Exploring Life & Business with Billy Gomes of Neon Halo Foundation, Inc

Today we’d like to introduce you to Billy Gomes.

Hi Billy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a helper spirit all of my life, coming from a family mired in poverty and dysfunction. When the Ukraine war started I was able to help 6 civilians escape the front lines, and was able to provide daily support as well as personal power stations for power outages, medical help, etc. After a year had passed, I created Neon Halo Foundation, Inc to be able to help in larger ways and seek funding for bigger projects…the first of which was shipping my four-wheel drive box truck from Nashville to Ukraine, driving it myself from Germany to donate it in Kyiv and arriving under a rocket attack. I have also utilized Neon Halo Foundation to create the FreeRun program in Nashville, a free loaner car service that allows people who have lost their vehicle to not lose their job, as well as helping people have a vehicle to obtain their drivers license in. As of now, Neon Halo Foundation is primarily funded through my film lighting company (Neon Halo Films) that I’ve had for 10 years, as well as some grants and fundraisers. We are still a young nonprofit, and as we become more established there are hopefully many more projects (both local and abroad) that Neon Halo will create to save lives and bring smiles to the faces that have endured massive hardships. I am also creating a Ukrainian-based sewing business in Odesa, Ukraine to help create well-paying jobs to help people earn a decent living while they are subjected to daily air alarms and rocket/drone attacks.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Founding a nonprofit is never a smooth road, and especially when it is an international entity that is helping in a war zone. Beyond the rocket attack in Kyiv while I was donating my truck, I’ve also had my hotel hit by a Russian Shahed drone a few floors below me. I can say through experience that you can’t imagine the thoughts and feeling you go through in that instance until you experience it firsthand…not just the fireball that engulfs your balcony, or the shaking of the building 22 floors up…but the massive feeling of violation and violence, the indiscriminate hatred needed to bomb a civilian hotel, as well as the abandonment of your own government (this happened New Year’s Day 2024, in the middle of the first shutdown of American aid that affected air defense capabilities all over the country)

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Neon Halo Foundation, Inc?
Neon Halo Foundation aims to help people who have fallen through the cracks of society, and those who have had their life turned upside-down through no fault of their own. While it was founded in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, it helps people in many forms of hardship…from internal refugees to external refugees, single mothers, addicts (in many forms of addiction), sex workers, animals, and anyone else who needs a helping hand to get them out of a situation that they might not have the resources to escape.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson in any hands-on humanitarian work is to maintain an open heart and an open mind. People will lie to survive, you would too under certain circumstances. But if you are able to approach each situation with a fresh perspective and wise-but-open heart then you are able to ascertain whether you are able to help, enable, or be taken advantage of…and there are times you will be wrong. But preconceived judgement will always be the biggest obstacle to helping someone in a meaningful way, and being jaded can only interfere with the wisdom of seeing the opportunity where your help can truly change a life for the better

Contact Info:

• Website: https://neonhalo.org
• Instagram: @neonhalofoundation