SOZO Foundation Belize

Welcome to SOZO Foundation Belize, a registered NGO in Belize Central America in the capacity building phases. Please excuse our messy website as we continue to recruit a volunteer to design a proper one.

At this time we need volunteers with legal expertise, web design skills and EMDR Therapy needed as well as researchers and writers and fundraising experts. Must have excellent computers skills. Click the Volunteer Link to Learn more.

Click SOZO BLOG for recent updates from founding director Gretchen Smith

All pages are a work in progress as we are in the capacity building phases and still need a volunteer web designer with DIVI web builder experience

SOZO Penny University Concept by Gretchen Smith

(Original concept created in 2015 and published in 2017. Please see blog for updates)
Is it just a dream? Perhaps just a figment of my imagination…or can we make this a reality? (P.S. I know this page is a mess. It’s a long term dream…I update it when I have time)

An TRAUMA INFORMED alternative school based on free or low cost online learning combined with hands on apprenticeship in an intentional, residential, off-grid, faith-based community located on the sea in Belize Central America (location to be determined).

The primary program target is marginalized men over the age of 30 with trauma who need a second chance in life as well as victims of violence, victims of human trafficking, illiterate, disabled and others who struggle to get a footing in life. Secondary programs will be open to the public.

Friends, lend me your ear for a just a few moments and let me tell you about my two dads and one big dream…

My step father Paul Colbert always told me to dream big but make a plan and break it into manageable steps. When I was 23 I told him I wanted to delay college and go take a gap year abroad in Belize and he was 100% supportive. I stayed in Belize from 1994-1997 and then life took another direction and I did not return till 2017 to complete my dreams.

My step dad died in 2009 very unexpectedly of lung cancer and this is something I want to do to honor him as well as my dad Scott and to help the marginalized people of Belize as well as those abroad who need to leave the rat race.

My stepdad spent his whole life serving the poor, the disenfranchised and the darkest segments of society that no one else really wanted to help and he instilled that in me as well. My birth father Scott is an innovator and a carpenter and furniture maker and stone mason and he taught me the value of working with my hands and also the importance of not allowing myself to be boxed in by rules or preconceived notions of success or how others thought my life should be.

I was privileged to have two fathers but many people in Belize have fathers that have been unable to step up and take care of them and a lot of that has to do with systemic issues and it is very hard for those men to break the TRAUMA cycles in their lives and become the fathers they WANT to be.


I want to help break that cycle and restore the men to their rightful role as protectors and providers for the women and children in their lives and communities and Godly leaders that in their heart they wish to be.

This is a long term vision and for a reality check I really do not expect to be fully operational anytime soon unless God does a miracle but I want to share my hope and dreams because if you don’t put your vision out there then it definitely cannot go forward.

Operational Status:
SOZO Foundation Belize is registered NGO approved by the Attorney General of Belize and Financial Intelligence Unit and is currently forming partnerships and developing Memorandums of Understanding with agencies and organizations and individuals interested in partnering. We are also recruiting key advisors and key administrative volunteers.

We are also in the process of setting up fundraising vehicles, identifying and writing grants and setting up the financial foundation to ensure this becomes a reality for the people of Belize someday….maybe not anytime soon…but someday.

We are also setting up an outside advisory board filled with experts in all fields and getting the school registered and refining vision which is definitely FLUID and subject to change. We are currently much in need of legal help and experts in international finance and anti money laundering and partnership development with a 501C3 and Fiscal Sponsors in USA, Canada and Europe as well as other areas.

If you wish to learn more or help to develop this vision further please contact Gretchen Smith at tallartist@hotmail.com or on whats app, signal or telegram at +501-672-0547. Please note the director is disabled and prefers written communication.

Let’s start with sharing my dream.

What is a Penny University?

The first coffeehouses established in Oxford were known as Penny Universities, as they offered an alternative form of learning to structural academic learning, while still being frequented by the English virtuosi who actively pursued advances in human knowledge. In 1696, Isaac Newton would hold court in the evenings in a coffee house distributing unpublished mathematical manuscripts to favored acolytes privileged to sit at the feet of the maestro. However these intellectual exchanges went beyond the informal meetings of the virtuosi in their free time.

