Changing Minds and Building Relationships with Tera Hilliard

The mission and vision of Forgotten Children, Inc.

Tera Hilliard: So Forgotten Children, Inc. is an anti-trafficking organization founded in 2006 by Pastor Paula Daniels. Our mission is to rescue, restore, educate, and bring hope to victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

We have a total of 14 staff. From LA County to San Bernardino County that makes this ship run very well. And so far this year, we’ve already impacted over 2,500 people.

One of the things that we have come to learn in our 18 years of existence is that most people don’t understand that there’s a difference between human trafficking and those that are engaged in just voluntary prostitution.

And so our organization seeks to provide prevention, intervention, aftercare support, but also education and awareness to the community. Families, youth and anyone that will that will come in contact with a young lady that they may think is voluntarily engaging in that lifestyle, but in fact could very well be a victim of human trafficking.

Lisa: Thank you for sharing that. I know that, for me, we had talked about this previous. You really shone a light on what it really means to be a human trafficking victim. Can you share a little bit more about what that might look like for those of us that have certain ideas about what it could be?

What is human trafficking?

Tera Hilliard: So the legal definition of human trafficking is that there must be forced fraud or coercion, meaning that the person that’s engaged in prostitution has a trafficker and their pimp.

And so when a person is forced, frauded, or coerced against their will to engage in sex trafficking or labor trafficking, that is against the law. If a minor is involved, there does not have to be proof of force, fraud, or coercion if the victim is under the age of 18.

Simply, if there is a trafficker who is an adult – male, oftentimes, but can be female as well – is forcing a minor against their will out into the streets to solicit or engage in prostitution behavior, it is automatically against the law. If that victim is over the age of 18, then she has to prove that there, in fact, is forced fraud or coercion.

And so, unfortunately, oftentimes victims, due to fear and other issues, don’t want to press charges against their trafficker. They really are trying to just get away and to reclaim and rebuild their lives. And so human trafficking looks like prostitution, which is why you don’t, when you drive down certain streets, especially here in the city of Los Angeles, Figueroa is one of them or Long Beach Boulevard, you’ll see girls out there engaging in prostitution and you’ll think, man, you know, she’s out there selling her body. She should know better. But what you don’t see are the pimps or traffickers that are looming around in cars, in storefront windows, calling the shots. When our teams, when we’re out on the street, you know, we do not stop them from working because when we stop to talk to them, what happens is when we walk away, they’re reprimanded for having long conversations.

Every single growth that you will see on the streets has a daily quota between five hundred to three thousand dollars that she has to make in order to survive. When you think about that just for a minute, you know you think about slavery, and you’re being forced to do something against your will and all the proceeds or the wages that are gained or earned is then given over to the trafficker. So people think, oh well she’s making all that money you know, she’s she doesn’t get to keep not one dollar which makes it you know, is why it’s against the law.

Bullying me to stay to make you money. And then if I choose to talk back, if I don’t, if I don’t get the money that’s needed, then I’m beaten or reprimanded. You know, that is modern-day slavery, and no person has a right to control someone else’s life or body that way. And so, that’s what makes this thing such a major problem, because you have people that are preying on vulnerabilities of those that are in. Underserved communities and they’re forcing them out to the streets. I can’t begin to tell you the number of stories of the survivors that have come through our program, the horrors, the horrific tales of being beaten, burned with cigarettes, hit with belt buckles, you know why? Because she didn’t make his money.

How Forgotten Children, Inc. empowers trafficking victims with community resources

Lisa: It’s so heartbreaking. I don’t think people, like you said, realize that and I appreciate you for saying, take a second look because you never know what these young girls are going through. What I’m hearing from you is that Forgotten Children helps to empower. You give the young ladies resources. You also give them safety so they know, like, hey, if you have this, if you have an issue, you really finally want to get away, this is your safe space. Can you just share a little bit more about the program that you offer?

Tera Hilliard: So out of our resource and drop-in center, we have a program called Road to Freedom, and under Road to Freedom, we have our case management. We have that 8-week curriculum called “Debunking the Fairytale,” and the goal of that program is again, 8 sessions that’s identifying, you know activities or behaviors, unhealthy relationships, self-esteem, self-awareness, anger, and you know, everything that you can think of. We actually use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to show how when needs are unmet, it creates vulnerabilities in the lives of people. And we tell, you know, every single person that we, you know, that we’re engaged with, it doesn’t matter if it’s me.

