They've Stories to Tell

I'll leave the politician unnamed, but he thinks we're spending too much on our elderly, and not enough on children. What a way to solve an economic dilemma. We need to stand up to those who try to give us just two choices about anything. There's this vast gray area that doesn't have a voice as yet. Let's find and report what those voices have to say.

Gertrude 1927

 
Gertrude at 17, who still misses her Puddin'.

Puddin' 1927

 

Gertrude's Sister who died in 1929.

For Gertrude at 100 Plus

Gertrude's birthday is May 6th. She'll be 101. Because she has had such a long life I've given much thought to her quality of life. What does she think herself? Should a daughter ask her mom, "what would you have done differently? "

Deep down I already know, but I'll tell her story on another day.

Splintered Mission Statements and Proposal Writing

Nonprofits struggle to get that Mission Statement just right so the message can be marketed for many purposes, including getting funding, of course. After the dust settles in the Board room, and all the tweaks are finalized, most nonprofits have also created a Strategic Plan.

And then they hand it over to a proposal writer. What had been a clear message just the day before now becomes a writer's distinct strategy of parsing a mission statement while parsing a foundation's objective. Searching for government grants is a bigger nightmare...parsing not necessary...finding partners becomes the goal.

At the end of this phrase-splintering day, the writer calls the Executive Director and asks, "Any way you guys can change your mission statement, and make your strategy more comprehensive?"

How do we network? Or not?

I'm amazed at the changes in language concerning nonprofit practices. I'll mention the need to network and get a blank stare. Maybe they're networking inside their own organization...intra-networking? I've made numerous phone calls to directors mentioning an idea hoping to get to some feedback, some idea of whether they'd like to participate -- no reply. I've quit calling. No emailing either; might as well save my keyboard for more important things...like wondering aloud here.

Isolation to disenfranchment

Joblessness is a path toward isolation when a support system is not in place. Even back in 2007 many of us began commenting upon a feeling that a dark cloud was coming over our personal economies. There were spikes in food and rental housing along with the usual "can't get used to high fuel prices". In the fall of 2008 when that cloud enveloped most of us, a few simply shrugged their shoulders and thought, "so what's new?"

Lower income classes are made up of people who don't connect to the high rollers of finance and certain industries. Slogging along generation after generation almost was good enough until waning job-based retirement futures began taking hold of many who thought their employment was sound. Many asked, "what happened to company loyalty? What did I do to lose a job with good benefits? I was loyal and got screwed!" Trust is one of the first of several powerful emotions to begin waning as well. Hope hangs on, but cynicism creeps in.

Social isolation is not a planned destination. Personal financing of staying a visible neighbor sometimes is just too overwhelming. A sense of community can be lost in a shorter time when the very definition of belonging is stripped. In an age of independence "I can't afford to go there" became "I feel lost to it all". Community shouldn't be what I make of it; it should be what we all make of it together, and we need to discover it again.

Our Conscience and Conscious Choices

While watching a continuous stream of videos of the ocean raging inland in Japan, one cannot help but wonder about the people in those waves and swirls and their suffering. And I think about the animals, too. But another thought interrupted that temptation to think about the pets and livestock: how do we interpret the images? What tugs on our hearts?

What if I'm confronted with two pictures, one of a child crying on the street alone, and the other of a stranded puppy with a forlorn look in its eyes? Some studies say we're drawn to the puppy with more sympathy. Neither child nor puppy can help itself, but if there is any presumption tethered in our conscience, maybe it's that we know deep inside someone is going to come along and pick up that child and at least, tell the puppy, "sorry little guy, I'm all out of arms".