The coffee house became known as the penny universities, one penny being the going price of a cup of coffee. The proprietors offered courses of study as well as lecture courses in a wide range of subjects to those willing to pay a penny. One time Isaac Newton dissected a dolphin on the table at one of the Penny Universities but that is a story for another day. You can take some time to google Penny University and learn all sorts of interesting things when you have a moment. https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/the-penny-universities/

SOZO Belize Penny University Vision

SOZO Foundation Belize, an NGO registered in Belize, intends to create SOZO Penny University which will include an intentional living community that is off grid and faith based and offers an alternative form of learning both online (primarily for free or low cost) and through in person learning and apprenticeship model.

The project will be welcoming to Belizeans and foreigners who are willing to think critically and dive in the depths of innovation in sustainable, off grid, faith-based INTENTIONAL living in Belize. The residential, off grid school will be registered in Belize and offer degree programs through partnership schools as well as certificate programs and artist and scientist in residence programs and most participants will live onsite in and intentional community that we develop. In short we will live, work and do life together as a family. For more information on intentional communities check out this site: https://www.ic.org/


What kind of programs and apprenticeships will be available?

Leadership Training and Mentorship!

Currently we have informal programs and educational blogs on various social media and we publish articles and we have done over 50 para ministry projects to test out our ideas ranging from farms, to small businesses to gang exit to alternative vocational training for illiterate and marginalized as well as advocacy. Formal training for Christian Leaders is CURRENTLY available at www.harvestime.org totally for free.

In the future, once we have an office and classroom facility we will set up more formal training. Please see our Blog for current updates.

What will our long term projects and programs look like?

Mariculture!
Mariculture projects will include seaweed, lobster, conch, sea cucumber, fish as well as coral restoration, lionfish abatement and sustainable farming practices. We will also set up production facility to turn sargassum into building materials and other materials to fight the plague of sargassum taking over our oceans. Did you know that properly processed sargassum makes great fertilizer. Some seafarms will have floating homes made from simple materials like barrel boats or houseboats made from recylced materials but they should be exquisitely beautiful and functional and totally environmentally friendly.

I was trained by Dr. Leroy Creswell at Harbor Branch Oceanographic and have done projects all over the world. I was his research assistant on several projects in Belize and in USA. Learn more about him here: https://www.flseagrant.org/news/2020/11/florida-sea-grant-mourns-the-passing-of-leroy-creswell/

Agriculture and Homesteading!
Terrestrial projects will include sustainable farming practices that combat climate change such as permaculture, food forests, ostrich, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, vegetable production, hemp, hardwood, spices, fruit and more. There will be food security and aquaponics projects as well as small aquaculture projects (backyard aquaculture). Did you know in 3 acres of properly designed food forest could feed up to 300 people. We will have simple environmentally friendly homes made mostly of natural materials (like earthbag and treehouses and hempcrete etc and maybe an earthship or two) scattered throughout the food forest and become forest dwellers at one with our environment. Staff and primary program participants will live on site.

I have had the pleasure of working alongside very innovative perma-culturists worldwide and studied at Blessings Farm and have worked on dozens of permaculture projects and have helped build many earthships and earthbag and strawbale and other natural homes that are exquisitely beautiful and some have won awards.

This is my little cabana I lived in in Mexico made entirely from mud and strawbale and discarded brick and recycled materials.





Business, Off Grid Living, Vocational Training, Financial Training Bible College and MORE!

Additional projects will include training and management in off grid living (solar and wind), import/export, finance, security, violence reduction programs, anti human trafficking programs, bible college and World Possible Rachel program for remedial learning and literacy and most importantly business and financial management. Additionally vocational training may be available in auto mechanics, woodworking, off grid construction, electrical, plumbing etc. on a case by case basis. We will be building Earthships. If you don’t know what an earthship is have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNekutd-6qM&t=46s

Here is an earthship I helped build.




I had the privilege of working with world class green architects and I am bible college teacher for Harvestime International Network. https://harvestime.org/

Business and NGO incubator!
The Penny University will incubate multiple businesses and non governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as non profits (NPOs) and community based organizations (CBOs).  We expect new ideas, innovation, and critical thinking to be at the core as well as artistic endeavors and with a core theme of sustainable intentional living based in biblical principles. We will manage and care for our environment, live off grid, in community, study online and learn from experts and each other and produce viable businesses utilizing an apprenticeship modality.

My training with Mike Hoseus who specializes in lean management and is the author of the Toyota Way has served me well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Toyota_Way Nathan Schulhof https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Schulhof also spent time mentoring me in Mexico and he is the father of the MP3 player but some of my favorite businessmen simply worked hard and led quiet lives.