If I have a need that goes unmet, it creates a vulnerability. If I’m not safe, if I don’t have food, if I don’t have love, then I begin to look for those things, unfortunately, in some of the wrong places and I attract the wrong people.

We partner with the LA County Jail for Women, which is in the city of Linwood. And in, at the jail, we administer the same curriculum.

I can’t begin to tell you the aha moments that I can see in the eyes of the women when they realize, I’ve been a victim, I’ve been taken advantage of, that wasn’t love like I thought it was, it was not okay for me to accept the lies that he was telling, and it’s heartbreaking, but it’s also very rewarding as a facilitator because I have now, you know, torn down a mindset, dismantled a mindset of a person. And now we’ve empowered her to take a second look even at her own life. Can you imagine that when you wake up and you realize like, I am worth more than that.

So we have a safe house in the Inland Empire that can house up to five girls. They can stay up to 24 months. And the purpose of the safe house is to help them reclaim their identity, re-enter society with a new mindset, with a new hope. And through, you know, while they’re residents at the safe house, because it is a safe house, it’s at a nondisclosed location, but we have counselors, we have mentors that meet with them, we have a garden, it’s a beautiful garden where they go out and they learn how to work in the garden.

We had a resident to tell us that working in the garden really opened her eyes to how God deals with the heart of people. And she said, since I’ve been here at the house, you guys have dug up the fallow ground of my heart of anger.

She said, cause I was very angry when I came in, she said, but you guys planted seeds of love in me. She said that’s blossoming. True to that, she was able to reunify with her children, her family, and got a job. And just, you know, just looking at how just that one act of kindness of bringing her in off the streets was able to change not just her life, but the lives of her children also.

How Forgotten Children, Inc. measures the impact of its initiatives

Lisa: Thank you for sharing that story. So not only are you changing mindset and empowering them to change their narratives, but you’re also changing their heart at the same time. And that’s such a powerful, powerful thing. How do you measure the impact of the initiatives or programs on the individuals you serve?

Tera Hilliard: Yeah, that’s a really good question, Lisa. So every single person, when they come into our program, we sit down, our case managers and our resident staff sit down and we set goals. One of the things that stripped from them the moment they were placed on the streets is their ability to dream. You know, every person has a dream of what they want to be.

And the reason our curriculum is called “Debunking the Fairytale” is we always go back to, remember when you were a girl and there were fairytales, remember growing up as a princess and we wanted to have a prince, what were your dreams? What did you want to do before this issue entered your life?

And so they talk about, I wanted to go to school, I wanted to be a hairstylist, I wanted to do this or do that. And so we look at, okay, what are the barriers in your life that’s preventing you from doing that? So then we take whatever she’s listed for the barrier and we say, okay, if you work with us, we’ll help you overcome these barriers.

And so we partner with programs. If she needs her GED or high school diploma, if it’s a matter of financial literacy or just literacy period, because a lot, oftentimes they can’t read or write because they were groomed into trafficking as children. If it’s a matter of having you know, a record, we work with the Long Beach prosecutor’s office to do expungements.

We also have an attorney on our board that helps with expungements. As we’re walking through the day-by-day with her. So we look at ways to help her, you know, to overcome those obstacles that she may face. 

The way that we measure our successes is this, once she comes through our door, that’s step number one. That’s major success. You have the courage to get away and get out. 

Number two, they complete our class. That’s success. Number two, they’ve sat with our case manager, set some goals. If she said eight, but she only achieved two, that’s major success because we remember we’re dealing with people that have been traumatized and trauma prevents you from moving forward for the most part. It can stifle you, it can stagnate you, and it can lie to you and have you thinking that you can’t do it.

So when they make one milestone, we celebrate them just even the simple, you came back to class today. That’s right. And so and then the other thing is that I could speak for our entire organization. All the women that work in our organization have lived experience one way or the other. Either directly being involved in trafficking or prostitution.

Or lived experience as having trauma, every single one, one of our staff. And it’s not a requirement to work here. It just what we’ve attracted each one of them personally invest in the lives of the women that we serve.

The ongoing challenges of leaders in nonprofit management

Lisa: What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in running a nonprofit and how have you overcome them?

Tera Hilliard: Oh, Lisa, we don’t have enough time for that question, but I will give you a basic answer.

