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Constance G. Jones

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Archives for April 2019

The Story behind the Story

April 14, 2019 by techsupport Leave a Comment

The Story Behind the Story (and What It’s Like to Write a Book)

As a little girl, I always had the sense that there must be more to life than I could see… more than our shabby little home on “the hill” in the ghettos of San Diego… more than the cramped two-bedroom apartment I shared with ten other people, half of whom always seemed to be squabbling or squalling… more than me sharing the fate of my heartbroken mom or drunken dad.

Everything around me screamed that struggle was the only way of life; it was the only thing I heard and the only thing I saw. My survival instincts kicked in from a really young age. I saw the raw pain in my mother’s eyes, her tears of abandonment, and an avalanche of kids she couldn’t take care of. She was the primary female figure of my childhood. I knew I wanted something different for my life.

I escaped through my imagination those days… my mother told me around the time when I was six years old, I would say to her: “One day, mommy, I am going to get a mobile home and travel the world with you.”

I had no idea how I would make that happen, but I knew one essential thing: I wanted out. Even then, there was this light inside that kept me dreaming and believing. No matter how many punches and kicks life threw at me, that light persisted throughout my childhood and even adulthood.

Over the past decade of my life, I have indeed had the opportunity to travel the world. My most recent trip was to the Maldives, all the way on the other side of the Earth. As I sat and sun-bathed on the bungalow deck above the water, the sea stretched out endless and perfect before me. Immersed in the peaceful sounds of the waves and feeling the sun warm my skin, I began to reflect on my life, the lessons I’d learned, the hardships I overcame, and the people I met who helped me at critical times in my life. I looked back on where I was and at how far I’d come… and I shed tears of joy.

I felt, then, that if I could feel uplifted and inspired by reflecting on the painful obstacle course of my life, why couldn’t I extend this hope and this encouragement to others? Look, I wanted to say. I’ve been there, done that. If you’re at a low point, don’t give up. If you’re going through Hell, keep going. You’ll break free. You’ll break through. I did. Why not you?

Books have always been a source of escape and inspiration for me. If I could write a book that could inspire and uplift and encourage others in their own times of hardship, I wanted to achieve that.

So here I am, one year later. Emerging Butterfly is complete and I am starting a new chapter in my life. I’ve never done this before—I haven’t written and I haven’t spoken up, not formally and not officially. I’ll be honest: it’s a little scary opening up to the entire world. It’s scary being vulnerable and exposed to scrutiny. But if I can help just one person… it will have been worth it.

Writing a book is not easy. It takes time, commitment, and hard work to see it come to life. It takes collaboration and patience, going back and parsing through memories. It takes teamwork, working with an editor and designer and publisher. It’s also a very cathartic experience. I cried on so many occasions going back in time and reliving some of the most devastating memories I had buried deep within my soul. Feelings emerged, carrying me along as if on the wings of a butterfly, and I flew all the way back to the beginning.

So yes, it was hard. It was emotional. It was beautiful. I had to forgive people who hurt me, thank those who held me up when I could barely hold on to life, and throughout it all God was there guiding my footsteps. It’s true that He will not give you more than you can bear, even when you feel like you’re a feather that will be knocked over from a breath of wind. I see now how everything that has happened to me served to make me stronger, more grateful, and better. This is who I strive to be today: a strong, determined, resilient, kind, loving, and happy person.

The sky is the limit… so I will keep flying and embracing life… and I hope to take you with me on a journey of self-discovery.

Filed Under: Get Inspired Tagged With: Tag #3

The story behind the story: The Good Works of Elevate Foundation

April 10, 2019 by techsupport Leave a Comment

August marks Black Philanthropy Month across the nation and to celebrate, we’re highlighting Elevate Foundation, a dynamic foundation formed between husband and wife team Constance and Claude Jones to, as they say,“empower and help young people live a richer, more equitable and peaceful life.”

Based in San Diego, they have raised money and scholarships for a variety of non profits including Girls Rising STEAM, Girls on the Run, Feeding San Diego, Face Foundation, Computers to Kids, Just in Time Foster Youth, Humble Designs and Ronald McDonald House Charities.

We caught up with the Jones recently to talk about their motivation behind giving.

TNJ.com: What was the inspiration behind launching Elevate Foundation?

Constance: My husband Claude and I are two people in love who really wanted to grow a family of our own. I have had fertility issues resulting in 5 miscarriages.  In order to come out on the other side of heartbreak, we had to look far and wide for something that could help us make sense of the sadness.

