Honeybee Hyatt. Yes, that's her real name. And anyone who knows the
Newport Coast resident might say she's as sweet as her name sounds.
Hyatt, 35, quit her job in the corporate marketing and advertising
field after getting married, but she certainly hasn't stopped
working.
After giving birth to her son Sam nearly two years ago, Hyatt
began volunteering her time to Project Access, a Newport Beach-based
organization that assists residents of low-income housing. Project
Access has 13 sites throughout Southern California.
"This completes me as a person," Hyatt said. "I had an opening in
my life and I filled it. I wouldn't know what to do without a
volunteer opportunity."
Founded in 1999, Project Access contracts with owners and
developers of low-income housing to bring free services -- such as
after-school tutoring and on-site community health fairs -- to the
residents. For more than a year, Hyatt has run PATRONS for Project
Access, an auxiliary that raises awareness, funds and resources. She
realized that networking with people she already knows was a great
way to spread the word about the organization.
The leadership committee of PATRONS (Project Access Tenant
Resources and On-site Neighborhood Support) consists of 12 volunteers
who together have built a mailing list of 400 donors.
Hyatt said Project Access is an easy cause to stand behind.
"Being an advocate comes so easily because you can speak from the
heart," she said.
"We try to think of it as a holistic approach to helping the
family," said Hillary Niblo, development director for Project Access
.
Hyatt's husband, Mark Hyatt, is a real estate developer, and a
portion of his business focuses on building affordable housing.
Honeybee Hyatt became involved with Project Access after meeting
Executive Director Lane Macy at an affordable housing industry event
in 2003.
Hyatt's idea for PATRONS developed over several months, and the
inaugural event was held in May 2004 at the Hyatts' home, where they
introduced the concept to their friends by having Project Access
volunteers and employees on hand to share some of the organization's
success stories.
Niblo said the inaugural event was organized to raise awareness,
but the Hyatts' friends were so taken with Project Access that they
contributed $5,000.
"They like the idea of directly impacting families," Honeybee
Hyatt said of her peers. "One story fills your heart up like an
ocean."
Since that first get-together, PATRONS has brought in more than
