Hello! My name is Monterey Starkey, and I am the Founder of International HELP. I want to tell you a little bit about myself and why I started International HELP.

I don’t think that there is one specific instance that led me starting a nonprofit, but rather it’s more of a culmination of many experiences throughout my entire life. Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to help people. From service projects and international mission trips, to my love for teaching people, I have always wanted to help people to help themselves. My personal mission statement is to help meet people’s physical needs in order to meet their spiritual ones. That is why I went into the health field for my undergrad study. Through my studies and thesis paper, I learned more about the preventable diseases and global water crisis plaguing millions of people every day. This led me down a path to pursue my Masters in Public Health with a Global specialization. Instead of helping one person after he or she is sick, I wanted to prevent thousands from ever getting sick!

After finishing my MPH coursework, I moved to Nicaragua to obtain real, hands-on experience in public health education. In Nicaragua, I trained local people to be health workers, providing them with the skills, resources, platform and group structure necessary to positively influence the health in their community. The program was created in a way to be sustainable and effective, run by the local people. I saw firsthand the value of community health outreach programs that not only prevent diseases and promote health but also are sustainable and better the development of the entire community. By living there more than just a week or two, I also observed the importance of not just doing handouts that are toxic charity to the people, but truly providing help that empowers and provides ownership. My desire is to implement that same idea in many places throughout the world to save lives and improve entire communities.

In Nicaragua…I saw firsthand the value of community health outreach programs that not only prevent diseases and promote health but also are sustainable and better the development of the entire community.

International HELP became a reality in November of 2015 after God took my passion to help people, my education, and my experience in global health programs, and added an amazing group of people to join me in my mission. Now, we have created together a much bigger vision of ending preventable diseases in the underprivileged areas through educating and empowering local people to be health leaders in their community!

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to reach out with any questions or to hear how you can join me in my mission – monterey.starkey@intnlhelp.org.

– Monterey Starkey, Founder & President