From Quiet Service to Community Impact - The Next Chapter of The Angel Dove Foundation Inc

On the shores of Lake Michigan, a group of women gathered around a fire as the sun began to set over Washington Park.

Some arrived exhausted. Others carried burdens they had been holding for far too long. On the opening night of the retreat, they wrote letters filled with things they were ready to release and watched as the flames carried them away.

Throughout the weekend, they practiced yoga on the sand, shared meals prepared by a private chef, and even dipped their toes into Lake Michigan in a symbolic act of renewal.

As the retreat unfolded, Amanda Bates-Barnes quietly watched what she had hoped for all along begin to take shape. During a sound meditation overlooking Lake Michigan, she found herself watching the waves and reflecting on the impact the experience was having on the women around her.

The women’s wellness retreat marked Amanda’s first major step toward a larger vision for The Angel Dove Foundation.

Somewhere between personally calling participants, curating meaningful wellness experiences, and ensuring every guest felt welcomed, supported, and cared for throughout the retreat, Amanda began to see the impact of what she had created.

Amanda Presents Summer Wellness Tour T-Shirt to Board Secretary Mrs. Faye
Amanda Bates-Barnes presents a commemorative Summer Wellness Tour 2026 t-shirt to Mrs. Faye, Secretary of The Angel Dove Foundation Board of Directors, during the Wellness & Financial Summit in Indianapolis. The presentation celebrated the Foundation’s commitment to wellness, leadership, and strengthening community connections across Indiana.

First Annual Wellness Walk – Howard Park, South Bend
Community members participate in The Angel Dove Foundation’s first annual Wellness Walk at Howard Park in South Bend. The event encouraged participants to embrace healthy lifestyles while promoting physical activity, mental wellness, and meaningful community connections.

A Foundation Built Through Life’s Hardest Moments

The Angel Dove Foundation was born from a deeply personal place.

When Amanda was just 7 years old, she experienced the devastating loss of her 17-year-old sister, Shanna. Her sister’s memory would later become the inspiration behind The Angel Dove Foundation, with “Angel” serving as a tribute to the life and legacy she left behind.

As Amanda grew older, she found herself searching for a way to create something meaningful from tragedy. She wrestled with two possibilities. She could write a book, or she could build something that would allow her to begin serving others right away.

Ultimately, she chose to build.

That decision gave life to The Angel Dove Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to creating intentional experiences that bring communities together. At its core, the organization focuses on mentorship, wellness, and helping people find support in every season of life.

Although she chose to build the foundation first, Amanda never completely let go of her original dream of writing a book.

She eventually authored Steps to Finding Balance in the State of Confusion, a book that encourages readers to discover that balance looks different for everyone.

“We don’t have to follow society’s cookie-cutter definition of success,” she says. “Balance looks different for different people.”

That philosophy continues to guide The Angel Dove Foundation’s work today.

More Than One Piece of the Puzzle

Unlike many organizations that focus on a single issue, The Angel Dove Foundation takes a more holistic approach, recognizing that people rarely struggle in only one area of life.

“We function from mind, body, and soul,” Amanda explains.

That philosophy is reflected in the foundation’s three pillars. Through mentorship programs, counseling resources, and wellness events, the organization creates opportunities for connection and support. Financial wellness initiatives help individuals and small business owners access education, resources, and growth opportunities. Those efforts are complemented by products designed to promote wellness, including handmade herbal offerings and Amanda’s book.

To Amanda, none of these areas exists in isolation.

“When you think about youth, you have to think about schools. When you think about schools, you have to think about jobs. When you think about jobs, you have to think about businesses. It’s all connected.”

That perspective has become one of the things that sets The Angel Dove Foundation apart. Rather than focusing on a single need, Amanda and her team strive to support the whole person.

Women’s Wellness Retreat – Long Beach, Indiana
Participants gather along the shores of Lake Michigan during The Angel Dove Foundation’s Women’s Wellness Retreat in Long Beach, Indiana. Through mindfulness, yoga, reflection, and sisterhood, the retreat offered women a peaceful space to recharge, heal, and invest in their overall well-being.

