“Carve your own path. Go slow. Channel your strengths. Smooth the way for others. Keep moving forward. Avoid meltdowns. Be cool!”
This is cool advice even on a cold day after some frigid days here in Southern Oregon. I’ve been cold even though I have plenty of clothes to wear. I have polar fleece jackets. I have a heater in my home and in my office (and even a bonus portable one because I’m always cold). And even with that warmth, I’ve had a week of talking a lot about less warm folks.
I began my week facilitating a panel of amazing nonprofit service providers who help folks a lot more fragile than they are or than I am. It was the Medford/Jackson County Chamber of Commerce December program. I thought a panel about unhoused at holiday times doesn’t sound like the most fun and engaging program. Let me say though that people from Rogue Retreat, The Salvation Army and Youth 71 Five keep people warm, engaged in their own recoveries and moving forward in life! What a privilege to sit among them.
Mid-week I was focused on New Spirit Village, the most beautiful housing development in West Medford. It is a community land trust model, and I sit on the New Spirit board too. Every other Wednesday for more than 18 months, community providers have come together to get housing developed for fire survivors and low-income folks to have permanent home ownership.
This changes families not only today but tomorrow and for generations to come. It can be the American dream! The land trust is owned by Proud Ground out of Portland and when it’s fully developed, it’ll be their largest development statewide! Way to go Southern Oregon!
Also, I had a remarkable meeting about belonging. Not about being inclusive but about belonging all of us. Councilor DuQuenne shared about an Ashland small business where both the husband and wife work, and they do the family shuffle about kids to and from school and the wife works at Albertsons too because they need insurance. When people talk about including them in the discussion about them…when are they supposed to find the time for community gatherings? It’s impossible really. And yet they belong and are important to the heartbeat of our community.
Here at United Way, we’re working hard to carve a path not just for us but for all of us. We try to move fast to make a difference and sometimes the pace is glacial. We channel our strength thanks to our volunteers who give their wit, wisdom, and wealth all the time to smooth the way. We’re committed to keep moving forward. Hard work is hard work. We’ll work to avoid meltdowns and try to stay cool and warm; you too stay cool and warm.
Wishing you a most joyous holiday season!
Onward,
