Dustin Tavella's life will never be the same after winning season 16 of America's Got Talent, but the Virginia magician wants to stay grounded and assist others after winning a $1 million award, a headlining show in Las Vegas, and a new automobile.

Audiences watched Tavella, 35, use his storytelling and magic powers to relate intimate recollections from his life experiences, such as adopting two sons, his parents' love, and his desire for giving back.

Tavella tells PEOPLE that the new money he's received will be utilized to help others while he's still absorbing his AGT success. (AGT's disclaimer states that "$1,000,000 is payable in a financial annuity over 40 years, or the contestant may elect to take the immediate cash value of such annuity" before taxes.)

"It's strange — it's the thing I've been the least enthusiastic about, simply because the thought of having a platform to tell our experiences and connect with people is just great. The reason I am really excited about the money is that [my wife] Kari and I, we've gone through some really hard times financially," he explains.

He went into more detail about their financial situation pre-AGT.

"We used to run a homeless ministry. We've just always poured all of our resources and everything that we've had out to people. And because of that, we've had people pouring into us. There were literally months that we were like, 'How are we going to pay rent?' and there would be people that would just show up and say, 'Hey, we want to bless you guys with this. We love what you guys are doing. We want you guys to keep going, we don't want you guys to have to stop doing what you're doing. What you're doing matters.' So we've had people who have seen us and seen our dreams and passions and invested in that."

Now he wants to pay it forward.

"What we are excited about with this money is now we get to be that for other people. People in our lives that we want to support. We want to help them pay rent and we want to help them continue to develop the things that they're passionate about. I'm just excited now to be on the other side of that and to be able to know that we're the ones that are going to be able to now help do for people what other people have done for us."

He hopes to inspire other people to do the same.

"The only reason we are where we're at, the only reason we get to do what we do is because we've had other people who have invested into us, and have continued to inspire and empower us to continue to do the things that we love," he says. "This is what I want to do for other people in whatever way I can, just to remind people that they have the ability to make a difference."