Greetings blog readers, and my apologies for letting it be this long between posts. I can't believe I haven't been on here since AUGUST! But then again, thinking back to what was going on in my life around then, I get it. Things were crazy around my job at Habitat for Humanity Kansas City. Our 30th Anniversary (we are the 7th oldest Habitat affiliate in the world!) was in October, so we were planning this big birthday block party event. We also had some staff changes, I had two new AmeriCorps members to train, Trouble was back in the Air Force Reserves (this time doing her drills out of Colorado Springs), on top of all the usual things that make people busy and lose track of time. I don't want to even attempt to catch anyone up on what's been going on since then - it would take a long time, be fairly boring, and I'm not sure there would be a point anyway. :)
I'm thinking about time this weekend anyway, as we "Spring Ahead" for daylight savings time. I'm sitting here at what feels like 6:45 am to my body but my clock tells me it's almost 8 am. We go through this ritual every year, moving ahead an hour each spring and back an hour each fall, all in the name of conserving energy and spending more time in the sunlight. Does it really make that much of a difference? There have been debates about the energy conservation part - W. changed the dates we move clocks in an effort to show some effort on his part to conserve energy but we still like to keep our homes at fairly consistent temperatures and use electricity for a lot more things than just lighting. I did a little online research to learn more about DST, why we started it and how it's evolved. It's kind of interesting and the information varies from source to source (of course), but if you're interested, I liked the article on Wikipedia for its information not just on the history in the US but around the world. What's most intriguing to me is that there wasn't a "standard time" (let alone "daylight saving time") until the late 1800's, and that was basically adopted because railroads were running all over the place and need some kind of organized scheduling - it didn't become a US law until 1918! And as most of us know, there has been debate over if we should practice DST, when we should change the clocks, how much, etc ever since. DST is praticed in some form in many countries around the globe, but many countries have never done such a thing.
I wonder what it would have been like to live in a time and place where there was no standard of time? It's such a basic part of my daily life, I go nuts when I forget to strap on my wrist sized clock. We have clocks on our phones, appliances, in almost every room of our homes - it's everywhere! How did people before 1918 schedule meetings? Did church just start when everyone got there? Or was it all just based on whatever local standard was set, so that it wasn't really a problem unless you were traveling (which is kind of the same now - I appreciate that my cell phone can read what time zone I'm in an automatically adjust)? Perhaps what intrigues me mst about the concept of time is that it's something the whole world has more or less decided to agree upon. We can look at world maps and see what time it is in each place, we know how long a second, minute and hour are, we've even established a line on the globe where the date and time are based. If only we could find that kind of consensus on other things....
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Friday, August 21, 2009
Fundraising Foolery
Wow, it's been a long time since I've written on here! When I logged in, it said my last post was back in mid June so it's been 2 months! My apologies - I haven't ditched the blog all together but I do admit to spending a good deal more time on Facebook. Not sure if that's necessarily a good thing, but this format feels different and still has a distinct purpose for me, so I'm not abandoning it.
I'm still working at Habitat for Humanity Kansas City, although there have been some rough patches in the last few months. I actually applied for another job to run a whole volunteer department for a large animal shelter here in KC but I didn't get an interview. It's really fine - I still love working for Habitat, but there have been a lot of changes made and a lot of uncertainty about how those changes were being implemented. Change is always hard and I know I'm a person who likes routine and things being thought through - neither of which is an option right now. But I'm learning to deal with it and we're rolling along.
Perhaps the biggest change in our office has been that our Director of Development was let go. There was some thinking that he needed to go a long time ago since we hadn't had a good fundraising program in years, but the way the whole thing played out was stressful. The new person we have is still kind of an unknown, although we know she has experience fundraising, working with Habitat affiliates and overseeing AmeriCorps programs (which is all great in my opinion). She's got a lot to deal with right now though - we all do, and we're finding ourselves needing to do things we haven't done before. For example, today I wrote an appeal letter - actually two. I've been writing newsletter pieces for months but never really had any input in a fundraising campaign.
All the staff have been asked to help find people to be "hosts" of this event - people who will bring people and money to the organization. My boss asked me to help her put together an email we could send to people to ask them to do this and it was liked so much, the Executive Director asked me to write another one that we could use to approach organizations and companies to donate too. Wow. I was glad to be good at something that was so useful for people but at the same time, why were my writing skills only now coming into play? At least I feel like all the papers I had to write in seminary were good practicve for something. This afternoon there was a brief discussion about the possibility of my getting into some grant writing. We'll see where it goes.
