Meet Brittany Bas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Bas.

Hi Brittany, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am 31 years old. I was born in Bellflower, California and grew up in El Monte, California and at the age of 12 moved out to Huntington Beach. I played softball all my life. I was also a cheerleader. I played varsity softball in high school and then after high school by worked my way up in the corporate world. I worked in the hospitality industry in multiple hotels where I was recognized for my outstanding customer service.

I was always seeking something bigger than myself. I made a few poor life decisions and had to learn lessons in life the hard way. Once I got pregnant with my twins, I was working at Davids Bridal and was top 10 sales nationwide and received over 505 star yelp reviews from satisfied clients. I really enjoy people and making others feel good about themselves. When the twins were a year and a half, I needed to make a change. I started working for Dr. Boris Ackerman in Newport Beach as his plastic surgeon surgery coordinator. I worked with high-profile clientele and prepared each one of my patients thoroughly for their surgery and help them along with her aftercare. I took a lot of pride in my work with Dr. Ackerman and learned so much from him. I am very grateful for the time I spent in his office. When my twins were 2 1/2, I received the diagnosis for Hunter that he is autistic at the age of three is when all of the early intervention therapy started, I quickly needed to resign from my 50 hours a work week and focus solely on my kids. I could not afford therapy for my son at the pay rate I was making as I was above poverty line so I needed to go below the poverty line and back on food stamps in order to work my way through the system to provide the proper care and services that he needs. I started working part-time as a hostess and As a pool attendant and assistant event coordinator at the Pacific city Apartments in Huntington Beach, California.

After taking a year off of work completely and undergoing 35 hours plus a week of therapy for my son and dance classes for my daughter Covid hit. During Covid, I was homeschooling and doing therapy along with all the other parents. With my son special needs, it provided more challenges for us. Within the year that I had off, I was able to experience many different situations within the community. Specifically while in the community, I noticed that the emergency room staff and paramedic first responders and firemen aren’t as trained about special needs as they should be. It was in September 2019 when I met Jonathan Cirlin (ESPY) at his ktown walls project meeting of styles event. We connected instantly. We formed a partnership and together, we started a AMUSE4Autism. Thanks to ESPY, and his talent, he has donated the murals. January 2020, I started creating a journal that would have everything to do with a AMUSE4Autism. I play softball once a week in the local community league and my first baseman Tim Skaggs offered to pay for our 501 C3 certification. He is now our treasurer. Myself the founder east by the cofounder Tim the treasurer and Melina Lovera, our administrative director… within the last year which is our first and only year being active, we have donated four murals to the city of Huntington Beach which starts a conversation about autism we have distributed our first basic training and awareness video to Huntington Beach in fountain Valley first responders and we have received a word of proclamation from Kim car mayor of Huntington Beach and Michael Val fountain Valley mayor we partnered with Dr. Melaura Tomaino to Minot and Dr. Edward Miguel of Portview preparatory school to make this happen. We also just hosted our first special-needs accommodating event in which we provide paint supplies and volunteers to assist with families that need aid. We also were a part of the Fountain Valley Summerfest carnivore in which we provided a safety sensory cool down tent. Everything that I am trying to do comes from first-hand experiences and wanting to help our future. I wish to be the change I want to see you in the world. I am also trying to be the leader I wish to follow as my son would say. Currently, I am the official caregiver for my son. I am employed by a company called I HSS in which I get paid daily to be my son’s full-time caretaker. I also do homeschool with my twins when needed And also all of the extracurricular activities. My children are very involved with the nonprofit.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There will always be struggles and challenges besides the daily ones that I face with my son as far as having meltdowns or his sensory aggression outbursts or the fact that he has no safety awareness, with the nonprofit I feel the most challenging has been reaching the masses. We have done our best to reach all of our local communities and I must say that we have done more than expected with our donors. Although we have only raised $2000 in the last year and which both have been used for the sensory activity days and operational fees. We are constantly making new connections within our community and I could not be more proud of us. So as far as challenges, I would just say maybe staying consistent and learning how to be a business manager at the same time on top of all of this. I feel like it just died trying to find a balance.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an active community member. Mine and Jonathan‘s goal is to educate every first responder through semi-annual videos accompanied with quizzes; we also want to get grants in order to educate the school district and special-needs teachers and aids further as well as any community member. We wish to distribute videos that become mandated to watch when you get hired on by certain employers especially in hospital facilities so on and so forth. I am a networker. I bring people together. I connect. Our nonprofit provides a platform for artists as well as people in the special-needs field if you need volunteer hours as well as relief for families such as myself oh nonprofit AMUSE4Autism advocating maintaining unity with special needs and everyone not all special-needs are visible but art, music and kindness are universal languages and it is my sole purpose to spread this message our hummingbird is very dear to my heart the rainbow star light hummingbirds may separate and go in their own Waze but they mate for life and will always find a way back to each other. We stay away from the puzzle pieces or any kind of colors that signify the typical Autism nonprofit as we are simply just carrying the message of acceptance. I run a nonprofit and I’m a caretaker to my children and I’m an active positive member of our community.

As I mentioned before I was a life in customer service and client base satisfaction. With all of my sales and marketing skills and patient care management, I have utilized all of my skill sets to create this nonprofit. Through our fundraisers, we give opportunities to young musical artists, small business and families like myself. Our nonprofit is ran solely off donations we use donations from local businesses to raffle off at our fundraisers we create fundraiser nights at small businesses that create opportunities for musical artists to perform and young autistics to have job opportunities and internships as well as providing a safe sensory space for families like myself all in addition to providing volunteer opportunities for individuals in the special-needs field with our onboard BC BA Deniece Ibanez, who can sign off on all indirect hours.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Hi, I’m a person who is very selfless. I’ve placed my firstborn daughter for adoption her name is Alexandra Rose and she is a treasure to my heart. As I mentioned previously, I did not go to college but to the school of hard knocks rather and I see my daughter twice a year. I’m her tummy mommy my children know her as her sister she is a year and a half older than the twins and I see her family twice a year and they are very involved in our nonprofit as well. So I am definitely one who knows about being Selfless and knows about what is best for their children and how to make hard decisions for the best of their interest.

Pricing:

• Donations please
• Shirts $25

Contact Info:

• Email: AMUSE4Autism@gmail.com
• Website: Amusefoundation.org
• Instagram: AMUSE4Autism_foundation
• Facebook: Amuse foundation

Image Credits:
Mural artist: @espy_dpt_znc @versatilivice Photo credit @socalsmm