About Us
What We Aim to Achieve
"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."
With many issues to discuss & dismantle, we as an organization focus on the specific ones we feel are needed to move forward as a culture & community. These issues begin with reconstructing our homes to positive influences for the youth, creating ways to address & take responsibility for our mental health, and in the long term financially rebuilding every broken down and abandoned part of our neighborhoods…. physically & emotionally. The heart & core of our people, the uncomfortable conversations nobody wants to have, the solutions to these conversations, and the inclusion of every single person in that community is what we are about & what we promise to build on.
Our Core Values
Community
This value is #1 because at the end of everything, throughout all of the tasks we’re taking on, our communities are what holds closest to our hearts. Everything, from short to long term goals are developed to specifically benefit the communities where the residents need living assistance the most
Financial Independence
To be able to not depend on loans from corporate companies & loan sharks, this values our efforts to keep the dollar circulating in our communities. We aim to purchase the abandoned storefronts & homes you drive by or are neighbors to, while turning them into destinations that are ran by the ones who were born and raised in those areas. Some of these establishments will be for business, some for recreation, and others for residential. One thing they have in common, they’ll all be places our people can come to for some sort of answer to their problems. Escape from the trauma of their everyday lives. Be in the presence of like-minded individuals.
Preparation
Preparation is one of the most important values our organization or anybody in general can focus on. Without being prepared, everything else is nothing but a dream. As we dream, we also make the moves & put in the actual work it takes for us to accomplish our goals. Paperwork, delegation as far as who’s doing what, partnering with other organizations, securing our path with facts & focusing on moving forward instead of backwards, like so many others focus on.
Knowledge
To be educated is to be powerful. The more we know as a human race, the more we are likely to establish a united front while approaching the many problems we all face. Let’s learn about the past, but use it in a way to make progress in the present and solutions in the future. Let’s bring awareness to the things that are often not talked about. The many opportunities available to us that people just don’t know about. We, as an organization are prepared to reference while create the path to our future.
Unity
In our organization, we understand there will be difference of opinions, views, genders, races, etc. The main factor in this is that we all come together to create what we know needs to be done. Whether you’re a liberal or conservative, democrat or republican, white or black, all of these are what makes the United States the country we live in. If we approach our causes with focusing on the effects of our actions, how we treat & the way we view each other will drastically change, for the better. We not only unite with each other above our differences, but with other non-profits who share similar interests.
In the Wake of Injustice, We Rise to Make change
About
Our Founder
Chris truitt
During the year of 2016, as Founder Chris Truitt was employed by the School District of Philadelphia as Climate Support Staff, he organically built a relationship with the youth & grew a love for correcting the mistakes that were being made by so many and the ones he made himself growing up in the inner-city. Eventually, he came up with the idea of just genuinely holding conversations to address their hardships & troubles being dealt with on a daily basis. This turned into a mentor program. He named it Wake Up Your Mind (abbreviated, W.U.Y.M). As he struggled to find a place to hold the mentor sessions, being denied by four different recreation centers, Minister Carla Robinson (Chris’s Aunt) reached out to her home church, North Penn Baptist Church’s Rev. Warren H Marshall who without question, opened his doors & determined it can take place however often was requested. The request was for every other Friday evening between 6-8 PM. It started at about 5 & eventually grew to about 25 kids (ages 13-19). “The youth started to look forward to Fridays because of the authenticity of the program.”, Chris said. Besides having specific topics to discuss every week, there were trips, food, & other events to keep their interests. Then his cousin, (Andre Robinson) began to assist in the lectures. As time moved on, the program eventually came to a standstill. The teens began to go off to college, and some just lost interest. That still didn’t put an end to it. In fact, it turned into what we are now. A non-profit organization geared to the youth but for everyone to get involved while finding ways to impact the mental health of all ages in an innovative & respectful way. How did that happen? Well at the end of 2019, Chris chose to take the holiday season off to correct his mistakes & formulate the program to a bigger scale. To bring it back in the spring of 2020. That’s exactly what he did. Without knowing COVID-19 beginning to plague America, and everyone not being able to physically meet, the unfortunate death of more people of color at the hands of police officers, and the crime rate rising right along with the poverty rate, the decision to form this mentor program into a non-profit organization was a no-brainer. This is when Chris started contacting many people (mostly millennials), who he knew had credentials and/or interests in rebuilding our communities, using whichever expertise and skills they have.
Wake Up Your Mind INC is now a 501c3 non-profit organization that’s solely focused on 3 things. Our youth, our mental health, and rebuilding our communities. We ensure all walks of life are included in this revolution & welcome anyone who has suggestions & solutions to the problems we face as a society today. Meet the Board members & please contact us to see how you can join our tribe
Our Leadership
Molly Blum
Board Member
Eric Montgomery
Board Member