As I write this, I'm thinking about the people who will be getting those letters and emails in the next few weeks. We've got a lot of great people who support us in all kinds of ways - volunteering their time, donating food to our pantry or materials for our construction projects, donating money, serving on our Board and committees, providing services for free or reduced price, etc. In these times, charities are hurting for money more than ever, while at the same time the people who are calling on them for services are rising in number. We've only built half the number of homes we built last year and don't see donations rising very quickly. Volunteers are being turned away every day because we don't have any sites to put them on. But as much as all that hurts, can people afford to give right now? We know there are lots of people looking for jobs, and many others have lost a lot of their savings and retirement money in the down market. How do you feel when people ask you for money? What makes you give to a particular charity over another? Are you just as likely to donate now as you were three years ago?
I'm still working at Habitat for Humanity Kansas City, although there have been some rough patches in the last few months. I actually applied for another job to run a whole volunteer department for a large animal shelter here in KC but I didn't get an interview. It's really fine - I still love working for Habitat, but there have been a lot of changes made and a lot of uncertainty about how those changes were being implemented. Change is always hard and I know I'm a person who likes routine and things being thought through - neither of which is an option right now. But I'm learning to deal with it and we're rolling along.
Perhaps the biggest change in our office has been that our Director of Development was let go. There was some thinking that he needed to go a long time ago since we hadn't had a good fundraising program in years, but the way the whole thing played out was stressful. The new person we have is still kind of an unknown, although we know she has experience fundraising, working with Habitat affiliates and overseeing AmeriCorps programs (which is all great in my opinion). She's got a lot to deal with right now though - we all do, and we're finding ourselves needing to do things we haven't done before. For example, today I wrote an appeal letter - actually two. I've been writing newsletter pieces for months but never really had any input in a fundraising campaign.
All the staff have been asked to help find people to be "hosts" of this event - people who will bring people and money to the organization. My boss asked me to help her put together an email we could send to people to ask them to do this and it was liked so much, the Executive Director asked me to write another one that we could use to approach organizations and companies to donate too. Wow. I was glad to be good at something that was so useful for people but at the same time, why were my writing skills only now coming into play? At least I feel like all the papers I had to write in seminary were good practicve for something. This afternoon there was a brief discussion about the possibility of my getting into some grant writing. We'll see where it goes.
As I write this, I'm thinking about the people who will be getting those letters and emails in the next few weeks. We've got a lot of great people who support us in all kinds of ways - volunteering their time, donating food to our pantry or materials for our construction projects, donating money, serving on our Board and committees, providing services for free or reduced price, etc. In these times, charities are hurting for money more than ever, while at the same time the people who are calling on them for services are rising in number. We've only built half the number of homes we built last year and don't see donations rising very quickly. Volunteers are being turned away every day because we don't have any sites to put them on. But as much as all that hurts, can people afford to give right now? We know there are lots of people looking for jobs, and many others have lost a lot of their savings and retirement money in the down market. How do you feel when people ask you for money? What makes you give to a particular charity over another? Are you just as likely to donate now as you were three years ago?
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Cedar Rapids - Day Zero
In light of the fact that I'm on a week long trip to Cedar Rapids, this is going to be an attempt at some kind of journal of my experience while I'm here. I brought my laptop for evening use and have discovered that while my wireless connection works somewhat consistently, Facebook's connection is much less so. This way I'll be able to say my piece and others can comment - just not as much in real time as if it were on Facebook. Plus the photo upload function may work here (Facebook has been having issues with their's all week).
When Trouble went off to Air Force basic training (they don't call it boot camp, just FYI), she learned about this great concept of "zero week." They tell you that the training will take x number of weeks, but your first week there isn't week one - it's week zero. It doesn't really county even though you're definitely noticing that you're there and pretty much in shock over just how much NOT like anywhere else this is going to be. With today being our drive up here and an evening on a college campus in a strange town, I'm considering this day zero. We don't really know what we've gotten ourselves into yet but know that this is definitely not like being "back home." Everyone here is somehow related to Habitat for Humanity and/or AmeriCorps. Most people are AmeriCorps members - 500+ of them. The rest of us are affiliate staff (AmeriCorps site coordinators oversee the members at their individual sites, making sure that AmeriCorps rules and protocol is followed, handling paperwork, etc.), Habitat International staff or there are a small number of AmeriCorps alumni.
