Is there an App for that?

Over the last while I have been extolling the virtues of agencies having a social media presence and using technology to improve our services. There are TV commercials that highlight an App to solve almost anydilemma. In my opinion, technology and social media are part of a strategy to creat multiple contact points with community members. However, I believe that there are limits to the use of technology for communication. Is there an App for working with others?

I am concerned that our society, and individuals within it, might lose (are losing?) the ability to connect on a face-to-face basis. Texting each other while walking side by side and Facebooking your family member in different rooms of the same house may sound like innocent activities, but I wonder about the long term change in interpersonal dynamics. Are we all going to struggle when the vast majority of people are fired from employment due to an inability to get along with other people? (i.e. those at the desk next to yours, or the customer at the counter)

The key factor in all of this, both virtual and real, is the ability to develop positive relationships with others. At the Open Door we see some youth struggle with the ability to develop positive relationships often leading to inappropriate coping mechanisms.

As we near the end of 2010, I'd like to thank the Open Door staff who show a patience and caring attitude towards the youth who we come into contact with. Thank you to those in our community who invest in people. As someone said to me once, "You might forget what someone says or does to you, but you will never forget how someone makes you feel."

Is there an App for that?

Maybe Next Time?

Last week I talked about a situation where staff were a lightning rod for a client who lashed out. This 16 year old male has been kicked out of every thing due to anger management issues and threatening behaviour. All I can think of is that this young man is destined for prison.

What went wrong? Is this young person predestined to be an offendor? Did the "system" fail? How many opportunties were missed to make a connection that might have changed his life?

I obviously don't have answers to these questions. We are still trying to maintain contact with him but need to take care of staff safety. I believe that there are key moments in a person's life where an appropriate action taken can result in a life change.

We tell the story of "29" that we heard from another agency working with street involved women. A young woman came to the agency wanting to make a change. Every time she couldn't make the change permanent and returned to the street. That pattern continued until the 29th visit to the agency when she managed to leave the streets behind.

I hope that the last contact we had with the young man was #28. Maybe next time?

Being a Lightning Rod

Sometimes the electrical charge gets too strong and lightning strikes. This morning a client of ours got very angry with staff and starting screaming and yelling. With a flurry of f-bombs and a piece of overturned furniture the young man exited through the front doors.

Unfortunately, staff are sometimes the closest ones (in terms of physical distance as well as strength of relationship) to a client and you become the lightning rod. Many times we don't know what the trigger is. Research and experience show that people will sometimes lash out when they are trying to change their worldview and their response to those around them. Maybe they are unhappy with their own situation and aren't ready to think of solutions.

Our staff members responded appropriately by remaining calm with the client around and then dealt with the emotions after he left. It is important to remember that you are a lightning rod at that time. It is hard not to, but essential, to not take the verbal assault personally. The message has to be portrayed to the client that the outburst was inappropriate, the anger understandable and that other ways to deal with it are available.

We hope that lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, but also hope that the outburst is a sign that somethimg is changing for this young man.

An Insider Investment Tip

Are you interested in a good investment tip? A tip from an insider? Investing in social impact makes a big difference in our community. It is less risky than the stock market and has tangible benefits.

My Board of Directors might gasp in horror at my next statement. "Don't, yes I said don't, donate to the Camrose Open Door to meet our organizational need." You are probably not interested in what our need as an organization is. However, I think you are very interested in investing in your community to make it a better place.

Investing in youth makes sense. Employment and education are good investments that have long term benefits to the people involved and the community as a whole. An average of 75% of our Cafe Connections participants are employed and/or in school 3 months after completing our program.  60+% of the youth who have accessed our supportive housing are living in a better situation 3 months after leaving our housing than they were when they came to us. These youth are now paying taxes, purchasing items and using fewer social services.

As we approach the holiday season please consider making an investment. Please do invest in the Open Door to provide youth with the best opportunitites to succeed. Investing in our youth makes good sense for the community.

Something you never want to get good at

A key role of an Executive Director is to make decisions based on what is best for the organization (clients, staff, etc.) that he/she represents. Most of the time, at least in my experience, these decisions have been choices between something good and something better. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Sometimes the choice is between bad and worse. These decisions are not to be made lightly as they impact people's lives. Maybe that knot in the pit of my stomach is a good sign. It indicates that this isn't something I enjoy doing.

Leadership means making decisions based on the best information that you can get. In most cases, inaction only makes the situation worse.

I read somewhere that making these difficult decisions/choices are like funerals. You hope you never get too good at them.

Trick or Tweet!

I hope you have a great Halloween weekend. Save the peanut butter cups and tootsie rolls for me!

Since I am too old to trick I will focus on the tweet. Over the last few months I've experimented with social media such as Twitter to spread the message of the Open Door. My sense is that social media is another tool in an organization's toolbox to connect with people.

For an organization to be successful it must be connected. Twitter and Facebook complement face-to-face interactions and help us get connected to individuals and groups in our community. The more tangled the web of connections the better. Our paths keep crossing others who are interested in making our community a better place to live.