Inspired by our Mennonite neighbors!
Developing work ethic is important so many will work part time online while participating in the school. This model is not all that different than what the Mennonites are currently doing but it is welcoming to a broader segment of the population and offers remedial learning, formal higher degrees and certification programs and embraces technology and innovation and each program participant will receive a customized learning plan broken down into segments.

I have had the pleasure of visiting the founders of Barton Creek and I have known many Mennonites working that have taught me all sorts of innovations and they have been a tremendous blessing to me. I also know Mennonites in Spanish Lookout and am inspired by them as well and I particularly relate to the Mennonites who are online using social media but out project will need to be more fluid and less rigid and be a transitional space for those who have not yet changed their lives due to trauma so would not be able to function in a traditional Mennonite community.

Who can participate?

Everyone Welcome!


Secondary Programs are open to individuals of all faiths and nationalities without discrimination.

Primary Programs have a set target of men over age 30 who have trauma as well as marginalized, victims of violence, victims of human trafficking, illiterate, widows etc some of those participants will live together and work together and innovate together. These programs are for people committed to changing their lives.

All participants will agree to our core values of embracing and expressing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Belizean Men over age 30 are our target and their families because we understand that they are the marginalized group in Belize (not women and children as some assume).

We firmly believe the best way to help women and children in Belize is to raise up Godly MEN willing and able to marry them and be protectors and providers for the women and children in their homes and communities.

Men are the marginalized group in Belize and they have less access to education, less access to vocational training, less access to therapy and counselling, less access to higher education, less access to conflict resolution courses, less access to spiritual training, less access to accessing government programs, less access to loans, less access to start up funds and less access to business training and less access to mentorship.


Therefore the primary target is Belizean men (especially over age 30) who need a second chance in life and their families such as men coming out of prison who have a letter of reference from Kolbe Foundation or men who have already proven they are out of the gang life and want to change their life or men who have struggled to overcome problems like emotional and spiritual issues. Whenever possible will also welcome marginalized people like traumatized people, illiterate, victims of human trafficking, disabled, victims of violence etc.


Our founding director is disabled (Complex PTSD and Lung Problems and she does not hear well therefore we understand the dire need for accommodation, particularly for those with INVISIBLE disabilities. For the record, due to her disability, our director Gretchen Smith works from home most of the time and request WRITTEN communication via Whats APP or email.

Foreigners AND Others Welcome Too!
The secondary target is experts in their field who wish to come and teach and innovate and participate in the school and intentional, off grid, faith-based  living. These people may be setting up businesses in Belize, considering moving to Belize, or be retired and just want to volunteer their time and resources to educate and build up others or it may be students doing a semester abroad. We anticipate students, artists, architects, engineers, professors, missionaries, service volunteers, sustainable living experts, disability experts and more to want to come live and be a part of Penny University and we will eventually be ready and waiting to welcome them to train them on how to get their projects, businesses and NGOs, CBOs, NPOs and off grid homesteads established here or complete a semester abroad. These participants might come for a week to five years and all will get  volunteer work permits or student permits for those that are foreigners.

What will the Campus be like?

Now we are REALLY GOING TO DREAM (and yes I am completely aware of how absurd this sounds sitting from my 200 sf shack. I am setting the vision NOW. Perhaps it won’t be even implemented till long after my death but here it is!)

Approximately 200-500 acres sea to farm area in Belize (must have sea access for mariculture and floating houseboats and service tourist cabanas)

5-10 acres-main university campus and food forest and hamlet

20-50 acres terrestrial farming 

10-20 acres mariculture farming (in the sea) and underwater marine park with underwater sculpture garden growing seaweed that we sell and houseboat rentals for tourists for income

50-200 acres of terrestrial farmland (preferably adjacent to the sea of which a portion is subdivided and sold to investors with similar vision who wish to live off grid and build businesses nearby to work in tandem with the university. This will provide us the funds to build out and maintain infrastructure and put into a Trust for longevity 


Food Forest and Hamlet

50-100 acres lease land with option to  buy for Belizean and permanent resident participants who complete the training programs.

Each site will have a Hamlet which is a food forest specific to the environment as well as simple off grid housing for staff and participants and office space, workshop space, classroom space etc. Most core participants will live on site and participate in various businesses run by the university where they will gain valuable training and skills in off grid and faith based living. They will also take courses in financial literacy, business management, ethics, and study faith based courses from Harvestime.org and some will do online degree programs and work online.



