Meet Jacqueline Merrill | President & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jacqueline Merrill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jacqueline, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I started HIs Soul Sanctuary my thought process was how can I help young adults that are aging out of the foster care system beat the grim statistics that their population face.

I knew that the issue that I was tackling was a huge one but also a very necessary one. These children are incarcerated, homeless, and lack education and it isn’t fair and it is not their fault and someone needed to step up to the plate and begin to advocate for them.

Apparently, that person is me and I have a great staff/family of individuals with big hearts and the desire to help alongside me.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
It hasn’t been easy starting a non-profit from scratch but it definitely has been fulfilling and worth the work. Funding is always the hard part of running a nonprofit it’s the biggest challenge that we face.

Our program is designed to give the youth that never reunites with their families or are adopted access to the family experience. This includes giving them a chance to learn directly and indirectly what most children learn from being raised in a stable environment. Most don’t realize that their mothers taught them empathy and how to care for others and fathers taught them how to care for their cars or how to be a hard worker

Well, the youth that we support receive none of those lessons and on top of that lack the education that they need to even get a job paying more than minimum wage if they can get one at all. I have learned to stay true to the mission regardless of how hard it becomes because we are talking about the lives of our future.

I want the world to know that youth are struggling and we have to help them, some of the greatest of all time came from the foster system Simone Biles, Oprah Winfrey, and Steve Jobs to name a few. We need to step up and fight for them not to occupy %80 of the prison system.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
To tell you the truth I am a homebody and my best friends and I would most likely chill at the house and I would cook whatever meal they desire.

If I had to leave the house though I would take them to check out Home Grown to have breakfast because their food is absolutely amazing! We would also probably go to the GA Mountains and do some digging for crystals at Hogg Mine.

Most people that come to visit want to go to the Aquarium and to Andrettis so I would throw that on the itinerary as well.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to God because honestly without him I would be lost and unable to help anyone at all. Also, I want to give a shoutout to Kelly Vandever who is a real estate agent with Keller Williams, Philip Brown Jr. with Kenbro, Barbara Nwahei with Viyzon Consulting, Samaria Mills with S&J Creatives, Paul T. with Georgia Learns, Tino Mantella with Turnkett Leadership Group, Wayne Hauenstein with Learning Curve, Scott Williford with Vlink Solutions, InspirEdui, and Jackson Healthcare.

All of these individuals and their organizations have supported this mission to help the young adults that age out of the foster care system with no questions asked not to mention they are all great at what they do!

Website: hissoulsanctuary.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hissoulsanctuaryinc/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/67502283/admin/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HisSoulSanctuaryInc

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TMd76R2w10