Board and Executive Team - Mission
The Blessed Are Foundation is a diverse group of mission-oriented professionals who love helping others. None of us are perfect, but our loving Father has given us this opportunity. Humbly we submit this is a mission of love and none of the board members are taking a salary. You can be confident your cheerful and tax deductible gift will support the wonderful orphaned children and less fortunate.
In life we often hear the call, but don’t always listen. Hearing and listening are two different things. Friends, time is short. Imagine if we all listened and acted in the loving manner of Jesus Christ & went the extra mile. Christ said, “whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” Matthew 5:41 (NKJV)
Joseph knows the power of forgiveness. He’s the first to admit his checkered past, and is grateful, and humbly accepts God’s forgiveness and this opportunity to serve. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJB) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
“One Christmas, traditional gifts were cancelled as mom decided that money would be donated to help the less fortunate in Africa. This was a very humble learning experience,” says Joseph.
Upon retirement, Joseph’s father John, a thirty year veteran of Nabisco and a small business owner, who supported Mary’s efforts, was now able to join alongside her and volunteer. John and Mary took impoverished HIV positive children into their home to make the kids’ lives a little more joyful. The two volunteered regularly at their local homeless shelter.
After Mary’s passing, John continues and additionally visits shut-ins at the local nursing homes. Joseph is honored to join when he visits and looks forward to seeing his many friends. This volunteer spirt engrained by his parents, combined with a simple walk with Christ, encouraged Joseph to start a humble ministry helping New York City’s homeless in 2020.
After a heart-to-heart conversation with dear friend and fellow Board member Yuna Han, Joseph, with the help of prayer, removed some negative aspects from his life that he could focus on God’s mission. Later that same year a divinely inspired meeting with Dennis Otu (below) led to an introduction of the orphans of Ghana.
Joseph and Dennis prayed upon it and by the grace of God, nearly a year later, The Blessed Are Foundation received 501(c)(3) nonprofit approval allowing the organization to formally raise funds for these important causes.
Joseph served honorably in the United States Marine Corps and graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in documentary and narrative filmmaking. He launched a successful viral video marketing service for several helicopter and fixed-wing sightseeing operations in Las Vegas and New York.
The 2020 covid lockdowns resulted in the shuttering of his aviation marketing business and he transitioned to tax resolution services. He’s been happy to help many people save combined millions of dollars in taxes, and found many prayer partners in the process. He honed his financial chops and settled into private equity and venture capitalism helping businesses with funding and partnerships.
Joseph admits, “I’m not perfect, but thank God I’m no longer the man I was, and God leaves no work unfinished. There’s a lot of walking in the bible, and between careers God blessed me with nearly a year to walk and minister to His most vulnerable. This was especially powerful during coronavirus when the homeless were even more outcast. I have witnessed demonic attacks, but more importantly demons cast out in the mighty name of Jesus during these walks!
By the grace of God we will join together and help our most vulnerable. My new friends continue to inspire me more than I could ever help them, and God continues to demonstrate that His plans are bigger plans than mine. Welcome and thank you for being a part of The Blessed Are Foundation.”
Timothy Quilter
Board Vice President
Timothy J. Quilter was raised and educated in Perrysburg, Ohio public schools from elementary though high school where he excelled in sports with nine varsity letters in football, wrestling, and track. Mr. Quilter served honorably in the United States Navy from 1967-1969.
Timothy attended Ohio University from 1970 to 1972 where he majored in economics, political science, and history. Whilst a Buckeye he was active with the Veteran’s Club, and the university wrestling team.
He was a drafter for seven years in California and Georgia where he made detailed technical drawings. He spent ten years in construction, five with the Labors International Union and was re-affiliated with the United States Naval Reserves from 1984 to 2004, working as an Intelligence Specialist. Timothy spent five years with the U.S Postal Service in New York City before retiring in 2010.
Timothy has been an active member of his church and worked directly with the Historical Manhattan Seventh Day Adventist Church in N.Y.C. from 2017 to 2020 before returning to his childhood home in Ohio in 2021. He and his lovely wife Rennis are overseeing the building of an expansion to the home, where they will enjoy their retirment. The two have found a new church home in Ohio and remain active in it, and volunteer undertakings.
Timothy is a wonderful friend and mentor to Joseph and others. He and Rennis really enjoy rolling up their sleeves and doing the Lord’s work. He’s all-in on helping orphaned children and victims of human trafficking. The latter is a serious issue on which the board is strategizing on how to best raise awareness, prevention, and provide treatment for survivors of this henious crime. .
Mark Spence
Board Director
Mr. Mark Spence is a veteran of the insurance industry and is the co-founder of Syren Capital Insurance Services Group. He has more than ten years of experience in premium finance, estate planning, pensions, life insurance, and disability insurance.
Born in Jamaica, Mark has a rich ancestry which includes being a Jamaican Jew. Like most from Jamaica, Mark is of West African descent, and the cause of helping Ghanaian orphans and soon other West African nations is near and dear his heart.
The Blessed Are Foundation is excited to welcome Mark as its newest member to the Board of Directors.
Yuna Han
Board Director and Secretary
Miss Yuna Han was born in Korea and immigrated to the United States as a child. Her mother raised her in a Christian background and Yuna started emulating Jesus by helping less fortunate and often homeless people as best a young college student could. Her random acts of kindness do not go unnoticed.
Yuna gives 100% for work, friends, and family and not necessarily in that order. She is excited to put her marketing expertise to work and expand the foundation’s global outreach while spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Yuna is an integral part of The Blessed Are Foundation and an early catalyst to motivate its official founding. We wouldn’t be here without her!
Mr. & Mrs. Dennis & Hannah Otu
Friends of the Board & Ghana Orphanage Liaison
Mr. Dennis Otu was a respected junior high school teacher in Ghana prior to immigrating to the United States in 2003. He received a Bachelor of Science in respiratory therapy from Northern Kentucky University in 2008.
Dennis has been serving US military veterans in the VA Healthcare system since 2011. He is currently the Assistant Chief of Respiratory Therapy at the VA Hospital in Manhattan.
Dennis and his lovely school-teacher wife, Hannah love children and they help orphans in Ghana through their Ghanaian organization My Savior Is King Foundation. Its goal is to protect children and provide a safe environment to study the word of God. This includes building orphanages, providing food, healthcare, education, clothing and more.
Despite their busy life of servitude to the less fortunate, Dennis and Hannah still make time to host a bible and prayer ministry three nights a week. The ministry helps people draw nearer to God and create awareness of the soon return of our savior Jesus Christ.
The mission of the Blessed are Organization is to spread the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ. Part of that work focuses on building homes and creating safe-havens for the increasing orphans of Ghana, and less-fortunate homeless people in New York City.
This includes education, housing, healthcare, shower and recreation center, media, and much more. By the grace of God and your support, this mission will expand and The Blessed Are Foundation will help people in need all over the earth.
The site will be regularly updated on our mission challenges and successes. We want to keep you, our extended family, apprised. Donors may request an annual financial report at the end of each business year (31 December).
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” ~Jesus of Nazareth“