I've worked with other organizations that are less connected. (virtually and face-to-face) They often struggle because nobody knows they exist.

Over the next few days I probably won't knock at your door asking for candy, but I might see you at a meeting or send you a tweet.

We'd like to thank the Academy...

Last night was an exciting night for the Camrose Open Door Association. We were awarded the Community Spirit Award at the Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards dinner. It was great to be nominated with four other local businesses that do a lot for our community. All of the nominees work to make this community a better place to be and are worthy of recognition. It felt strange being in the same category as Creative Bedrooms and Scotiabank who have both been so good to us.

Recognition from the business community is very rewarding as it highlights that business and social organizations can work together to make a difference. I think Camrose has grown a lot in its understanding of youth issues in our community.

The award is a recognition of the great work done by our staff, board members, volunteers and the youth that we work with. A big thankyou to all of you.

I'd like to thank my great grandparents for emigrating to Canada. Without you this wouldn't have been possible. I'd like to thank my cousin Charlie...

Stop being a not for profit

Sitting at the Mayoral Candidates Forum this week at the Camrose Chamber of Commerce I was struck by how most of the candidates seemed to have difficulty seeing that social investment has short and long term impact in our community.

Part of the problem is that the social sector has spent too long highlighting what we are not. The most common term for our sector is 'not for profit.' Is our mission as an organization to not make money? Of course not. Our focus is to help youth be successful.

It is time for organizations like the Camrose Open Door Association to stop defining ourselves by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are for. The Open Door is for impact.

Maybe if we all do a better job at defining ourselves as 'for impact', people will better understand that investing for impact makes good sense whether it is through a business or through an organization.

Acknowledge a Great Colleague

I am lucky in that I enjoy coming to work almost everyday. It gives me a lot of energy to see people come in and get the help they need from our organization and to see staff have fun at work. It is very stressful, on the other hand, when someone in the team is bringing other people down.

This week at our staff meeting we talked about characteristics of a great colleague. We want to celebrate the contributions of staff in our organization who provide exemplary client service and help create a great environment in the office. I decided to offer a $100 bonus for the person voted by his/her peers as the person who best exemplifies the characteristics described above.

Without naming the winner at this point, here are some of the comments made on the nomination forms:

• always there to help when needed and never complains about giving a helping hand
• reliable and accountable for his/her actions
• sense of humour
• great relationship with clients
• well deserving of acknowledgement of a job well done
• goes the extra mile (1.6 km)
• light hearted and funny
• puts 100% into everything he/she does

People make a difference. Someone told me that most people will forget what you say or do but they will never forget how you make them feel. Congratulations on a job well done.

What makes a great coworker in your workplace?

I was inspired today!

A year ago we started an advisory committee to help guide our social enterprise and employment project called PEER Connections. 5 community members agreed to join us and share their insights and passion for working with youth who find themselves at risk. We had our first meeting of the Fall today and I was inspired in several ways:

• I was inspired by the obvious passion and commitment of these 5 people to join us on a Friday at noon. Thank you.
• I was inspired when one of the committee members told us how she heard a couple of seniors planning their lunch dates at our cafe
• I was inspired by another committee member's comment that "we [this project] have enough success now and it's time to celebrate it." I was inspired by the ownership evident by the use of "we" and that we are making a difference in people's lives.
• I was inspired by a young man who told us how he moved from gang activity and hopelessness to feeling really good about himself.  He mentioned several times that "people like me here." He expressed how he wanted to share with others how "working hard gets you places" and how it "feels good to come here."
• I was inspired by the committee members' long list of very useful suggestions on how to tell our stories like the one we heard from this young man. (placemats with quotes/short messages, a cookbook of recipes and stories, stories written in local papers, etc.)
• I was inspired by our staff member who took the difficult path by including someone in the project who was risky and how this has worked out great.
• I was inspired by how a group of 6 young men and several staff "became like a family by the 2nd day" working in this project.

Thank you for inspiring me. I hope you also felt a connection to something good.

How were you inspired today?

Walking A Little Bit Taller

A local businessman that I know referred a young man to come talk with me this morning. This young man told me part of his story and highlighted that he just wanted to continue getting better and maintain the positive direction in his life. Unfortunately, some of the people closest to him were dragging him down. It was clear to me that he needed someone to listen and try to help him out. He walked slowly and kept his eyes down at the floor most of the time. He looked like he was running out of reasons to keep fighting.

One of our staff members took the time to sit with him and listen to him. After he left, I asked our staffperson how she felt about the meeting. She replied that, "He was thankful and walked a little bit taller when he left." Some time spent listening and a few practical suggestions made a big difference in this young person's life.

As someone very wise said, "A person will eventually forget what you said to him/her, might forget what you did to him/her, but they will never forget how you made him/her feel."

Thank you to this Open Door staff member, and all of our staff, who help youth walk a little taller. You have made a difference in someone's life.

