UPDATE: ANSIL or Ansil Services? What's next? Empower Life!

"It was a perfect storm," Empower Life Board President Crystal Willingham said about the formation of her new nonprofit. "All the things that could go wrong went wrong" speaking about the once burgeoning, now terminal nonprofit, ANSIL a new start in life whose board of directors Willingham has been on since 2018.

As reported by KAPP-KVEW news last week, The ANSIL organization leadership had been doing all they could to regain their former momentum after the newly elected board president went rogue in November 2020 and the programs mission ground to a screeching halt. Empower Life was born to try to carry on part of the mission of ANSIL, helping homeless 18-24-year-old adults get a new start, complete their education, gain employment, have stable housing and supportive mentoring.

"It's been a crazy rollercoaster ride," Willingham said about the last several months at ANSIL. "We had this new organization to help us (Empower Life) but we realized we had to do things differently, think outside the box, and aim higher."

While the vision of Empower Life is similar to that of ANSIL, the desire to have a greater impact made the board rethink the operating mission. "We realized that funding and fundraising are difficult elements for small organizations. We felt that as a small team, we could lend our support to this one aspect of nonprofit work, not just for ANSIL but for any organization or individual that seeks to do the heavy lifting of ending homelessness and that focuses on this highly vulnerable and underserved segment of society, very young adults."

"We don't know what is going to happen with ANSIL", Willingham said referring to the current civil dispute and investigation by the Washington State Attorney General's office over the board leadership. "We do know that we can continue to help these young people (ANSIL program participants) and help other organizations provide their services to meet these specific needs."

The new nonprofit is currently working on developing a digital brand, website and social media presence. As with any small business, these things take time but the Empower Life board is working diligently to get up and running so they can help those in need.

For more information about Empower Life, contact the board at empower.life.99336@gmail.com