It all started when…
Susie and I met one day. She was driving her bus for the Monterey Salinas Transit System (MST) and I was desperately trying to get one of the residentially challenged in Monterey, to Salinas for a doctor's appointment. However, I was a dollar short of the necessary fare for a day pass and she kindly paid the dollar from her purse, at that moment, I knew I was in the presence of a kind gentle being. A few weeks later I got a call from Susie, she wanted to donate some suits and interview clothes to the disenfranchised community in Monterey. What struck me about Susie was her humility, and this was the beginning of a wonderful but short lived journey with her by my side.
I, Thomas Toloy, Founder of Humble Beginnings & Medicine Wheels, began a new project called The Susie Ellis Memorial Sanctuary.This project was started in order to honor a dear friend, and to carry on Susie's vision which we shared together; finding "24/7 solutions, to 24/7" problems, for the disenfranchised community. The Sanctuary was birthed a day after Susie passed on.
Susie's Sanctuary is a resource available to the disenfranchised twenty four hours, seven days a week, three hundred & sixty five days a year . We are all about assisting an individual in their quest for independence, providing stability, food, clothing, and shelter. This is the foundation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, which is the impetus behind our proactive approach. This is the only program of its kind in the world, where the locally disenfranchised can receive aid when they need it most NOW! The Sanctuary is headquarters for Humble Beginnings & Medicine Wheels, it is also a distribution hub for the donations.
