We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ash Uss. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ash below.

Hi Ash, thanks for joining us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

The most interesting story about my business, From the Ground Up is its origin story. In 2020, I was working with Mike McQuaid, a local champion and expert in the areas of homelessness and housing. We planned to leverage private sector resources to build housing communities for vulnerable individuals- that is people struggling with mental illness, cognitive challenges and physical struggles. Sadly, in the middle of our dreaming and the COVID-19 pandemic, my future business partner, my mentor and my dear friend Mike McQuaid passed away unexpectedly from COVID. It felt impossible to keep this mission and vision alive without Mike, but I try to keep his spirit and his character alive in all the work we do.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I first got into this work from my own personal experiences needing help. As a teenager, my mom and I received support from St. Vincent de Paul when we were really struggling and needing a place to live. We also had great family and friends who supported us and took care of us, so I felt called to be able to reciprocate some of the love and generosity I had received. I started working at homeless shelters, soup kitchens and other nonprofits and I realized that I wanted to spend every day of my life working on creating communities where people have a place to call home. After several years in the nonprofit sector, I realized that I could fill some of the unmet needs if I approached the issues of homelessness and housing from a different lens. From the Ground Up has four key areas of work: project management, advocacy, research and partnership building. What sets us apart from other organizations is that are able to be flexible to the most urgent and specific needs of people across the state of Arizona who are working on these important issues. Homelessness is an overwhelming challenge to most people–From the Ground Up strives to make a dent, one project and one client at a time. Our current projects include: 1. Working with Home Matters to Arizona, Javelina Consulting and other key stakeholders to come up with a statewide campaign to rally Arizona around the idea of home- and to increase the availability and supply of housing that people can afford in our communities.
2. Designing and conducting a research study in partnership with Phoenix Rescue Mission to look at the unmet needs surrounding homelessness, addiction and food insecurity across the 10 largest cities in Maricopa County
3. Working with St. Vincent de Paul in the opening and management of an innovative, low-barrier homeless shelter in downtown Phoenix for 200 people
4. Organizing service providers from different organizations to coordinate care around the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County
5, Working in partnership with MAG and the Arizona Faith Network to build a framework that helps mobilize and empower faith partners across Maricopa County to provide services and care to people experiencing homelessness in their communities

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

From the Ground Up officially launched on January 1st, 2021. On February 5, 2021, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that had spread to a part of my neck. I was so energized and excited to build this business and to continue the work that my mentor/business partner Mike McQuaid and I had started. It was really tough to have to put that on pause and deal with being diagnosed with cancer at 26 years old. What made this particularly challenging was that my thyroid cancer had impacted my ability to speak. For almost 3 months, I had no voice. I was an advocate for people experiencing homelessness and I couldn’t speak up for the things. It was a test of my strength but it motivates me each day to keep my head up and keep fighting— because life is short and precious!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth has been the best source of new clients for me. I have been so blessed that I haven’t had to do much to market or advertise our services- people come to us and ask for our help. While I think that part of that is due to the quality of work, I think there’s a bigger lesson in seeking a business that does the work that no one else is doing. I think that From the Ground Up is successful because we identified a gap in our community (someone doing research and systems-level work with the lived experience and direct service experience)- and we strive to fill that gap.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fromthegroundupaz.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fromthegroundupaz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fromthegroundupaz/