You know, I think the biggest challenge, and I think I can speak for every nonprofit, no matter what is always going to be, you know, financial because you are a nonprofit. Unless you have a way to generate income you know, having financial needs is always, I think, just par for the course.

Staffing is always a challenge, finding people with the heart. I’m of the mindset that you can have a degree, and have 10 initials behind your name, but if you don’t have heart and passion for what it is that we do, your degree won’t mean anything.

So I had a girl that when I got her, she was sent to me by the Long Beach PD.

She was a part of a human trafficking sting. It was really bad. I was on call and they called and said, we have a victim. Can you help us? I said, sure. It was a Friday night. Never forget this. And so I got her a room and I said, what do you need?

And she couldn’t tell me what she needed. The officer did, because when they got her, she didn’t have clothes. She didn’t have anything. When I got to the room, she was screaming. I could hear her from the lobby screaming at the top of her lungs. And I knocked on the door. I said, Hey, it’s Tera, Forgotten Children. And she was saying, they beat me. They raped me, they took my identity.

One of the things even that I remember that day, walking into the hotel room as she was screaming, I saw my own daughter on that floor.

And so I treated her like I would treat my own child. I didn’t see her as a victim and she was on the floor sobbing. And I got on the floor with her and just held her while she cried. When you, if you don’t have the heart for people or compassion to meet a person where they are then you won’t be successful.

We’ve had people to tell us that they’ve gone to other organizations and the environment was cold. The staff was cold. And they had the services, but there was no connection and no compassion. One of the requirements I have as a leader with all of my staff is to make sure that you connect, see them not as who they are, but who God has called them to be regardless of who she is.

And then finally, it’s staying relevant in a culture that is moving at such a rapid pace that as a nonprofit, often times we have trouble keeping up. What I mean by that is when you have changing laws that impact the population that you serve, or, you know, we make, you know, good friends with maybe, you know, assembly person or a senator or someone that fully is, you know engaged in who we are and supports who we are, but then what ends up happening is that they end up leaving office for whatever reason, you know, political. So then you have a new person that may come in who doesn’t have the same heart. And so when you don’t have, you know, political leaders that back your mission, it makes it harder because when we’re looking for grants, a lot of times they ask, like, who’s your local assembly person or your senator?

I think the other thing is burnout because what we do is very heavy at times. I know I take a lot of work home mentally and emotionally.

I’m married with children, and so sometimes I have to be mindful that I’m bringing something home to my family that they don’t deserve, right? They need me to be present. Also, they need their mom. My husband needs his wife. So, when we’re at the dinner table, I’m not thinking about that person I just helped.

We have a 24-hour hotline. So, we’re always on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That does not stop at all. And so those things though, if you don’t have balance, that work-life balance can really spill over into your life and become a problem.

Effective strategies in fundraising and nonprofit operations management

Lisa: And I’m glad you spoke about that because that’s not something we always talk about, whether you’re a CEO, whether you’re a frontliner or just anyone in nonprofit, we don’t talk about it as much. 

We talk about it more, but I don’t think we talk about it as much in terms of like, okay, what are some of the things that we can do to offset that? What strategies do you have in place that’s been most effective in fundraising and sustaining the operations of Forgotten Children, Inc.?

Tera Hilliard: That’s a really good question. I looked at all the mistakes that were made when I came into the position. Unfortunately for some nonprofit leaders and not everyone is that understanding budgets and programs is critical.

If you don’t understand budgets and programs, then what happens when you sit before someone, let’s say, a donor that has, you know, 90 million dollars, and they want to invest in your nonprofit. But if you have not taken the time to really understand how budgets, programs, and number of people serve work hand in hand, then you can miss the opportunity. And that happened to me several times when I first got to Forgotten Children. Budgets are not my strong suit. They are now I’ve gotten a whole lot better in nine years, but I have missed many opportunities for fundraising. Since that time, I’ve taken the time to study what it takes to run our nonprofit, what happens, you know if this grant ends because a lot of times when you write for grants programmatic grants, typically they’ll do a 2-year non-renewable for 2 years. So every program associated with that grant goes away after 2 years. As a leader, what am I doing in the interim to make sure that I have the funds available?

The other thing is building just a strong reputation within the community among foundations and private donors and partners. I am very old school, I still believe in handwritten thank you notes and phone calls and things like that. And I believe that, you know, the rules of engagement when you’re engaging with potential donors is still that, let’s go for coffee, you know, let’s talk. 

