Gather Together
United As 1
Gather Together
United As 1
A Nonprofit Organization Helping the Homeless Community
A Nonprofit Organization Helping the Homeless Community
At Gather Together United As 1, we offer support for at-risk and unsheltered people in Providence, Rhode Island, and its surrounding areas. We offer support from toiletries to housing problem sloving, we aim to support them with all their basic needs.
Restore Hope, Rebuild Lives,
and Prevent Homelessness
Restore Hope, Rebuild Lives,
and Prevent Homelessness
We support at-risk and unsheltered individuals in Rhode Island.
we give backpacks to our unsheltered children in our communities ​
we give backpacks to our unsheltered children in our communities ​
In March 2021, we hosted 2 events called Voice 2 Empower
In March 2021, we hosted 2 events called Voice 2 Empower
The website is being updated. Stay tuned!
The website is being updated. Stay tuned!
Our Board
Our Board
Alexandrea Gonzalez
Alexandrea Gonzalez
Our founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Alexandrea Gonzalez, was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She grew up in a dysfunctional family where she had to bounce around between parents and grandparents since her mom and dad suffered from drug addiction and mental illness.
After a devastating beginning, it was no wonder her early years as an adult were filled with pain and suffering. This led to her own battles with drugs and living rough. However, in 2014, Alexandrea realized that she had to leave her home state to save her own life. She had heard of a program in Denver, Colorado, that sounded promising. That is where she put all her hope.
Since returning to her home state, she has been able to use her life experiences to persevere and become a catalyst for change in the homeless community. She was now seeing the issues and solutions through a different lens. Alexandrea knew she had the perspective and the obligation to help the people she left behind.
Chief Executive Officer / Executive Director
Chief Executive Officer / Executive Director
From 2018 to 2020, she worked with the Rhode Island Coalition for the homeless as a leader of their speakers' bureau. She was featured as the keynote speaker for the Rhode Island Homes 2020 Legislation Event, as well as the MAE Organization for the Homeless 2017 Rags to Riches Gala. There she was presented with a Citizen Citation from the mayor of Providence. She has also participated in community projects with Brown University and the Department of Health and was featured on a TV show called Reflections.
Now, Alexandrea is the Autumn Rise Foundation Inc. executive director based in Rochester, New York. Autumn Rise is a women-based organization. Their mission is to help women rise above adversities and encourage them to increase their socioeconomic status.
Anqesha Murray
Anqesha Murray
Anqesha Murray, our Executive Director, is a native of Rochester, New York, where she received her associate’s degree in Liberal Arts and Biology from Monroe Community College in 2014. She then graduated from the University of Rochester with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in microbiology and immunology and a minor in American Sign Language and dance. After which, she attended Brown University as an NIH post-baccalaureate research education program (PREP) scholar in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.
She is currently a graduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), pursuing her doctorate of philosophy in biology. Her research includes studying microbiology, synthetic biology, and chemical engineering.
Secretary
Secretary
Anqesha currently serves as the secretary for GTUA1 and the national liaison of the Graduate Women in Science - New York Capital Region Chapter. She is the founder and CEO of Nacree Laboratories, LLC (DBA Nacrée) and the Autumn Rise Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) women-centered, educational, and charitable nonprofit organization created to spread awareness about the daily challenges women face.
Tarshire Battle
Tarshire Battle
Our dear Tarshire Battle holds a master’s in Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine from Boston University’s School of Medicine. She also has a master’s in Public Administration from Northeastern University.
She currently works as a mental health discharge planner at Rhode island’s Department of Corrections. Tarshire does this while managing the social enterprise venture, Roots 2Empower. It is an agriculture and small business training program for formerly incarcerated and unsheltered individuals in the urban core of Rhode Island.
Aside from being the treasurer of Gather Together United As One, Tarshire is a community organizer and is involved in organizing various groups such as RI Poor People’s Campaign, Renew RI, RI Reclaim, and the Formerly Incarcerated Union.
Founding Board Member / Honorary Board Member
Founding Board Member / Honorary Board Member
Rochelle Lee Bates
Rochelle Lee Bates
Rochelle’s community service includes supporting grassroots initiatives promoting access to healthy food, affordable housing, and child and family resources, protecting voting rights and women’s rights, assisting refugee settlement, and preventing homelessness.
Ms. Lee is a city planning and affordable housing professional. She has taught high school and college students. Rochelle's background also includes collaborating with non-profits engaged in direct action to dismantle institutional racism.
She is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, the University of Massachusetts, and Wellesley College.
Board Member
Board Member
Joseph P Buchanan
(Joe Buck)
Joseph P Buchanan
(Joe Buck)
A lifelong Providence resident, Joe, and his brothers grew up in Roger Williams public housing. After graduating from Providence Public School, Joe worked for the City of Providence and began a long career in community organizing for social justice.
He is a founder and board member of the nonprofit, OpenDoors, (formerly the Family Life Center), Board member of Roger Williams Daycare Center, founded by his mother, Charlotte Woods. In addition to his community-driven initiatives, Joe is a longstanding Board member of Peoples Redevelopment Corporation (PRC), a Southside affordable housing non-profit.
Joe is a member of many grassroots civic and annual projects (Rosa Parks Day, MET School community picnics, Roger Williams PHA Reunion, and a past member of the City Democratic Committee, Ward 11.
In recognition of his community and anti-racism work in BIPOC and working poor communities in 2017. Joe was inducted into the MLK Hall of Fame for community champions.
He was Vice President, President, and Executive Director of the former People Acting through Community Effort (PACE), a founding member of the Family Housing Development Corporation (FHDC), and Board Chair of the Roger Williams Tenant Association.
Joe is the founder and Board President of the RI Black Political Action Committee and the RI Fund for Black Political Progress.
Joe Buchanan and his family have been fighting for social and economic change for generations, advocating on behalf of tenant rights, improvements in public housing, support for people who are homeless, public education reforms, access to civic education, low-cost housing, and organizing formerly incarcerated people.
Joe is a proud father of five, a grandfather of fifteen, and enjoys his many great-grandchildren.
Board Member
Board Member
Lawrence (Joe) Benton
Lawrence (Joe) Benton
Lawrence (Joe) Benton is a dedicated community volunteer, and he is someone with lived experience and unique insight when it comes to homelessness, mental health, formerly incarcerated, and individuals who fell through the cracks. He holds an Associate's degree from the Community College of Rhode Island. He is a Recovery peer specialist even though Joe has spent his younger years in prison. During his incarceration found God and developed a passion for helping individuals who felt left out or less than others. Which has become his music ministry. Joe manages GTUA1 food drives, where we feed the community, play music, and give away clothes. He has numerous mental health and substance abuse certifications, and he serves as one of the GTUA1 peer specialists.
Board Member
Board Member
