I've been struggling with a judgmental attitude as of late. As you know, I work in the non-profit sector for a fabulous little non-profit, The Ecumenical Chaplaincy for the Homeless. We are struggling. Desperately. Reserves would float us for two months but no longer.
Now I work hard at letting people know about my work without jamming it down throats with a desperate plea for cash. The ECH is right in the heart of what is referred to as The Zone. I make people aware of Phoenix's homelessness through social media and this blog. I tell the stories of the people on the street. I want you to know them. Feel their pain and feel their hope for a better future.
I invite people to come tour the Human Services Campus... see the fabulous collaboration among the agencies.. see how lives are changed.
I invite them and they come, they cry, they are amazed, they are astounded at what lies hidden in the dark corners of downtown. They want to help! They want to make a difference!
And yet...
I never hear from them again...
or they are supporting the large agencies...
or they are partaking in what I lovingly call 'The Volunteer Experience' at those mega-non-profits. This is where you must book your 'volunteer experience' 3 months out and then you get to spend half an hour handing out lunch from behind a counter...
Understand... that the 'volunteer experience' was to make you feel good. You haven't changed the world. You had to schedule feeding the homeless with a 3 month window...this was for the warm fuzzies it gave you... it was not for the homeless...
You want to make a difference? Really change lives? Have a direct hand in positive life change? Then come to where the boots hit the ground....
It's not clean here
It's not pretty
It doesn't always end well
But it is where we work our fingers to the bone making things happen, we don't have tons of money, we don't have corporate guidelines, we fly by the seat of our pants.. making changes as we see needed. We scrap, borrow and beg and people leave a little bit better...
You want to help?
You know where to find me....
Now I work hard at letting people know about my work without jamming it down throats with a desperate plea for cash. The ECH is right in the heart of what is referred to as The Zone. I make people aware of Phoenix's homelessness through social media and this blog. I tell the stories of the people on the street. I want you to know them. Feel their pain and feel their hope for a better future.
I invite people to come tour the Human Services Campus... see the fabulous collaboration among the agencies.. see how lives are changed.
I invite them and they come, they cry, they are amazed, they are astounded at what lies hidden in the dark corners of downtown. They want to help! They want to make a difference!
And yet...
I never hear from them again...
or they are supporting the large agencies...
or they are partaking in what I lovingly call 'The Volunteer Experience' at those mega-non-profits. This is where you must book your 'volunteer experience' 3 months out and then you get to spend half an hour handing out lunch from behind a counter...
Understand... that the 'volunteer experience' was to make you feel good. You haven't changed the world. You had to schedule feeding the homeless with a 3 month window...this was for the warm fuzzies it gave you... it was not for the homeless...
You want to make a difference? Really change lives? Have a direct hand in positive life change? Then come to where the boots hit the ground....
It's not clean here
It's not pretty
It doesn't always end well
But it is where we work our fingers to the bone making things happen, we don't have tons of money, we don't have corporate guidelines, we fly by the seat of our pants.. making changes as we see needed. We scrap, borrow and beg and people leave a little bit better...
You want to help?
You know where to find me....
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