Planning for Serendipity

It feels like we have turned a corner. (at least for this week!) As with most organizations we have spent countless hours finding funding to build our services. Most of this growth has been in small increments. Some years our funding stayed the some and other years maybe resulted in an increase in a part time staff position. More recently we have seen some dramatic growth.

Over the last 5 years our core budget has tripled. We have been successful in accessing several grants that have helped us to strengthen existing services and start new ones. Community members are starting to see the Open Door as a place where creative things get done. This week, I had two local professionals meet with me to discuss new opportunities. One of them is even going to look for funding on our behalf! It is an exciting time.

Many experts highlight the importance of strategic planning as a necessity for organizations to plan for the future. I wish that our growth was a result of a great 3-5 year plan that was carried out with conviction. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Planning for serendipity is an approach in developing organizational readiness or nimbleness. I believe it is essential for an organization to be prepared to act quickly rather than having everything lined up ahead of time. Things around us are changing so quickly it is hard to predict what is going to happen, but we can be ready for things to happen. When opportunities present themselves it is important to jump in.

In retrospect, how did we plan for serendipity?

• We have people working in the organization that are not afraid of change and are able to respond quickly. The staff and volunteers have been key.
• Our board was willing to stick their necks out and purchased our facility 3 years ago. The facility is key in our ability to try new things.
• We have worked really hard at profile raising. We started holding community events like a bed race and golf tournament several years ago. These have been key in introducing a diverse group of people to our organization. Events don't raise a huge amount of money. (at least ours don't!) I estimated that it cost us about $0.70 to raise $1 in our annual golf tournament.  
• We aren't afraid to make mistakes. We held a BBQ 3 years ago at a teen dance with over 400 people and didn't sell ONE hamburger.
• Relationship building has been key. We've tried to get to know local newspaper reporters and joined as many committees as possible.

Some of this may change if we suddenly have a funding cut, but I'm confident that we will be able to respond.

What aspects of planning for serendipity have you experienced?

Black Numbers Are Good Red Numbers are Bad

I've spent the last week poring over financial reports for one of our funders. As a nonprofit agency director much of my time is spent identifying gaps in our budget, looking for funding and trying to find ways to make ends meet. It can be a real headache balancing different fiscal years and reporting requirements.

Sometimes I wish our budget could be portrayed accurately with an easy profit and loss spreadsheet. I Tweeted my issue (@OpenDoorED) and a business friend of mine responded with the title of this blog posting. It makes sense to me from a business perspective that budgets are pretty clear cut. Either you are making money or you are losing money. Does this work for a social agency like the Camrose Open Door Association?

On a literal level the answer to this question is obvious. Of course, we need to try to match our spending with our income or we won't last long as an organization. However, on a deeper level, the value of what we do is not accurately portrayed by a budget number. Are we willing to spend more to make a difference in someone's life? How do we quantify the social return on investment of programs like ours?

Red numbers might indicate an unmet (unfinanced need) that our organization is working to fill. For example, providing housing to youth in our community. We feel that providing this service is essential to our mission and needs to be done. A red number on our financial report might highlight an area where we are best fulfilling our mission.

Part of my job as ED is to identify these red numbers, ensure they are important to our mission and find ways to pay for them. Maybe they aren't so bad after all.

Any suggestions?

10 Years Old: Our Founding Story

The Camrose Open Door Association is celebrating 10 years as a registered organization. We started with a summer outreach student, hired by the Camrose Church of God in 1998, identifying 42 youth in Camrose who were falling through the cracks.

As with most organizations we came into being through the dedication of a few people. A steering committee was set up and 2 women went for coffee at a local coffee shop and mapped out a vision on a restaurant napkin of what an organization might look like. The Open Door was registered in June 2000 and started working to achieve that vision.

Over the last 10 years we have continued to grow and adapt to the changing needs of youth who find themselves at risk. Many of the items on the napkin vision (housing, outreach services, counselling, employment services) have become reality. There are lots of new ideas under development.

Thank you for the tremendous support from organizations and individuals in Camrose and area. With your help we are opening the door to a brighter future.

Who is ED?

A few years ago I was working in a social agency in Edmonton and received a phone message to call ED at another agency. I quickly dialed the number and asked for Ed and was told that no such person worked there. I thought nothing of it and moved on.

A few months later, I applied to be ED at the Open Door and it finally dawned on me who I should have asked for on that phone call a few months earlier.

Who is ED?

ED is a leader in the organization that tries to bring a group of people together for a common purpose while helping each person see a connection with the mission. This includes leading, and being led by, staff and board. A very challenging and rewarding job.

Thanks. You can call me ED.

Welcome to the Open Door

I'm the Executive Director of the Camrose Open Door Association and look forward to sharing about working in a youth serving agency. I hope to provide some insights on being an Exec. Dir. (ED) and the many activities that we are involved in. For shorter updates follow me on Twitter (OpenDoorED)

Randal Nickel