I grew up watching my parents open their hearts and home to children who were hurting, troubled, or simply needed a safe place to stay. Whether it was for a weekend, a month, or an entire summer, our door was always open. And somehow, they did this while raising eight children of their own.

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At just 16 years old, I was asked to become the Youth Director at my church. I was terrified and completely unsure, but I said yes anyway. Through working with those children, my eyes were opened to needs that extended far beyond the walls of the church. I continued serving as a Youth Director throughout High School, and although my plan was to leave for college on scholarship immediately after graduation, I couldn’t bring myself to walk away from the children who I felt needed me. One late night, I woke up to find one of those children sleeping on my front porch — hungry and unsure of where their mother was. I realized, they were children searching for safety, comfort, stability, and someone who cared enough to stay. So, I stayed!

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Although much of my professional background has been in accounting, IT, and administrative work, my life has always found its way back to serving children. For more than 15 years, I worked within nonprofit organizations and continuously witnessed the overwhelming gaps in youth programs and foster care support for displaced children. Around 2015, reports revealed that the number of children removed by CPS had doubled in my area. That statistic hit me deep. It was no longer something I could simply observe — I knew I had to do something. Then life shifted unexpectedly. After 16 years of marriage and three children, I went through a divorce. Suddenly, I found myself lost, struggling as a single mother, trying to hold everything together while still carrying the desire to help others.

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Even during some of the hardest moments of my life, I continued taking children into my home, just as my parents once did for so many others. But there were seasons when I struggled deeply myself. I had to give up my home and had to move more than once. At one point, I had nowhere to go. My son stayed with his father, my daughters stayed with one of my nephews, and I moved in with my mother. I was exhausted emotionally, mentally, and financially. I felt broken and uncertain of what came next. Yet even in those moments, my heart remained focused on the children — my own children and the children who needed someone to fight for them.

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Every setback seemed to place the dream of opening a Children’s Home on hold, but each obstacle also strengthened my purpose. I knew there had to be a greater reason for everything I had experienced. I knew what it felt like to worry about stability, to fear losing everything, and to desperately need support while trying to stay strong for my children.

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Although a single mother, I am standing stronger in my purpose than ever before. Along this journey, God has surrounded me with people who believe in this vision just as much as I do, including my children. I continue to receive calls and requests to help children who simply need a safe place to be loved, supported, and protected. Even through fostering as a single mother, there are limits to how many children I can physically take in on my own. That is why Created 2 Impact is so much more than a dream to me. It is safety for children who feel unsafe. It is relief for families who feel overwhelmed. It is friendship for children who feel alone. It is support for parents who are struggling. It is advocacy for families who simply need someone in their corner. It’s about becoming the village so many families desperately need. Because I know firsthand that sometimes families are not struggling because they do not love their children. Sometimes they are struggling because life became heavier than they could carry alone. I know what it feels like to fear not being able to provide stability, even while working tirelessly to do everything right. That is why our mission goes beyond providing shelter.

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Created 2 Impact exists to provide children and families with the tools, guidance, resources, and support needed to build safe, healthy, and sustainable futures of their own. My prayer is that every person who walks through our doors will leave knowing they have a community behind them, know they are loved, valued, seen, and capable of overcoming every obstacle placed before them.

 

What I witnessed growing up taught me that love is not measured by convenience — it is measured by sacrifice, compassion, and the willingness to show up for people when they need you most.

 

​- Shunnay Gilmore, Founder/CEO