Find Your Purpose Inc. - An Unusual Approach to Breaking Through Barriers
Photo courtesy of Find Your Purpose Inc.
Something extraordinary is happening in Westminster, Maryland. A relatively new, small nonprofit organization is impacting the lives of people of all ages and walks of life in amazing ways in Carroll County. And it’s being done with a nearly non-existent budget, a volunteer staff, and a non-traditional approach to program planning.
Find Your Purpose Inc. has been a formal 501(c)(3) organization for only about two years. The organization aspires to elevate and empower individuals of all ages through mentorship, experiential learning, and entrepreneurship opportunities. Its founder, award-winning hip-hop artist Billy Lyve (given name Billy Dee Williams), has built a solid reputation in the Baltimore area and is widely accepted and appreciated for his contributions to the Westminster community. He’s a performer, promoter, entrepreneur, event planner, booking agent, and philanthropist who has chosen to capitalize on all that in an unusual way.
Besides his career as an entertainer, CEO of Wisdom Court Entertainment and owner of Wisdom Court Studios, Lyve has served and given back to his community in a variety of ways. One of them was the formation of Wisdom Court Kids Club in 2008. The club sponsored various events to give underprivileged kids new experiences, such as dance parties, Easter egg hunts, and trips to the zoo. The kids came in droves to all the events, and they continue to do so!
Photo courtesy of Find Your Purpose Inc.
Lyve’s fame and the music are big attractions, but what the program, which has evolved to include people of all ages and backgrounds, offers is the opportunity to be involved in events they are interested in and excited about. They are building relationships and having fun, which is the genius of what has evolved into Find Your Purpose Inc. Because of his own troubled youth, Lyve has a firm commitment to the idea that kids need strong, positive role models – particularly male role models – who look like them, talk like them, and have dealt with the same issues.
So relationship building is an essential part of the program. As trust grows and people become more comfortable with one another, it is easier for mentors and program leaders to recognize various problems that may need to be addressed in someone’s life. Resources, which are made available by other organizations, might include counseling, therapy, tutoring, mentoring, medication, vocational training, etc.
Another one of Lyve’s core principles is summed up in his declaration, “I don’t talk, I show. Show, that is all I know how to do.” And show he does, with a steadfast passion for helping others find their purpose in life. And people and organizations flood to him to participate in his events or partner with him.
Just before Lyve sat for this interview, he had returned from a meeting with hospital personnel. The meeting was at the hospital’s request, and the purpose was to discuss how the hospital could serve his constituents. The premise was that Find Your Purpose Inc. mentors would identify persons in need, let the hospital know, and the hospital “would pick it up and take it from there,” whatever they need.
Another partnership is with the County’s 4-H group (a time-honored youth development program in the United States). The 4-H also took the first step and approached Lyve, offering to underwrite a therapeutic horseback riding program.
“When we began the Kids Club,” Lyve told me, “We didn’t know what a nonprofit was, what a mentor was, or what a philanthropist was.” The Kids Club had formed relationships through the music, and the number of events had multiplied, but Lyve was uncertain about getting a business structure for what they were already doing. However, the more successful the Kids Club became, the more often knowledgeable people in the community began to urge Lyve to form a nonprofit organization.
Coincidentally, not long ago, Lyve and one of Ending Racism USA’s Special Advisors, Brian Backe, met at a seminar where Brian was a presenter. The two found a mutual connection point in that Lyve is the CEO of Find Your Purpose Inc. and Brian is the Executive Director of the Center for Nonprofit Leaders and is a coach for nonprofit leaders. Since then, Lyve said he and Brian talk on the phone two or three times a week, and they have been working together on a flower-planting project to raise money for Africa.
“In 2022, Find Your Purpose Inc. held 33 events, which were attended by approximately 2,000 unique faces,” said Lyve. The events included dances, trips to trampoline parks, roller skating, the zoo, basically, anything people like to do. The activities also include instruction in Lyve’s studio. Although videography is one of the areas offered, Lyve said there is a strong preference for the music side of the studio.
Photo courtesy of Find Your Purpose Inc.
“We don’t compete with anyone else,” Lyve explained. “Other groups focus on education or certain other things, and they stick to that. We focus on fun, bring kids in, build relationships, connect them with the right resources. What we do is totally different and unique.”
Different and unique is working, but funding is somewhat erratic. The events are always funded by organizations or private individuals. Some people make general contributions on a monthly basis. Also, there’s a membership structure that includes 40 families who contribute $25 a month ($12,000). Lyve pointed out that the money helps to pay the rent, but the compelling reason for the memberships is to provide a structure and commitment for the families to be connected to the organization.
“Technically,” said Lyve, “we don’t have a budget. Everything is volunteer-based. We don’t have major grants. We are doing all of this with no consistent funding. We don’t have the funding to grow at the capacity I want to grow.”
Lyve’s vision for growth includes helping other communities replicate the organization’s efforts in ways that best suit their needs. Although he is eager to get that work started, he also said he has to find “the right people who understand the vision. People who are just as energetic and ready as we are to do something new. They need to be passionate and want to work with someone like me.”
The philosophy underlying the organization was forged out of the hard lessons in the first half of Lyve’s life. He has spent much of his 43 years in or around Westminster, and describes it as having two sides – essentially, the haves and the have-nots. He grew up on the “not” side. Lyve readily admitted that he had trouble in school, got kicked out a few times, wasn’t allowed to go to the dances or games, and ultimately graduated from an “alternative high school where they sent the bad kids.”
Something his side of town had was a terrible problem with opioids and heroin. Lyve and his friends were into “street stuff,” which he translated for me as selling drugs and fighting. He also said he had been in and out of the court system. I wasn’t really surprised, but one thing he said about why he does the work he does now absolutely stunned me.
“All my friends are either dead or in jail,” Lyve said. He noted there were about 50 funerals for high school kids. Then, he went on to say, “I am one of the few that made it out of there.” He also admitted feeling lonely and guilty at times because he didn’t know why he was here and they weren’t.
It’s from these circumstances that Lyve’s resolve comes. “I want to change that cycle by providing opportunities and outlets for kids and adults just like me, so they don’t have to go down the same road,” he said. “Our edge at Find Your Purpose Inc. is that we are doing something positive, giving them role models like themselves.” Because of his influence with the underprivileged, minority groups, as well as politicians and professionals in business and the nonprofit sector, Lyve is finding ways to erase the barriers that have traditionally divided people and help them make connections that bring the two sides of Westminster together.
If you are wondering where Lyve got the name for his organization, he was inspired by a line in a song “Victory Lap” by the late rapper Nipsey Hussle: “I say it's worth it, I won't say it's fair. Find your purpose or you wasting air.”
Fortunately, for thousands of youth and adults, Billy Lyve found his purpose!
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