The other thing is that I just, I just said this to someone yesterday. I believe that nonprofits should raise between 80 to 90 percent of their program or organizational budget, overall budget, and be 10 percent, 20 percent grant dependent, because what happens is most grants are restrictive, but when you’re doing a nonprofit, the people that you serve have needs that go beyond that budget that’s restricted. And then the other thing is also building a reserve. So these are all the things within the last year that our board along with myself, we’re working to do to create long term program sustainability.

I have a business mentor and coach and who was wonderful. And she’s always asking me, if you were to leave, is the organization in position to sustain itself without you? And so that’s been my mindset. Like I’m creating, I’m setting up shop that if for some reason I step down, that the next person can continue the mission and run.

I think a lot of people feel like, well, without me, this thing cannot work. And that’s not good leadership without the organization should still function. In fact, it probably should function as well, if not better, because you have put all the systems and everything that you need in place to make sure that the people are successful because again, we’re serving the community.

Generating sustainable revenue for a nonprofit organization through multiple channels

Lisa: Thank you for sharing that. And it sounds like there’s some foundation funding happening, you’re building your reserves and also individuals. Is there any other things that you do to generate revenue through some of those channels?

Tera Hilliard: Absolutely. The other thing is we speak of various events churches, we are a faith based organization. And so we speak at different churches, and we are really building a strong reputation amongst varieties and fraternities. The other thing is in-kind contribution. I don’t think enough nonprofit leaders really tap into that. Cause sometimes we think, you know, I just want you to write me the check, but often times if I can get you to donate the tops and bottoms that I need, nine times out of 10, because you are needed in that regard, you’ll give me tops and bottoms and the check.

And so, you know, it’s building rapport, building relationships with people beyond just seeing them for what they can do in the moment.

Exploring untapped markets for nonprofit funding 

Lisa: I don’t think people understand enough that you can also convert in-kind donors into donors, right? And so that’s one thing. So I’m sure you’re thinking about that. And what are some of the other untapped markets that have been most fruitful for you during this time?

Tera Hilliard: Absolutely. School districts, school districts have budgets. For various types of educational classes that they want their students to have.

During the unrest with George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, what happened was a lot of there were a few budgets that were cut for school police and for law enforcement. For LA Unified, a lot of that money that was cut was then repurposed so, for example, mental health training self awareness and things like that. So we’ve been brought in by various schools under LAUSD to administer these types of classes, but also we became a vendor and so the school tell us, okay, this is how much we have available.

Can you guys, you know, do classes and, you know, for how many weeks. So with them having those additional funds has made it possible for us to not only go in through our, we have a youth ambassador program. We educate on healthy versus unhealthy relationships. But we’ve also been able to be paid for our time.

Prioritizing well-being through delegation as a nonprofit leader

Lisa: So it sounds like again, you’re really lending to your mission about educating first, because I know you talk a lot about building awareness and that has now helped you build a whole new revenue stream that you didn’t even think about in the beginning.

I think that’s just the way nonprofit rolls, right? It’s like, okay, well, how do we figure out, what is something new? We don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel. It’s something that’s really right in front of us and that we have to offer, but kind of taking a step back and saying, you know what, this is, this is the right way to go.

And I always think that’s a smart thing to do, especially as a nonprofit leader, you know, you’re always making all of these decisions. So how do you prioritize and manage your time effectively? I know you talked about how you have to kind of take some time out going home and you’re kind of decompressing and all that, but how do you prioritize all of the things that you have to do?

Because I imagine you at one moment, you may be speaking to a client, another moment you be on the phone talking to a donor. So how do you you deal with all of that?

Tera Hilliard: I got to throw it all in the air and catch it. Whatever falls down as first thing I do. Lisa, if I can be fully transparent with you, I don’t manage well because at any given time, I get pulled in 50 different directions.

I’ll start with a to do list. And by the end of the day, nothing was done because, you know, things pop up. But I will tell you this, I am utilizing and leaning on my staff more. I’m also realizing that I am not super woman. We have one of our staff, she’s part time volunteer. But she’s always saying, whatever you need me to do, just tell me.

