Woman of Faith & C.E.O. of Non-Profit Film and Arts Pantry Ava Walker shares her journey from homelessness to CEO
Shaken but not shattered, CEO & Founder of Arts, Film, and Goods pantry Ava Walker embarked on a journey that would prove to change the course of her life forever. It’s been a journey of tears and laughter, joy and pain, and uncertainty overtaken by a firm trust in God. Holding on to the unchanging word of God, Walker stood in faith choosing God’s plan over her own.
When Walker first arrived to LA from her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio she found herself homeless and living in a hotel while searching for a stable home. With two children under her care, the single mother was risking it all to pursue her dreams of being a screenwriter. No stranger to the pen and paper, Walker had already published her first book “I’m more than a foster youth” in 2014 and was relocating to pursue even bigger dreams.
Along the way, God continued to speak to her and confirm that she was in his perfect will. Walker recalls being on an Uber ride from an apartment she was looking to rent, heading back to her hotel when the driver shared the scripture form Exodus 3:4. He said, God said to Moses, “I am who I am, I am has sent me here to you and he told me that that would be my story.” That divine appointment and many others that followed strengthened Walkers faith along the way as set out to fulfill her destiny.
From the age of 15, she always knew that she wanted to live in LA. It was like she could see those big, bold white letters that lie upon the Hollywood Hill’s H O L L Y W O O D all the way from Cleveland, Ohio where she grew up. Something deep inside of her was calling her to a land that she only saw on TV and in June of 2019 her vision came to pass.
Although she grew up separated from her biological family, she became fully persuaded of God’s unfailing love with the passing of each day. For Walker, the scripture God spoke to her through the driver meant that she was to trust in him with her whole heart and that he would move mountains. It meant that no matter where you are and what’s happening in your life — he is there through it all. Walker tells Medium “I smile on a day-to-day basis no matter what’s happening in my life.”
There’s a saying “If you’re gonna worry about it, don’t pray. If you’re gonna pray about it, don’t worry” says Walker as she shares that she has learned over the years to never lean on her own understanding but always trust in God.
After establishing the Arts, Film, and Good’s Pantry Walker has garnered the support of celebrities and influencers like Tiffany Haddish, Tina Knowles, and Leah Pump of Ladylike Foundation just to name a few. Walker watched as people from all walks of life — great and small — gathered together to support the cause that is so near and dear to her heart. “My passion for the non-profit comes from my relatable experiences of being a foster youth,” says Walker.
Armed with a profound sense of purpose, Walker knows that she was born to solve the problem of minimizing the statistics of foster youth. How will you finish is the question she asks herself? Her answer, “I will finish by emptying myself of and manifesting everything I was gifted with. When I leave I will be empty because I will have poured out everything that was inside of me,” says Walker.
For more information, visit ArtsFilmandGoodsPantry.com.
Follow Ava Walker on social media @iamavawalker
