Meet Alma Banks-Brown | Mother, Grandmother,Presiding Election Judge, Owner-Non-Profit Organization, CHW, Former Political Candidate, Community Activist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alma Banks-Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alma, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Initially, Lil Audrey was an honorarium to my mother, Audrey! Her home was always a Safe Place for family, friends, students and anyone that needed a shelter and food. Lil Audrey Safe Place was just that. I didn’t understand how a system, the foster care system, that was there to protect, change the life of a foster youth that became one to hurt so many youth who became homeless and uneducated. I created Lil Audrey Safe Place Foundation to assist with the transaction of the youth in a manner that created young men and women transitioning into society with the ability to not only thrive but survive. Our moto is “Housing the Homeless Alumni of the Foster Care System who are seeking a Post Secondary Education as well as Sex Trafficked foster youth and those with Disabilities.
I began researching their needs, understanding what was missing and then adding lots of Love and Patience. The youth began to be an extension of me, I gave them what I gave to my own children and those I raised that were not my biological children and they depended on me the same way.
Audrey was an educator in an improvised are in Houston. Here belief was Every child is teachable and can learn and A child is what he lives. If he lives with love, he understands what love is, If he lives with hatred, he can easily began to hate. With research across the city and state, I began.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m grateful for this opportunity to share. I’m honored that you chose me to Shoutout to, especially at this time in my life.

My journey began with an extremely close relationship with my mother, grandparents and her siblings. Lil Audrey Safe Place Foundation was birth from the need to understand a system that was created to save children from despair, become a system that created millions of homeless youth and create a system that produced victims of a society that preyed on the vulnerabilities of the youth they were to protect. The name Lil Audrey Safe Place was to honor my mother AUDREY. Her home was always a place anyone could come and know that they were safe, had food, peace and the support my mother, although she had 7 children and the salary of a school teacher and church musician. Her belief was “every child can learn and deserves to be loved”, and a whole lot of other scriptures that assures that doing the right thing was just the Right thing to do. She believed that If it could be done ALMA LEE, that would be me, could get it done.

So I began,

My Purpose Moto was: Lil Audrey Housed the Homeless Aged out Alumni of the Foster Care System as well as the disabled youth and sex trafficked foster girls who are Seeking a Post Secondary Education. I later added with “Love”. I visited and became apart of the HAY (Houston Alumni of Youth) center and group homes frequently to understand all that was of concern, their needs, and what would happen once they left their (safe place) that included group homes, foster homes, as a ward 0f the state. I learned that they were sofa surfing, living in burnouts, laundry mats, committing petty crimes to go to jail to have a place to stay until released, and last but not lease, I learned of a Crazy Check, (pretend you are crazy to be placed in a hospital mental ward to qualify them for a “Crazy-Check” to be used for housing. I didn’t understand how a free education was not utilized to further their ability to become educated, law abiding, tax paying citizens. So I began;

My Why and My How:

I employed my knowledge, experience and ability to love unconditionally to face the order of Supply and Demand and conquer the needs of those who were given a life that they were given at No fault of their own. ‘What ever that was and how it happened was established knowledge later. I attend board meeting, Group homes, foster homes, meetings pertaining to the foster process to establish a course of action and plan a Real solution.

I’ve worked in the industries to not only help our community of the underserved, I also positioned myself to assure my name was known in the communities that could assist with my mission and business to combat this problem, So, I knocked on doors, made phone calls and decided to perfect my knowledge. I went to class to become a foster parent, really just to use another angle if needed. I visited colleges, community colleges, universities and partnered with the cities that I visited, learned their laws, and sought out organizations that would listen and contributed.

It was not easy but the ability to talk to people was a gift given by God began to come easy, because truly I’m an introvert, only an extrovert when needed. I became a lobbyist for the aged-out foster youth in hopes to prevent homelessness and assist them with continued education. I would meet them at our Community College to assist them with enrollment, housing and fight the persons that took advantage of them, including their case4 managers and providers. I went door to door, business to business, church to church and kept sharing until heard. I created awareness functions, fundraisers and gifts in kind to pay rent, buy clothes, books pampers and food.

Lesson learned along the way:

Don’t always assume that everyone has the same resolve that you have and everyone is honorable and care. Know that systems that are designed to help are also there to hurt and hinder progress for their own profit.

Lil Audrey Safe Place Foundation began with One Purpose in Mind that is to HOUSE THE HOMELESS AGE-OUT FOSTER YOUTH WHO ARE SEEKING A POST SECONDARY EDUCATION AS WELL AS THE DISABLED AND SEX TRAFFICKED FOSTER YOUTH. we also will continue to provide the educational element that help the youth thrive and become self sufficient through entrepreneurship and training programs to obtain a quality of life that is warranted to everyone.

We will continue to Evolve.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well I’m a jazz enthusiast, so I first would ask them what they enjoyed, then to Jazz venues, Newer venue is called Docs, Milton’s or Credence a top tier restaurant Michelin-Star restaurant, the world Re-known Breakfast club, Quotes, Kirby’s and an old favorite Perry’s, we would take on a spa for self care, I really like the Post Oak hotel for that, Take on a variety of Cultural Spots, Maybe the House of Blues, I would really have to explore more to add to this list.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I dedicate this Shoutout to Audrey Jean Banks, my mother, Rhodell Gilford, Leon Banks Jr, Richard Jr., Danielle and Daniel Brown my children and My grandchildren Tyler, Cameron, Richard, Jeremiah, Aalijah, Harlee and Lil Daniel. They became, granny, big brothers, big sisters and lots of lil cousins. They were, are my encouragement to keep going, they are my WHY.

Website: https://www.lilaudreysafeplacefoundation.org

Instagram: Lil Audrey Safe Place

Twitter: Lil Audrey Safe Place

Facebook: Lil Audrey Safe Place Foundation, LLC, Lil Audrey Safe

Image Credits
Alma Banks Brown