Where it started…

Here I Am Network was born out of years of wondering how to support teachers in my local community better. I am a life-long educator, and through various roles over 15+ years, I have had the privilege of teaching, supporting, and parenting in dozens of public schools from a super-sized Texas metroplex to a mid-sized city in North Carolina. Across all these settings, one problem remained consistent. People want to help schools, schools desire more help, and the communication channels to make that easy are clunky at best.

Teachers have a lot on their plates, with the portion size only growing. What if I could take over Monday carpool duty for Christal every week so she could experience the joy of picking up her own child from school? What if I could sanitize the tables, math manipulatives, dry-erase markers, and doorknobs for Katie on Fridays so that she could go home to her newborn niece 45 minutes earlier and know her immunocompromised student will be included and protected come Monday morning. What if more people want to support in these ways, too?

In January of 2025, with no clear path ahead, I chartered a journey to solve this problem. I sought advice from non-profit leaders across the country, met with school district leaders, PTA presidents, and community liaisons to ask questions and listen to ideas. As the year marched on, I found a web-based platform called Better Impact with a history of service in the Hospice community, which has exactly the platform built to meet this need. The platform is in the works, being built for how the Here I am Network will use it, and will be ready to launch in early 2026.

“Here I Am” comes from an ancient Near East term, “hineni”, which means a complete and willing presence for whatever is asked. I learned that I cannot support all the teachers who need it; I can only build relationships one at a time, with intentional presence where I am currently. And maybe, figure out a way to bring others along, too. The journey has started, here I am for teachers, here I am for students, here I am for my community, Here I Am Network. Join the journey.

- Courtney