from addiction and married me. This man showed me the power of love and showed me and my daughter what a husband and a father are. James Anthony Johnson fought that demon with me until it was slayed. He helped me get back into the human race, and on November 26, 2018, he transitioned from this life with an unexpected brain aneurysm. His love lifted me out of that pit, and I’m eternally grateful that God thought enough of me to use that great man to help me overcome. Realizing the impact he left on me and my daughter after his death and seeing how my absent father’s impact was left on me and my siblings, I conceived the Glass House Foundation, which was founded in August 2019. I did see my father sober the last 5 of his 79 years here on earth, and I believe that solidified the breaking of the curse on the family.
No, as a woman, I cannot teach men how to be men, but I can give love, support, empowerment, tools, and mentors to help redirect and change lives. Our men are very necessary to the well-being of the family structure, and society has done a great job of tearing the men down and removing them from the family. We aim to restore and rebuild the family structure by inspiring and empowering the leaders, our men, to lead their families. Better families make better communities, and better communities make a better society.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Losing some important people in my life has been the hardest: my mother, husband, aunt, and father in the span of 6 years… The road has not been easy. Spending ten years in addiction and finally getting sober makes one realize how much they’ve missed out on with family, career, and life in general. However, when a person is determined, there’s nothing, no excuse, that will get in their way of progress, but one realizes that time is of the essence and that 10 years, a decade, is a lot of time that has been wasted. The vision may not fully manifest at once, but as you begin building, more unfolds. The vision requires provision, and this is typically where the resistance comes.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
Glass House Foundation believes that the family is the cornerstone of society. By giving young men the right tools and life skills to become family leaders, we can solve many societal problems and make the world a better place. GHF assists men with training, school, GED, housing, clothing, and therapy. This vision is all about restoring men to their position within the household in hopes of restoring the family unit.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My daughter, Taylor Harris, and my brother, Ralph Glass. They’ve helped with ideas and efforts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://glasshousefoundati.wixsite.com/website
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlassHouseFoundati0n/