Staff and Participant Housing

Housing will be simple and designed by green architects and be completely off grid.  Classroom spaces will primarily be outdoors and computer lab with internet access will be onsite. Participants can work at any approved online job part time while living and studying at SOZO Penny University or work onsite or offsite part time as approved by the director. Staff houses will be humble and made of locally sources materials like earthbag, strawbale construction, mud house , sargassum block etc. All houses will be off grid and fully sustainable and environmentally friendly and interesting architecturally. After preliminary Mennonite houses are installed for key staff then those staff along with volunteers and contractors will build the rest of the housing and buildings. We already have an architect on board who is world class sustainable living designer as well as energy efficiency expert in passive cooling and heating and other methodology.

Guest Housing

Additionally there will be BTB licensed gold standard tourist housing (also built by a combination of staff, volunteers and contractors). This housing will be for paying volunteers, visiting experts, investors, and even just tourists who wish to come support our project by paying to stay in our guest housesHouses should be epically cool and architecturally interesting and break the mold and use recycled materials and be environmentally friendly and fully off grid.



Physical Site

The site for the Sozo Penny University has not yet been chosen. Ideally is about 200=500 acres near the sea for access to mariculture projects and will be dependent on GOB mariculture plan which is expected to be released soon. It is important to be far enough away from a river inlet to have clear water for seaweed and mariculture production because the cost of gas is too high to make trips to Cayes all the time.  Products from sea such as lobster, conch, etc will be processed nearby at rudimentary facilities on beach and we must be able to put in a dock and loading zone for sargassum clean up projects and truck must be able to access processing area to transport of lobster, conch etc to export facilities. Buildings will not be fancy but follow humble building models and some buildings will utilize alternative and experimental materials such as hemp, earthbag construction, sargassum blocks etc. All buildings, whenever possible will be fully off grid.

Houseboats for Guests and Underwater Marine Park
We hope to have simple floating houseboats for guests and an underwater marine park with underwater sculpture for diving nearby to the farm. It is quite possible to grow seaweed on sculptures and make seaweed architecturally interesting from a tourist perspective. There will be fancier guest housing and cabanas for tourists on the beach and in the jungle and communal spaces such as outdoor kitchen, meeting spaces, worship spaces, outdoor and indoor classrooms, technology center etc. Think humble, simple and off grid and innovative when you think of our buildings and structures. We are inspired by the many underwater sculpture parks around the world but we want to turn ours into a seaweed farm that is productive.



Terrestrial Farming
The ideal site will also have good soil for farming  citrus, coconut, mango, sour sop, pittaya, hemp, hardwoods etc. and space for greenhouses and aquaponics systems as well as dedicated sargassum processing area and production facility for alternative materials such as hempcrete and sargassum blocks. We will need a barn workshop area probably made from containers with a large roof over them like we see at the Kidz Connect Ministry at Hope Creek.

Infrastructure Buildings Needed
The intentional community will be an alternative University and place to live and work and play and explore so we need everything from administrative buildings to coffee houses and swimming pools (Olympic sized lap lane is needed for the director due to her health problems) as well classrooms and housing but absolutely not one single building should look normal and they should NOT MATCH and every building should be fully off grid and full licensed for live/work and educational space as well as commercial space. There will ONLY be 3 part sinks and GFI outlets and all buildings must be handicap accessible…no exception….even the tree houses will have some kind of hand pulled lift. They should become a showcase for different modalities of design so that developers can hire people that we have trained to develop their conceptual designs further. They will not however be just prototypes. We will actually live and work in every building. We have already selected our chief architect and designer and Ms. Smith has been working on the conceptual designs for over a decade. We do not have a timeline for releasing these designs as resources are needed to develop them further and do videos showing concept.

Money Matters

Tuition
Tuition will be charged however most Belizean participants can qualify for scholarship. Foreign participants will pay and students from abroad will get credit at their home universities for internship. Rates are being established now based on completion of competitive analysis. Some participants will qualify for paid internships depending on need and commitment to long term leadership potential. Traditionally Penny Universities were free (well they did cost a penny) and so every effort will be made to make portions of our programs available to those that are seriously ready to change they lives and have already demonstrated significant progress in getting right with God and significant commitment to making major changes.

