In my very first experience with The Freedom to Choose Project (FTC), I truly understood what ‘Change from the Inside’ meant. I thought I was going inside a prison to bring hope and inspiration to others. I discovered that I was also truly serving myself by sharing the human experience of saying to another, “I am a human with feelings and life challenges just like you.”
FTC has allowed me to make good on a childhood promise I made to myself many years ago – that when I grew up, I would be a part of bringing peace and love to this world.
I witnessed a tremendous amount of violence growing up on Chicago’s Southside during the 60’s. I survived several major riots, the Vietnam war, gang warfare and even more in the urban street environment.
Being a witness to mankind’s inhumanity to man so early in life, I became aware that there was inside of us a great Light, revealed through our eyes, and designed to awaken all of us to Love as the healing balm.
In FTC I have rediscovered how to tap into my inner Light and to see this same Goodness in others. I’ve been able to practice the power of listening and honoring the value of another human life. Most fulfilling to me is the fact that I have uncovered my own purpose and mission in life to make a difference in the life of another by bringing light and love into the world in a very special way.
Not many people on the planet can say that they have found the meaning of their life. The Freedom to Choose Project has helped me to find mine.
Michael Lattimore, FTC Board Member & Facilitator
(FTC volunteer since 2009)