I myself am a site coordinator AND an alumni and yet I still feel like I fit in more with the AmeriCorps members. Trouble and I discussed this a little bit this morning. I have a hard time seeing myself as an "adult" in charge of things, responsible and in a position of leadership. It's strange because I have no problem seeing myself that way in other areas of my life, but with Habitat and work in general, I seem forever stuck in "idealistic student" mode. It seems odd to me that as the low man on the Habitat KC totem pole and someone who was "just" an AmeriCorps last year, I'm now someone who knows more and is in charge of other people. Am I the only one who struggles with this? Does it go away at some point?
Right now three of my four members are out at a little dive bar just off campus, drinking cheap (and probably nasty) beer, singing karaoke and having some fun being away from the office. They invited me along but I chose to opt out. Yes, part of that is due to my disgust for beer and dreading the embarassment of karaoke but I also feel like I need to give them their space away from me and all things related to Habitat KC. This is a week away from all of that and a chance for them to just hang out and bond with each other in a way they can't at work. I also feel like I need to distance myself a little more from them than I have. The fact is that I'm not a member anymore and I'm not in the same place in life where they are. I don't feel that much older than them, but I AM. I just need to accept it and start acting like it. :)
So that's where I am at the end of this evening. Tomorrow the rest of the participants in Build-a-thon will arrive from all over the US and we'll have our Opening Ceremonies. Kurt Warner, NFL quarterback from the Arizona Cardinals, will be here all week since he's originally from Cedar Rapids. If you're watching ESPN and see anything about him and the project here, let me know! I know Cedar Rapids has had all kinds of local news coverage about him and us coming here. Our goal is to build 20 new houses this week, part of the flood recovery efforts. It's been exactly one year since the river crested at 21.5 feet above normal and there's still quite a bit of evidence around town. I'll be posting pictures later in the week. I'm going to be out on a construction crew building one of those houses - a big change from my normal week of work and something I'm really looking forward to. Now for some rest and a little Indigo Girls to set the mood: "Gotta get out of bed, grab a hammer and a nail, learn how to use my hands, not just my head..."
When Trouble went off to Air Force basic training (they don't call it boot camp, just FYI), she learned about this great concept of "zero week." They tell you that the training will take x number of weeks, but your first week there isn't week one - it's week zero. It doesn't really county even though you're definitely noticing that you're there and pretty much in shock over just how much NOT like anywhere else this is going to be. With today being our drive up here and an evening on a college campus in a strange town, I'm considering this day zero. We don't really know what we've gotten ourselves into yet but know that this is definitely not like being "back home." Everyone here is somehow related to Habitat for Humanity and/or AmeriCorps. Most people are AmeriCorps members - 500+ of them. The rest of us are affiliate staff (AmeriCorps site coordinators oversee the members at their individual sites, making sure that AmeriCorps rules and protocol is followed, handling paperwork, etc.), Habitat International staff or there are a small number of AmeriCorps alumni.
I myself am a site coordinator AND an alumni and yet I still feel like I fit in more with the AmeriCorps members. Trouble and I discussed this a little bit this morning. I have a hard time seeing myself as an "adult" in charge of things, responsible and in a position of leadership. It's strange because I have no problem seeing myself that way in other areas of my life, but with Habitat and work in general, I seem forever stuck in "idealistic student" mode. It seems odd to me that as the low man on the Habitat KC totem pole and someone who was "just" an AmeriCorps last year, I'm now someone who knows more and is in charge of other people. Am I the only one who struggles with this? Does it go away at some point?
Right now three of my four members are out at a little dive bar just off campus, drinking cheap (and probably nasty) beer, singing karaoke and having some fun being away from the office. They invited me along but I chose to opt out. Yes, part of that is due to my disgust for beer and dreading the embarassment of karaoke but I also feel like I need to give them their space away from me and all things related to Habitat KC. This is a week away from all of that and a chance for them to just hang out and bond with each other in a way they can't at work. I also feel like I need to distance myself a little more from them than I have. The fact is that I'm not a member anymore and I'm not in the same place in life where they are. I don't feel that much older than them, but I AM. I just need to accept it and start acting like it. :)
So that's where I am at the end of this evening. Tomorrow the rest of the participants in Build-a-thon will arrive from all over the US and we'll have our Opening Ceremonies. Kurt Warner, NFL quarterback from the Arizona Cardinals, will be here all week since he's originally from Cedar Rapids. If you're watching ESPN and see anything about him and the project here, let me know! I know Cedar Rapids has had all kinds of local news coverage about him and us coming here. Our goal is to build 20 new houses this week, part of the flood recovery efforts. It's been exactly one year since the river crested at 21.5 feet above normal and there's still quite a bit of evidence around town. I'll be posting pictures later in the week. I'm going to be out on a construction crew building one of those houses - a big change from my normal week of work and something I'm really looking forward to. Now for some rest and a little Indigo Girls to set the mood: "Gotta get out of bed, grab a hammer and a nail, learn how to use my hands, not just my head..."