Innovative Funding for Graduates
Matching savings funds will be set up and Belizean participants and permanent residents will have access to innovative funding models as they progress through the system and graduate. Funding might include a combination of grants, lease to own, loans, work exchange, peer to peer, and venture capital funds as other investment and funding vehicles and sub-businesses will be set up in the financial sector under SOZO Foundation Belize and SOZO Belize.

Trust
At the perimeter of the core University campus and farm will be lots set aside with lease to buy option for Belizean participants and permanent residents who complete the programs. Additional lots with title will be made available in off grid subdivision for purchase by individuals who wish to live near the university and funds from the sales of those lots will go into a trust to support the university and build out infrastructure.

For Profit Partners

For profit (off grid) businesses will also be developed nearby and online with socially conscious investors in partnership with SOZO Belize (Consulting Firm) and SOZO Foundation Belize. These businesses will work in tandem with each other as well as the NGO and Consulting Firm and give first choice of jobs and apprenticeships and internships to participants in the SOZO Penny University Intentional Living Community.  We particularly wish to recruit businesses to be owned and run by individuals from the Garifuna, Mayan, Kriol, Hindi and Chinese, Spanish and EX Pat populations in Belize with TRAUMA and Indigenous peoples will be given PRIORITY (that is the Garifuna and Mayan and Kriol by our definition). SOZO Foundation Belize will hold 10% share minimum in for profit businesses created by participants who have completed the programs as well as by those that purchase land from us and those funds will also go into the trust. Target Businesses might include things like:

Mariculture BusinessesTerrestrial BusinessesOther Businesses
Mariculture Farm
Sargassum Clean Up and Processing
Tour Guides
Underwater Museum & Dive Site
Products Made from Sea
Hotel/ResortFloating House Boats
Private Island Retreat
Floating Restaurant
Private Charter Boats
Sustainable Farming
Aquaculture
Aquaponics
Hydroponics
Earthbag Construction
Hempcrete Production
Hemp Manufacturing
Hardwood
Spices
Food Trucks
Farm Distribution Network
Artisan Products
Import/Export
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
Security
Fintech
Auto Mechanic Shop
Architecture
Engineering
Off Grid Consulting
Solar/Wind/etc
Electric Vehicles
Restaurants
Consulting Firms

Higher Learning and Degrees/Certifications
Each participant will have access to mostly free university online through University of the Peoples which is accredited in USA and completely free bible college online through Harvestime International Network. Online home school and online high school will be also made available for a fee as set forth by the affiliated school. Those who finish bible college online can become licensed and ordained in Belize and abroad. Those who complete the degree programs from University of the Peoples can matriculate to most Universities in USA.  

All vocational training such as seaweed farming, aquaculture, off grid construction etc comes with certifications from SOZO Foundation Belize which is in the process of registering as a school in Belize. 

Residence Program (Artists, Scientists, Researchers, Missionaries, Professors, Experts etc)
Intentional communities inherently attract foreigners who wish to move abroad and learn to live off grid. We anticipate architects, farmers, artists, performers, scientists, researchers and missionaries, volunteers etc to be part of our artist in residence program where they come and live and serve and volunteer for a period of time and teach and take our courses. Those who wish to stay and invest will be given priority options on nearby lots and our community will be hospitable and welcoming to visiting artists in residence and experts. These individuals will typically come for a week to 5 years and live and volunteer and serve in the community. 

About the Founder:

Gap Years in Belize Central America starting at age 23,
c. 1994-1997

Gretchen Smith has been a missionary, business woman, artist and innovator for 25 years. She has served in Africa, The Middle East, Haiti, St. Croix, Mexico, Belize and more. She has lived and been director of many intentional communities and some communities have even received the coveted UNESCO Creative Cities designation.  She is a recognized expert in violence reduction programs, anti human trafficking and has helped over 300 men and women exit gangs, cartel, and criminal life and some are even pastors now. In Mexico she owned and operated a guest house for artists, critical thinkers and scientists and also built a 30,000sf facility for victims of human trafficking and developed Baja Sand Festival which brings in 100,000 tourists annually. She has run artist- in-residence programs worldwide hosting top experts in their fields for 25 years and her work and projects have been featured at Art Basel and the Florence Biennale. 

