Board of Directors
Anna Beningo - After working at Avaya for 23 years, Anna retired and joined Habitat for Humanity of Michigan as Executive Director in 2001. I left corporate America to do work that fulfilled my values. By working with Habitat for Humanity in Honduras, I started to find what I was supposed to do with my life. With Osman Hope, I have found what my purpose is. Osman Hope has changed my life in ways I would have never expected. The children have filled voids in my heart. I am truly blessed.
R. Peter Borg - Having worked for over twenty-five years in the manufacturing sector, I was looking for ways to help others outside of the local charitable opportunities in the United States. It was working in Honduras that I understood the need to help the street children of that country. Thus the dream of building children shelters was born in late 2000.
Little did we know how much was involved in becoming an incorporated, non-profit organization. But that part was easy compared to operating two shelters from 2000 miles to the north. But with God's guidance and his blessings, we have developed a very caring team within Honduras and the United States. I am truly blessed to be a part of these children's lives.
L. Gordon Brewer - Gordon lives in Kingsport, TN with his wife and daughter. He works as a Clinical Program Consultant for an organization called Youth Villages which is a nonprofit organization that works with at-risk youth providing in-home counseling, therapeutic foster care and residential treatment. He is active with his church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where he serves as a Lay Eucharistic Minister and the Vestry.
He became involved with Osman Hope two years ago after visiting Honduras. Through Osman Hope we are giving children who have very little hope a bright spot in their lives, not to mention the basic needs of food and shelter. I feel very honored and blessed to be part of Osman Hope and the mission that is there. We are truly making a difference in children's lives one child at a time.
Margarita Grachen - My passion has always been children. I went to Honduras as a Missionary for the South American Missionary Society in 2003 to serve the children. While there, the Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Honduras asked me to provide leadership for a project to either build an orphanage or a day shelter. We decided to build a day shelter. It was finished in 2006 and today it is the third shelter for Osman Hope!
I feel honored to have been blessed by seeing the shelter operational in August 2007 thanks to Osman Hope. Osman Hope and I have the same vision and mission for the children of Honduras. They need a place to feel safe, to be fed physically and spiritually and to be encouraged to obtain an education. The future of Honduras depends on these children. They need our help. Therefore, I am excited about becoming an Osman Hope Board member and helping Osman Hope provide to many, many children in Honduras.
Margaret Henne - Working at St. Patrick Parish in Brighton, Michigan gives me a unique opportunity to work with justice and service initiatives. Osman Hope is one way to encourage churches to embrace the concept of solidarity - working together with others throughout the world as our neighbors. The Osman Hope shelters are a step in faith that address some of the basic life needs all people have for food, housing, education, health care and employment.
Sherry Kunkel - I have been a nurse for twenty years. She lives in Brighton with her husband. I have traveled to Honduras for the last four years with Habitat for Humanity. While there, the dream of Osman Hope evolved and of the plans for its future. I fell in love with the children and with the idea of shelters for these children. I have been on the Board since the beginning and hope to be there for a long time.
Ron Tamunday - Ron has worked in the automotive industry for the past 16 years. He became involved with Osman Hope after a Habitat for Humanity trip to Honduras in 2002. He spent that first trip interpreting for the group, since he lived in Mexico for two years. He has made the trip to Honduras every year since. He met his wife during the 2004 trip.
Seeing the direct and immediate benefit and impact that Osman Hope brings to the children it supports is what made me want to support this organization. The love that the children have for you to show their appreciation and gratitude is what keeps me coming back.
Brent Tennant - When in Honduras, the children that I met heightened my interest to the point where serving the children became my passion. My goal for Osman Hope is to have support for all the programs and to spread its reach in Honduras to the very many needy children there. These children could be much more if not living in such an impoverish habitat.
Osman Hope gives these children the opportunity to get out of poverty. The Osman Hope shelters do make a difference in these children's lives. I strongly support Osman Hope because it is not a program for the people who run the organization, but a greatly needed program for these beautiful children.
