Meet Susana Porto

We were lucky to catch up with Susana Porto recently and have shared our conversation below.

Susana, it is so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with people who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you discovered your purpose?

For a long time, I lived as a version of myself that I didn’t like, trying to please everyone else before my own interests or desires. I didn’t love myself. I believed whatever anyone said about me. I denied myself happiness, even though I had a beautiful family, a career, a successful business, and believed in God since I was a child. I felt my life lacked meaning. I remember a night when, while talking with my husband, my heart broke as I identified many childhood wounds that had led me to become someone I didn’t want to be. At that moment, I started experiencing a weight being lifted off of me.

I began a journey of emotional healing. It wasn’t easy to confront the pain of the past and forgive many people who had hurt me along the way, but I believe that leaning on my faith and making prayer a tool in my life helped me stay in that process…to move from merely surviving to truly living my authentic identity. When I recognized how the healing transformed me into someone different from who I was, it filled me with purpose. It gave me a strong desire to support children, teenagers, and women who had experienced abuse during their childhood (physical, emotional, and sexual), so they could heal and find their true life purpose. This is how Make a Way 4 Children was born.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should people know about you and what you do?

In the healing process, many challenges from the past arose in my life that had been buried. Despite having many capabilities, my emotions were shattered, making me feel like a failure. One of these challenges, as a mental health professional, was pursuing a master’s degree in childhood and adolescence, an area I had not explored much.

Taking on this challenge led me to create a mental health platform for the Hispanic community focused on children and teenagers. The platform featured professionals who would provide their services. At that time, it was clear that I would only handle the business administration and not work directly with patients. However, divine purposes can be different from our own. When we came to the USA from Colombia, this same platform evolved into a non-profit ministry now called Make a Way 4 Children. In the years since we’ve been operating, we have provided spiritual counseling and conferences to more than 300 individuals – including children, teenagers, and women from various Latin American countries (Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela). It’s been wonderful to witness how many of these lives have been able to restore themselves and find their purpose.

I remember one of the first counseling sessions I had with a 19-year-old girl who had attempted suicide due to the intense pain stemming from childhood abuse. She was so emotionally broken that our online conversation was conducted through text messages because she couldn’t even speak. She had no friends, remained isolated at home, distrusted everyone, and was consumed by fears and insecurities. However, over time, I could see her life being transformed to the point where she danced and enjoyed herself at her school graduation party. Tears of joy streamed from my eyes as I saw her smile as she left behind that pain to rediscover her identity. I immediately texted her, and she expressed her gratitude for the help and shared how she never thought her life could change so much. “In 2019, suicide was so close, but thank God, I got out of there, and now I can see my future,” she said.

This is the essence of the ministry, and we continuously strive to reach more lives, schools, churches, and families. Personally, I am currently working on my first book, aiming to touch more hearts and help other women in their healing process.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Primarily, my faith. I believe it was crucial in making the decision to heal my past. My education also played a significant role as it provided me with tools to continue on the healing journey, and my resilience helped me persevere through the challenges. However, I think none of this would have been possible without the support of my husband. He helped me get up when I wanted to give up. He was also part of that process.

My advice is to let go of fear because it paralyzes us and prevents healing. Fear is often accompanied by shame and guilt, but in order to transform our stories, we must embrace courage. We are not guilty of what we’ve experienced, but we are responsible for our future. Without healing the past, it’s difficult to live life to the fullest.

Seek professional support and lean on your faith. I firmly believe that some wounds are so deep that they require both science and faith. In some cases, healing is not possible without both.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for people to partner or collaborate with?

Absolutely! I believe everyone can contribute in some way. I would love to have volunteers in the field of mental health with training and experience in trauma management, passionate professionals in child mental health, marketing experts, writers, illustrators, and also individuals who can support this ministry financially to reach more lives. Sometimes, I have so many projects in mind that I need more willing hearts to help make them a reality.

Those interested in becoming a part of our mission may reach out to us via our website www.way4children.org, send us an email at sporto@way4children.org, and also following us on our social media Instagram @way4children @psic.susanaporto Facebook Make a way 4 Children / Psicóloga Susana Porto

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your