Smith has 11 years experience in Belize and first came here to intern at a hotel and resort, teach environmental education in 1994. She has worked at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution as a senior research assistant to Dr. Leroy Creswell who did some of the first mariculture research in Belize related to lobster and conch as well as aquaculture and aquaponics. She has skills in earthbag construction, off grid living and comes from a family of hemp farmers in Kentucky. She has been mentored by Nathan Shuloff, the father of the MP3 player, Mike Hoseus, the author of the Toyota Way which teaches lean management and Jamil Akhundov of Merril Lynch as well as many leaders of intentional off grid communities. She is also a bible college professor and INTJ mastermind sitting on many thinktanks worldwide and runs an online ministry that reaches over 100,000 people. 

While serving in Mexico Smith witnessed two murders and got PTSD. She diligently worked hard to overcome that and was hoping to get off of disability within 5 years however several additional traumatic events happened to her once she returned to Belize in 2017 and you can read more about her testimony here of surviving cancer, lung disease, corruption and Hurricane Lisa. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10160647464389415&set=a.10150451872899415

Artist Statement-Gretchen M. Smith

As an INTJ I am interested in restructuring flawed systems through the addition of creative energy to act as a catalyst for change. False barriers, unseen hazards, and stubborn strongholds all need to be removed or repaired for a system to flow freely and work again. Systems can be governmental, religious, institutional, environmental, mechanical, structural, etc but all systems have one thing in common, they are as inherently flawed as the humans who created them. God has provided for redemption through his son Jesus Christ and one of the most powerful tools in his arsenal is an artist who has been prepared as a warrior. Satan’s minions have disabled the spiritual, emotional, and physical systems of many humans and their souls remain trapped in minds and bodies that betray them.

Authentic art and creative problem solving fueled by critical thinking and inspired by God and bathed in prayer has the power to reach deep into the soul and provoke the enemy to leave and then bring forth healing but this power is largely untapped. Using the innate talents granted to me by the ultimate creator I seek to break strongholds in the lives of people, cities, and principalities here on this earth to allow them a chance to reconnect with God in a truly authentic way.

“All that was used for vengeance will now be used for good.” Edmund, Count of Monte Christo

So, if you are interested. Send me an email to tallartist@hotmail.com or TEXT me on whats app, signal or telegram at 501-672-0547. Remember I am disabled and prefer WRITTEN communication whenever possible. My God is a big God and I am not afraid to dream big in the least. I have seen so many miracles that I can’t even count so I just wanted to put this out there and see if anyone want to help me take it to the next level.

As I was getting ready to publish this and make it viewable to the whole world I considered what my two dads would have said. My step dad would have told me “everything is possible with a good plan” and my dad would have told me “that might just be crazy enough to actually work. Go for it!”

As a reminder check out BLOG for Updates

You can also check our Volunteer Page for Opportunities

Special Note from founding Director Gretchen Smith. This project is for TRAUMATIZED people but the Catch 22 is it is being developed by a A TRAUMATIZED PERSON. Ms Smith is herself disabled (C-PTSD, lung problems and other health problems like low hearing) and as such she frequently is triggered by an entire system that is neither prepared to deal with her disability or her trauma which is why she is setting this up in the first place. Consequently this vision cannot come to fruition unless a person or several people come alongside to do the verbal communication with government agencies, banks, and institutions because every interaction with those entities that are not equipped nor prepared to deal with her traumatizes her further. In essence, she is sacrificing her own mental health to ensure that traumatized people in Belize have options in the future. She is well aware that this a problem but resources are needed to hire the person that should be dealing with all of these people so she can sit down and focus on strategy which is her real gift because dealing with the government and banks and church here literally makes here want to get violent so there are many periods where she must simply isolate herself to avoid confrontation because there is no advocate. Her step father Paul Colbert was her advocate for years and he died in 2009 and it was an very unexpected death but there is a whole lot more to her trauma story than that and she is not able to get the EMDR and other therapies she needs due to lack of resources. She lost everything in Hurricane Lisa but she has not given up. She need an ADVOCATE to be the front person, the verbal person because verbal communication traumatizes her further.

You can learn a bit more about communication problems here in this article.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-provide-disability-accommodation-person-ptsd-c-ptsd-smith-zayge%3FtrackingId=V5HzK4PXQqyhGAPWUOei%252Bw%253D%253D/?trackingId=V5HzK4PXQqyhGAPWUOei%2Bw%3D%3D

Ms. Smith struggles with verbal communication and prefers written communication whenever possible