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tragedy... and hypocrisy
So the first news story that caught my attention this morning was about Dr Tiller, known abortion doctor, getting shot in his church in Kansas this morning. When I got on Facebook today, several people made some sort of reference to the story, expressing sentiments from "violence is never the answer" to "that's karma." Interesting. There's a bumper sticker that I've always liked that says something along the lines of, "Why do we kill people to show that killing people is wrong?" It's speaking about capital punishment, but let's face it - the actions this person took this morning were an act of renegade capital punishment. There are people cheering those actions, saying that the Dr deserved what he got for what he did to all those unborn babies/fetuses (pick the term you prefer - there's a debate about which is correct and most inflammatory).
It may surprise several of you to know that I myself am pro-life. As much as I get the feminist argument for abortion and the right to choose, I can't quite get there. I've always believed that taking a life is wrong - any life. And I understand the debate about defining when life actually begins - when does a cluster of cells become another human life? I don't know. I don't think any of us can make that call, no matter how much science tries to give us a definition. Let's face it - the creation of life is a miracle that science hasn't quite been able to replicate. I'm an intelligent person and I value science highly, but it can't answer all of the questions and it's still up to us to decide what to do with the knowledge we get from it. I don't think I have the right or ability to say when life begins and I prefer to err on the safe side. However, I also think that abortion should be legal and regulated in this country because I recognize that this is a moral decision that I can't make for everyone else. I don't want to see women dying from illegal procedures or feeling shame for something that society makes undiscussable.
I don't think that the work this dr did was necessarily good or right, but I also don't think the work a lot of lawyers do is good or right. I don't think anyone has the right to determine when life begins - OR WHEN IT ENDS. While I'm a contradiction to most people - a self proclaimed progressive, feminist and lesbian who's prolife - I feel like I'm at least consistent. I'm against killing anyone of any age. A murderer on death row is following the "eye for an eye" mantra, the very thing Jesus flipped on its ear. We're supposed to love and forgive even those who do the unthinkable. Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Granted, this is not at all the way our entire legal and justice system work but it should be how the church works - not having people in the church saying that someone killed got what they deserved. Did Jesus get what he deserved too? When will we stop being hypocrites and start being Christians?
It may surprise several of you to know that I myself am pro-life. As much as I get the feminist argument for abortion and the right to choose, I can't quite get there. I've always believed that taking a life is wrong - any life. And I understand the debate about defining when life actually begins - when does a cluster of cells become another human life? I don't know. I don't think any of us can make that call, no matter how much science tries to give us a definition. Let's face it - the creation of life is a miracle that science hasn't quite been able to replicate. I'm an intelligent person and I value science highly, but it can't answer all of the questions and it's still up to us to decide what to do with the knowledge we get from it. I don't think I have the right or ability to say when life begins and I prefer to err on the safe side. However, I also think that abortion should be legal and regulated in this country because I recognize that this is a moral decision that I can't make for everyone else. I don't want to see women dying from illegal procedures or feeling shame for something that society makes undiscussable.
I don't think that the work this dr did was necessarily good or right, but I also don't think the work a lot of lawyers do is good or right. I don't think anyone has the right to determine when life begins - OR WHEN IT ENDS. While I'm a contradiction to most people - a self proclaimed progressive, feminist and lesbian who's prolife - I feel like I'm at least consistent. I'm against killing anyone of any age. A murderer on death row is following the "eye for an eye" mantra, the very thing Jesus flipped on its ear. We're supposed to love and forgive even those who do the unthinkable. Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Granted, this is not at all the way our entire legal and justice system work but it should be how the church works - not having people in the church saying that someone killed got what they deserved. Did Jesus get what he deserved too? When will we stop being hypocrites and start being Christians?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)