In this episode our founder, Ouida Duncan, shares how God inspired her to use her life to heal physically, emotionally, spiritually & financially. Listen in and tell us how her story resonates with you. For more information and to donate, please visit our website www.duncantreefoundation.org
Episode 1- DTF Genesis Lawrence: 00:00 Hey everyone. This is Lawrence Edmondson here with Ouida Duncan from the Duncan Tree Foundation. This is our first episode. This is fun. You have a lot of smiling faces on our zoom call, as we have our board members, Paul Jennings, Nathalie Heywood Smith. And we also have our esteemed colleagues, Mr. Jenny De Leon. And we also have Dr. Sheila Forrester joining us as well. So welcome to you all. Welcome Ouida to our inaugural episode. How are you feeling today? Ouida: 00:31 I'm feeling great, thanks. How are you feeling? Lawrence: 00:33 I'm feeling blessed. And in good company. And really energized. I have a lot of positive vibes right now that this will be something magnificent that we start. So, this is the Duncan Tree Foundations talk show, you know, tell us a little bit about the Duncan Tree Foundation, how it started and how it's been going since it started? Ouida: 00:57 Well, I'll give you the 30 second version, or maybe the 40 second version. So it started, initially started coming out of my Bible college days and understanding that my, even if I'm in a dark place, that I'm responsible for my happiness, I'm responsible for my future, that regardless of what I've been through in the past, those things are no longer driving me, those things are no longer determining what the next step I'm going to take to and then it kind of blew up when I when I participated in the Landmark Education, curriculum for living, where I had to come together to put a project together and enroll other people in the possibility of helping me put a project together and I hardly had the idea for Duncan Tree from my Bible college days, and audibly hearing the voice of God say, “I'm going to use you to help you, my people”. And so, I always say that the Bible college, let lay the fuse and Landmark lit the match. Lawrence: 02:04 Could you say that again? That? What did the Lord say though? That's a powerful statement right there. Ouida: 02:10 The Lord said to me, “I'm going to use you to help heal my people”. Lawrence: 02:15 Wow. Well, if that is not a call to action, I don't know what it is. And that's powerful. You know. So, having received that call, take us through the journey, you know, what happened? What was your immediate besides your immediate reaction? Right? You know, let us know what happened next, and kind of how Duncan tree foundation became a reality out of that, you know, call to action. Ouida: 02:45 It was me submitting to the Lord's will and being obedient. And in spite of what I was going through, in spite of whatever storms I was going through, to put that aside and pick up that mantle. And take action, right. So, what Landmark helped me do Landmark really helped me to focus my energy. And it helped me to understand that I can't, whatever it is I'm trying to do in my life, I can't do it alone, that I need help from other people. And so, I incorporated the foundation, I applied for the 501 C three application, it usually takes about a year. So, we got it in less than three months. So, a lot of things just started lining up. And the people that were in my immediate network, I knew that I needed an attorney. So, I invite an attorney friend of mine to join David Adams, I knew that I needed someone with a business background, and Natalie was kind enough to agree to join. I knew that I wanted some medical folks involved. So, I invited my physical therapist and my acupuncturist. And I also knew that I wanted young people involved. So, I invited my daughter Chanel, who I think she had finished Georgetown by then, and one of her colleagues from Hotchkiss...