And I recently took her up on that offer and it was to manage my calendars. Something real simple, right? Because I was double booking myself all the time. I now have her managing my calendar so that I can be much more productive and she blocks the time. This is the time you have to leave. This is what you have to do. So I know within this window, I can meet with this person, this person and that person pause, pick up kids, go home and I can pick back up at this time. Can I tell you it’s been a game changer for me? If you are a leader. And you have people that saying, Hey, I can help let them help you because that is the only way that you can begin to build that work-life balance in your life.

Lisa: Right. And you know, it’s so crazy that it’s the hardest thing is to ask for help. That is like, so mind-blowing to me. And I know we all, you know, go through it at some time or another.

And so what you’re saying is that, you know, when you are talking about how do I prioritize my time? It’s like it’s not predictable. So it’s really hard to determine what’s going to, you know, be a focus. 

The Chronicle Philanthropy recently did a survey of nonprofit leaders. And one of the things that they did say is that they love the work that they do, but getting to do the work is what, you know, has been so hard and, you know, and then the politics and all of that. So that’s what I’m, that’s what I’m hearing from you that it, you know, your heart’s in it, the commitment is there, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out what, you know, what I need to focus on first.

And now you’re saying to us that, hey, ask for help, delegate, you know, figure out the way that you can, you know, create a different formula to get a different result. So thank you for your transparency on that. Now, looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations for the future of Forgotten Children?

Leading the fight against human trafficking

Tera Hilliard: My desire is for us to be a leading organization. Leading other nonprofit organizations in this fight. One of the things I recognize is that human trafficking does not have a strong leader as a whole domestic violence has. In CASA, the national coalition sexual assault has a national coalition against sexual assault, domestic violence has a national organization where the leaders help, you know, other small or nonprofits within the movement, they equip them, you know, help them strategize, help raise funds, but not human trafficking.

And so what’s happening is that I’m watching literally my colleagues around me fail because they have a lack of funding or lack of staffing and things like that. So one of my goals is to help lead that charge. 

Also, we want to be the front runners when things are coming to LA, you got the Olympics that’s coming, the Super Bowl is coming back, the World Cup is coming back. We’re getting ready to host the world here in our city. So what does that mean? Means that, unfortunately, you’re also going to have a high number of human trafficking. So I want to work with law enforcement agencies and national groups that will come to LA. 

We did it for the Super Bowl. And I can tell you this, Lisa, Forgotten Children was one of the key leaders during the Super Bowl working with law enforcement to make sure that any victims that were identified during that time received services. And so we did it unapologetically.

When national groups come to your city, my question is, are you coming to help, or are you coming to cause further harm? As a leader, you know, my goal is to protect the community in which I serve and make sure that people, groups, and whomever have their intentions right.

And that they do right by the women that are being victimized and need help. Over the next few years, our goal is to just duplicate our services in various cities.

Engaging the community in the mission and vision of a nonprofit organization

Lisa: And so it sounds like expansion is, is really at the top of the list.

It’s like, how can we, like you said, duplicate these services and, you know, really help to, like, mitigate all, you know, human trafficking everywhere. So how then do you engage your board members, your donors, your volunteers in this this big, you know, strategy to expand and the community in this strategy to expand?

Tera Hilliard: Number one we are in the process of starting an advisory board. So we’re bringing together at least 13 people on the advisory board is different than your board of directors and advisory board is just a group of folks that help to build your vision, they advise you. And so we are working on that.

The reason why we want an advisory board is because there are some people who just don’t want the commitment of being on a board. They don’t want to be tethered to something like that, but they will meet four times a year to lend their thoughts and things like that. Going back to financial engagement, when you have people that lend their time, nine times out of 10 they’ll lend their treasures as well, because they realize, okay, it was my idea for you all to expand. Now I recognize that I need to put my money where my mouth is. 

The other thing is we have a very good board of directors. Most nonprofits don’t, they’ll have, you know, different boards, some boards, they meet, but they don’t get him behind the CEO and executive director, ours do. But I also massage the relationships with each one of our board members. I talk to them outside of our regular board meetings. And I keep in contact with them when we have big wins. I let them know when we have losses and things that happen. I let them know, so I’m very transparent. And I think for the most part, for most board of directors, they only talk to the executive director at the time of working, so there’s not that, they’ve not built a strong camaraderie. 

And so the other thing is I love the community. I love people. I’m very involved with churches and entities. And so, going back to that time management, I build in time to go have coffee. Talk to a pastor like our pastor, I meet with him quarterly just to give him an update as to what’s happening.

