About Us
Founding
Hi, my name is John Gennings, Executive
Director of the New Leaf Foundation, but more importantly the
father of our founder, Laura Gennings. Allow me to tell you a
short story to make you aware of the heart and soul of this
organization. My daughter Laura created this organization in
2007 when she was 16 years old. Even as a child, Laura has
always been a friend to the friendless, given hope to the hopeless,
and still today as a college student exhibits the childlike faith
that Christ was talking about in
Matthew 18:4. "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like
this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Laura accepted Jesus Christ as her savior at a very early age and since then has walked to the beat of His drum, rather than the beat that most of her peers follow. All this makes it even more ironic when Laura came up to me in early March of 2007 and said these life changing words, "Dad, I'm tired of throwing my life away. I'm ready to turn over a new leaf. That's why I've decided to start a non-profit organization to serve the less fortunate families in inner-city Charlotte. And because I'm turning over a new leaf, I want to call my organization the New Leaf Foundation."
You and I know that 16 year old kids aren't supposed to talk that way! But Laura didn't. Thank God. Her childlike faith in our duty to serve God's children is the reason why we are here. God's will for our lives provides the ongoing motivation, drive, and energy that will sustain us in our call to serve His children.Our Current Operations
Our basic philosophy of serving is to not just deal with the urgent problems people face, but to get to the root of why they're in the situation to begin with. In other words, we don't just pay a bill for a family. We discover why they are in their current situation, and support them in implementing lifestyle changes to avoid the same situation in the future. Where other support agencies may just pay the bill and send them on their way, we create a relationship with the family and have multiple follow up sessions to make sure that they stay on the right path. This may include counseling, financial counseling, job searching skills, accountability, etc. We literally help people turn over a new leaf in their lives. We indeed are a New Leaf Foundation!
Before we ever meet with a family, we have a long list of criteria
they must pass. First and foremost, we believe that to get ahead and stay ahead in life starts with a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
We can't help someone with steps 2 and 3 if they're not
living out step 1. After that,
they must also be an active member of their church family.
They must be involved in a ministry within their church. We
realize that we can't help everyone, so we want to make sure that
the ones we do serve are those who are on their knees at night
praying for a miracle. We want to be God's hands and feet and
"be the miracle".
We have no rent, overhead, or salaries. We are a volunteer force, so 100% of monies donated go to support families in need. Currently, we have no church, organization, or individual who supports us on a monthly basis. Donations are typically given only when we make people aware of a need. So we invite you to join our mailing list so you can be made aware of opportunities to serve. We would also ask that you consider making regular donations to support these good families in need.
Goals
- To help jump start families on their way to a more secure self-supported life and to bless them with needed resources and encouragement to guide them on that path
- To positively affect families in a way that eliminates fear, gives them hope for the future, and a taste of God's love so that they know that God is on their side
- To open the doors to a better future for the disadvantaged children and parents we work with
- To ease the fears involved in juggling the demands of life: family, job, transportation, shelter, parenting, etc.
- To show those under our program that there are people in this world that truly care about them and want to help them in their struggles