We recently connected with Brittany Berry and have shared our conversation below.

Brittany , appreciate you joining us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

We are a brand new 501c3 nonprofit, so we are in the midst of establishing our organization. Before this I have owned my own business (Grateful Heart Co.) for 5 years. As we switched into nonprofit life things are completely different. You have to establish your mission and vision, find a board of directors who fit your organization and file with the IRS to get your nonprofit status. After that the fun of fundraising begins! We are in this stage. We are fundraising hardcore to be able to become operational. We have big goals and dreams… the key to this though is being patient. These things can take a lot of time to spread word about your organization. We live in a world where social media can make it seem like these things are built overnight. They are not. Keep going!

Brittany , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Faithful Still is a 501c3 nonprofit organization committed to providing healing to those who have experienced trauma. With farm based therapy – our mission is to create a peaceful environment for you to experience healing, support and faith based community. We want to provide a gentle distraction for our clients to be able to to be more comfortable during their sessions. We will offer vegetable and wildflower gardens, all kinds of animals, and a walking path. We will of course offer indoor sessions at our farmhouse if needed. Everything our clients are doing can be utilized to also bless others with! Giving help while getting help. The vegetables grown will be donated and sold to cover sessions. The flowers grown will be donated and sold to cover sessions. We will also have a community building to host group therapies and promote healthy community in our organization. Taking all of these things outside and creating that healthy, calm, and peaceful environment is what sets us apart from your typical counseling office. We are so proud of how far we have come in such a short amount of time – we just officially launched in September 2023. We are so close to being able to obtain land! Will you help us become operational?

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I have worked with other nonprofits throughout my business career and even served on the board of one. I had the notion going into things that a lot of them were the same. I have learned that just like traditional businesses, nonprofits are unique and all need different things. Because we are a counseling center AND a farm so many things go into both of those. Things like confidentiality for our clients is majorly important. Also, as much as we would love to just start counseling, we also have to pour a lot of thought into our environment and do it correctly before we can open. Our environment we are offering our clients is the thing that sets us apart from other counseling centers. Learning that and being patient with the process has been hard. We are so excited to get going and help as many people as possible.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Since we are brand new, introducing ourselves into the counseling world has been exciting! We have been using the approach of in person networking. We also very recently just launched a podcast! Our goal with our podcast is to encourage and educate! It feels much more personal than what social media can offer and we are all about being real and personal!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.faithfulstill.org
• Instagram: @faithful.still
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faithfulstill
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faithful-still-podcast/id1759272447

Image Credits

Sabrina Hall Photography