Today we’d like to introduce you to Faith Holsey.
Hi Faith, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hello, my name is Faith April Holsey, the founder of Angel Faith Foundation. Our main mission is providing activity and Mental Health Kits for Children’s Mercy Hospital. In the beginning I collected supplies for the ‘Happy Kits’ from the community and had a team of volunteers who helped create the kits. I never intended to create a foundation focused on community outreach but after we gave the donations to CMH. I knew I wanted to continue giving back to Children’s Mercy. Since 2021, we have expanded our mission by Community Outreach through donation collection for homeless shelters and Operation Breakthrough KC.
The reason why I started giving back to Children’s Mercy Hospital is because I was treated by them for years and they’ve saved me more times than I can count. When I was born I had a collapsed lung and was pronounced dead for several minutes. A nurse at CMH revived me and everyone thought I was ‘A Miracle baby.’ Another life altering event happened when I was 14 years old. I was receiving blood work at a local clinic and went into cardiac arrest with no pulse for about a minute. This event had a profound effect on me and I felt like the universe had a plan for me to make a difference in others lives.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
During my childhood years and high school, I spent most of my life in and out of the hospital. My life consisted of hospitalizations for multiple days at a time to ER trips, doctors appointments, and physical therapy. I believe Mental Health greatly affects physical health. I suffered from PTSD at a young age which created extreme anxiety that affected my overall physical health for a long time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are known for supporting Children’s Mercy Hospital by creating activity bags and donation collection of toys, stuffed animals, books, brand new clothes for the kids.
I am most proud of all the organizations we have helped through the years. For example Operation Breakthrough has been gifted lots of educational tools, books, clothes, toys, and stuffed animals for the kids/families who have less resources than others. Also, we’ve hosted a few activity events for the kids to enjoy like painting Kindness Rocks and wooden shapes for a chance for them to express themselves through art.
What were you like growing up?
When I was a child, I was very outgoing and bubbly. Teenage years I became closed off, shy, and quiet towards others especially in school. Mainly because of suffering from PTSD, Depression, and Extreme Anxiety from the hospitalizations and procedures I had to endure.
I enjoyed volunteering at my local church through community outreach events like building a park in a low income apartment complex to serving donuts and coffee on Sundays.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://angelfaithfoundation.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelfaithfoundation
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelfaithfoundation
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-holsey-43a470220