As abundant as our society is in so many areas, there is still lacking all around us. During life’s challenges, we were fortunate to have people in our lives who provided opportunities and resources that made a difference for us.

Claude and I created Elevate Foundation simply because we have a passion to give back to our community. We are not a non profit, so our donations go to charitable non profits that are aligned with our values. Our mission is to rebuild communities through our acts of work and uplift and inspire others to do the same. Our focus is supporting the underserved youth of color and provide them with resources and opportunities.

TNJ.com: Who have you partnered with while on your mission to give back?

Constance: To date, we have partnered with Detour, Humble Designs, Girls Rising, Treobytes, Girls on The Run, Feeding San Diego, Salvation Army, North County Community Resource Group, and many more. The strength of our relationships with established non profits help us to connect with our ‘special families’–families struggling with basic needs. Recently, we donated school supplies and laptops to 20 girls at Detour, with our support children at Treobytes, a San Diego based technology hub learned how to code over the summer.

Everything we do impacts the entire family and their future. We consider ourselves to be the helping hand they need to get to the next step in life. We are all about impact: what is going to have the biggest impact in their lives?

TNJ.com: How did you develop your unique approach to giving back?

Claude: Giving to those in need was nothing new to us; we always paid our tithes at church, but didn’t exactly know where our money was being spent. We often felt like we were giving to a black box instead of choosing the causes we felt strongly about and wanted to support. So, we decided to take matters into our own hands and create our own foundation to do just that. Four years later, we have given $80,000 to multiple organizations that we feel align with our goals– to rebuild, uplift and inspire. 

TNJ.com: What about your work do you find most gratifying?

Claude: It’s one thing to be the recipient of benevolence, but we want others to join in and give back as well. There are so many benefits to giving including a sense of empowerment, pride and accomplishment. We set up volunteer events throughout the year and when someone we have helped shows up to support, they become “elevators” themselves, lifting others up; it’s amazing. This speaks to our need to inspire others. At Elevate Foundation, we want our giving to create a lasting imprint that inspires others to give of themselves in some form. When you share with joy, selflessness and love, the benefits are endless.  Parties on both ends will forever be changed and, ultimately, be enriched for paying the love forward.

TNJ.com: What were you doing before the launch of Elevate?

Constance: We volunteered at our local Food Bank and supported community initiatives at the Salvation Army and Epilepsy Foundation. Now, we make it a requirement for each non profit we work with to offer us an opportunity to pitch in. We volunteer and experience the blessings of our donations being used for the purpose in which they were giving. We’ve done the same with Ronald McDonald House. We donated funds, gathered our volunteers, did meal prep, cooked, served and cleaned. We saw our funding at work and were part of the process.

TNJ.com: Any short to long term goals Elevate Foundation is working on?

Constance: We have a few more events happening in 2019 including working with Feed San Diego and Ronald McDonald House. I am also exploring synergies with Empty Cradle, an organization that supports women who have experienced pregnancy and/ or infant loss.

For the long term, our main goal is to continue to help others and increase the number of our volunteers; the more we have join us, the more people we can help. We will be focusing on recruiting future “elevators,” a term we use for our volunteer staff. 

Additionally, I am stepping from behind the scenes to go out into the community more to discuss the power of giving. I think many folks think money is the only way to give. There are so many facets of giving–kindness, ideas, advice, skills, attention, hope, the list is much longer than money. Giving helps improve the lives of others and it affects our own life with amazing benefits including a sense of connection; it also helps to build professional networks.

(Black Philanthropy Month is a celebration of African-descent giving. Held annually in August, it was founded in 2011 by Dr. Jackie Copeland-Carson and the Pan-African Women’s Philanthropy Network.)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Why I chose to go Vegan

April 9, 2019 by techsupport Leave a Comment

For most of my life, I’ve had a distaste for meat. I didn’t like to touch it when it was raw, and I didn’t like the way it smelled (especially chicken). I grew up not eating red meat and continued that practice into adulthood. I did not drink milk, and the smell of eggs makes me nauseous. Given those factors alone I feel I was destined to become vegan. However, I did eat cheese, fish, turkey, and chicken on occasion. I dabbled in vegetarianism and became a pescatarian for many years until one day I had enough.

I started researching healthy living and learned about all the benefits of going vegan. I also started learning about how animals are farmed and what they go through during the process of becoming our dinner. I didn’t like what I read and what I saw. Honestly, it made me sad. So, I decided I would make a stand for animals, healthy living, and the environment. I chose to become vegan.

Filed Under: Get Inspired Tagged With: Tag #1

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