Churches that support us at Christmas time. We do little small thank you gifts that we take, you know, what church told us one time? He said, in all the years I’ve been a pastor, not one of the organizations or missionaries we support has ever come back to say, thank you. Thank you is a major – whoever’s listened to this podcast, if you don’t hear anything else – thank you is tremendous.

Whether it’s $2 to $20 million, you say thank you, you have no idea what that does to a person because it says, I see you more than just a check. Or, you know, or in-kind contribution. I see you as being somebody that is way more valuable to the organization than anything. And so that’s how we engage.

Creating and nurturing diversity in nonprofit communities

Lisa: And it sounds like intentional relationship building is one of the building blocks for you because you understand that, you know, there may be a lot of things that traditional fundraising it may not continue to, you know, or some of it may not have even continued into, you know, this post-Covid, but that’s one thing that I think traditionally building these very intentional transformational relationships as we move from a more donor centric into community-centric fundraising. That’s super important. And I’m glad that you’re doing that in your organization. And I’m sure that it will show in the expansion and how and then how the organization grows over time.

So as an African American nonprofit leader, and I say that specifically because I know that it’s different, you know, what advice would you give to others looking to start or grow their own nonprofit organization?

Tera Hilliard: Be willing to diversify and invite others into the space that may not look like us. And I say that because I have learned that there have been women and people that have come that have assisted when I had no idea what I was doing and they were non-people of color, but they had the heart.

You know, and I think sometimes as African American leaders, because there’s such a mistrust among other groups that we may shy away from being in the room, but I’m unapologetically in rooms and often times I’m the only woman of color, but I make it a point to make eye contact, to build those relationships.

We just recently received a grant. The letter said dear Forgotten Children, here’s a grant for $50,000 for unsolicited unsolicited report or program or proposal. I don’t know who the people are. I don’t know where they came from, but the word unsolicited means that I did not solicit them to get this grant.

And it was from an organization that’s in I think it was out in Calabasas. Well, I don’t know for being Calabasas, but I do know that I go to a lot of think tanks and meetings with people. And various genres where I believe people exist that can help Forgotten Children grow. So be okay with going outside of your community from your peers and branch out and diversify.

I can tell you, Lisa, since I’ve been in this space that I have a very good, diverse group of people that challenged me and that helped me to grow. And I stand my ground as who I am as an African American woman, I’m unapologetic about it. I’ve done, I did a YouTube with a woman who was Caucasian and she said something that was in error about black victims of human trafficking, live on the podcast.

And I corrected her live on the podcast that that comment was offensive. And she ought not ever say that again, because that was not representative of the community of women of color. She apologized live on the podcast, you know? And so I just think that we never have to stop being who we are and we never have to apologize for being who we are.

But I believe that we should be smart about who we are and willing to engage with people that have capacity to help you grow. 

Lisa:

That is absolutely correct. And it brings to mind, my dad would always say, have friends in all places, right? Because, you know, we are better together. Sounds corny, but, but we’ve truly, truly are.

That is amazing. And is there any last words that you have for us, just being a CEO of the Forgotten Children, Inc.?

Tera Hilliard: Yes. I just want to tell you again, that leadership is hard but so rewarding. It’s okay to lead with your heart but also with wisdom and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Make sure you take time out for yourself. As I mentioned earlier, you know we’re a faith-based organization. I am a Christian believer, so prayer is a major part of my life. But also, I have various mentors and people that I call when I’m stuck and I just don’t know what to do. I take their advice and listen, but most importantly, it’s okay just to be who you are.

You know, I, I feel like this. I always tell people that people think I’m wise. Oh my gosh. I feel like sometimes I just drop so many balls. I said, God, you knew who you were appointing when you appointed me. And he did. So no matter what your issues are, no matter where your weaknesses are, God knew he called you with your weaknesses, and we all have them.

And so it’s okay. Turn your weakness into a strength. I didn’t know how to read a nine 90, but I found somebody who did. And they taught me be flexible, be willing to be, you know, moldable, but most importantly, be authentic. I think, you know, being authentic is such a lost art these days. We’re always trying to be someone we’re not.

I’m Tera Hilliard, you know, mother of five and you, what you see is what you get. Because I love who I am. I love my community and I love the Lord and I love serving people. So that’s just who I am.