Q&A
PGA MEMBER REACH
WITH BRIAN F. POWERS, PGA TELL US ABOUT YOUR FOUNDATION AND MISSION. Our foundation is a nonprofit 501c3 called Reach Out A Hand U.S.A. Our mission is to provide computer aided access to serve the fundamental food and shelter related needs of homeless and/or food deprived people in their local areas throughout the United States. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO EXPECT AS A RESULT OF YOUR FOUNDATION HELPING SOMEONE? I would hope to expect that as a result of our foundation helping others that those people who were positively affected by Reach Out A Hand U.S.A. would go out and help someone else or pass along the word about the help they found through our websites to somebody else in need. AS A PGA MEMBER, HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU? As a PGA member it affects me because we are fortunate enough to have the many privileges we do as PGA members and can't forget about those who are not quite as fortunate. Thus, I believe we should try to give back as much as possible just for the general good. HOW DID YOU DEVELOP YOUR INTEREST IN HELPING OTHERS, SPECIFICALLY THE HOMELESS AND NEEDY? I developed my interest in helping the homeless and needy because I have always had a heart for the poor and wanted to do something that could contribute to helping that population. I really came up with the idea out of the blue one day while working on my computer. I thought www.scpga.com
(surprising to many) the homeless do sign on quite a bit more often than one might think.
about how I could use my web design skills (which I taught myself from running a golf instructional business) to help the poor and came up with an idea. I decided to create two websites that would both be like a one stop, all inclusive place for helping the hungry and homeless in America. So I took the research aspect out of it for them to eliminate any hassle and did the research myself. I came up with a number of links to (what I found to be) the best providers to help people in that predicament and listed them on both websites. And now since the inception of the idea I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to help thousands of people find homeless shelters, food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the country. It is my hope and ultimate goal for our websites to eventually be known as the ‘go to resources’ for food or shelter related services for the hungry and homeless in America because they truly are. WHAT IS A TYPICAL PATH YOU WOULD TAKE TO HELP SOMEONE? The typical path I would take to help someone who is homeless or hungry is to get them to either or both of my websites by signing on at a library, shelter or social service agency. Then they can navigate our sites to find homeless shelters, food pantries, or soup kitchens throughout America and in their local areas. The fact is that PROGRAM MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2015
DO YOU FOLLOW UP, OR "TRACK", THEIR PROGRESS? I follow the progress of our websites by checking the website statistics periodically throughout my day. Actually August had been our busiest month this year (in terms of visits) to the homeless shelter website. Typically we get around a thousand views a year to the related links pages of both websites, where all of our relevant information is to guide people to food or shelter related services, but the potential is really in the millions. We just need the funding to make our services more known and visible to the populations we serve. WHAT IS A TYPICAL RESULT WHEN YOU HELP SOMEONE? Oftentimes people will call me needing help navigating our websites and I will point them in the right direction, showing them how they work and they will be very grateful. Otherwise I just follow the website statistics and the numbers to see how many people are using the database as a resource and if someone submits a contact form I usually get back to them the same day. It's rewarding to see and hear of people finding these life saving resources. Brian F. Powers, PGA is a teaching professional at Lake Lindero Country Club. You can contact Brian through the contact page of his golf instruction website at www.learn2golfgr8.com. If you'd like to make a donation to Reach Out A Hand USA, you can do it directly online through the donate page at Findahomelessshelter.com. All of your help is greatly appreciated and will not go unrecognized.
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