Board Treasurer with Wellness Summit Participant
Princella, Treasurer of The Angel Dove Foundation Board of Directors, shares a moment with a participant during the Wellness & Financial Summit in Indianapolis. The Foundation’s board members actively support its mission of promoting wellness, education, financial empowerment, and community engagement throughout Indiana.

A Heart for Helping Others

Long before founding The Angel Dove Foundation, Amanda Bates-Barnes had already dedicated her career to serving others.

Before serving as a Professional School Counselor at Penn-Harris-Madison, she worked in behavioral health as a Day Treatment Director, supporting youth and families. A dedicated community advocate, she also volunteered with organizations such as Kiwanis and led initiatives focused on wellness, education, and service. Those experiences would eventually help inspire the creation of The Angel Dove Foundation.

For more than a decade, Amanda continued serving students as a school counselor. Those years reinforced her belief that people need more than a quick fix. They need support, encouragement, and someone willing to walk alongside them through life’s challenges.

Even today, former students still recognize her around town. Some stop to say hello. Others share updates about where life has taken them. And occasionally, what begins as a chance encounter turns into something much more familiar.

During a recent shopping trip, Amanda ran into a former student. Before long, the two were talking about life, goals, and the future.

By the end of the conversation, he laughed and said, “You’re still counseling me today.”

In many ways, he was right.

The role may have changed, but Amanda’s heart for helping others hasn’t.

That same heart for helping others is what fuels The Angel Dove Foundation today. Through its programs and partnerships, Amanda continues to invest in the lives of others and equip people to make a difference in their own communities.

From One-to-One to One-to-Many

For nearly a decade, The Angel Dove Foundation operated quietly.

Amanda intentionally kept the organization under the radar, believing that the people who needed it would find it.

And they did.

Through one-on-one counseling, mentorship, and coaching, countless lives were impacted. But as the foundation approached its tenth anniversary, Amanda found herself asking an important question.

What comes next?

Rather than remaining small, she received a vision for expansion.

The organization shifted from serving individuals one at a time to creating opportunities that could impact entire communities. What had once been one-to-one became one-to-many.

And with that shift came another realization.

The best-kept secret needed to stop being a secret.

“We were going to have to be loud about it,” she says.

That decision led to a renewed focus on outreach, partnerships, and creating experiences that bring people together. Mail campaigns, volunteer efforts, community events, and grassroots networking all became part of that mission.

One of the first expressions of that new vision came through the foundation’s women’s wellness retreat in August of 2024.

By the end of the weekend, Amanda had witnessed firsthand what could happen when people were given space to connect, heal, and support one another.

The best-kept secret was beginning to find its voice.

Building Something That Lasts

After a decade of quiet service and steady growth, Amanda Bates-Barnes is focused on the future.

She hopes to continue expanding youth mentorship programs, increasing community workshops, and helping small business owners access the resources they need to succeed.

Most importantly, Amanda is investing in the people who will help carry the mission forward. By bringing together therapeutic mentors, psychologists, volunteers, and community partners, she is building something designed to outlast any one person.

Because after ten years of experience, Amanda has learned that lasting impact is rarely created alone. It grows through partnerships, shared purpose, and people willing to serve together.

That is why Amanda hopes more people will discover The Angel Dove Foundation in the years ahead. Individuals and businesses interested in upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, partnerships, or ways to support the organization’s mission can learn more at www.theangeldovefoundation.org.

Through her experiences as a counselor, author, and nonprofit founder, Amanda has gained plenty of wisdom to share with aspiring entrepreneurs.

Know your worth.

Don’t be afraid to partner with others.

And don’t assume that success has to look like someone else’s.

“Feel free to create your own lane,” she says. “It may not look like you’ve seen it, but that doesn’t mean you’re off track.”

Over the years, Amanda has come to believe that we accomplish far more when we are willing to work together. Whether through mentorship, business, or community, she believes partnerships have the power to create lasting change.

As The Angel Dove Foundation enters its next chapter, Amanda Bates-Barnes is no longer keeping that mission quiet.