My Strange Positive Addiction

Over the past few months a local university student has been providing free music lessons to youth every Friday at the Gateway Centre. This week, one of the participants told me that she is addicted to piano.

Usually, I do not celebrate when I hear of a new addiction but this one is different. We thought that exposure to the creative arts is a good idea for youth who find themselves at risk. (actually for anyone) Our hope was to provide a positive means of expression to those we serve. This young woman has found something of meaning to her.

Wouldn't it be great if we could develop some more positive addictions? How about: Addicted to finishing school? Addicted to keeping a job? Addicted to maintaining a safe place to stay? Addicted to helping others?

Got any other positive addiction examples?

What are you thinking?

Have you ever walked past someone who looks homeless and thought negative thoughts? I have. (Clean yourself up! Get a job! You must be lazy! etc.) Have you ever walked past a stray cat or dog and felt compassion? Have you ever walked past a wilted plant and given it some water?

You can make a difference by changing your thought pattern or even smiling at someone.

The following excerpt comes from the CharityVillage newsletter for March 8, 2011.

A report recently released by The Salvation Army finds that many Canadians have a troubling attitude toward poverty and the poor. The study is being released in conjunction with the launch of The Dignity Project, a campaign designed to educate and inform the public about the challenges facing society’s most vulnerable people. Key findings include:

• nearly 50% of Canadians feel that a family of four could get by on $10,000 - $30,000 per year or less;
• nearly half of all Canadians feel that if poor people really want to work, they can always find a job; and
• nearly 40% believe people who live in poverty in Canada “still have it pretty good”.

Raising the Roof is also initiating a national ad campaign on Homeless Youth Have Nothing...But Potential.

For more information, visit: http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2011/03/01/salvation-army-launches-the-dignity-project-to-inspire-educate-and-activate-public-support/ and http://www.raisingtheroof.org/

The 'S' Word

My brain is full of stuff today. No, 'stuff' isn't the 'S' word.

Sustainability. What is your sustanability plan? How will you keep this project/activity going?

I always chuckle quietly to myself when a funder asks the 'S' question because, at least partially, my sustainability plan is the grant that I'm applying to you for. When that grant ends, I hope to apply again (with results achieved during that time) to you or others. Unfortunately, I don't see many other ways to be sustainable.

Our reality as an organization is that 80% of our funding comes from grants. Part of our sustainability plan has been to diversify the number of grants, so that we aren't totally dependent on one grant. However, the reality is that many of those additional grants are for new programming rather than additional sources of income for core programs or organizational infrastructure.

The generosity of local people through fundraising and donations provides most of the other 20%. We are supported by many people locally, but it takes a lot of hard work to access those dollars.

Do you have any other ideas regarding the 'S' word?

Stuck in a Hot Spot

Logbook Entry - Feb. 5, 2011

8:30 AM
Thanks to Jaclyn, Tanya and Alexa, I am sitting in an infrared sauna loaned from Spa Spot at the Camrose Farmer's Market. (Thankfully, it is not turned on because I'm already sweating just sitting here with door closed.) i'm stuck in here until we sell 100 toques at $10 each to support homeless youth.

8:45 AM
First toque sold. Celebrate good times c'mon!

9:13 AM
First person says they will buy a toque to keep me locked up. Wrote a sign asking people to purchase toques to help local youth. Every 25 toques sold ($250) = 1 month of housing. Did you know that it costs >$250 for 1 night in prison or $1000 for 1 night in a hospital? That message seems to resonate with people.

9:17 AM
Tanya brings me a bottle of water. Open the door a crack to get some fresh air. Selling toques slowly but steadily.

9:45 AM
Wrote second note for people outlining how support for youth is a good investment. Sold more than 20 toques and feeling pretty good about things. Could go home now and feel good about the event. Lots of support for the Open Door.

10:21 AM
Started telling people that it is my wife's birthday and that I need to get out in time to buy her a present. (It actually is her birthday)

10:43 AM
Not used to sitting so long. My butt hurts. We sold our 40th toque. It is great hearing what Tanya, Jaclyn and Alexa have to say about our work. They are very passionate about working with youth. Thanks.

11:05 AM
Doesn't seem to be a lot of traffic. Are we going to reach our goal? It's funny to see all 3 people texting updates on their phones. Got some toque orders from out of town.

12:00 PM
Opened the door a little more. We have sold 63 toques!

12:34 PM
Over 80 toques sold! Wrote my last sign asking people to buy toques so that I can go to the bathroom. Tanya and Jaclyn started walking up and down the mall trying to sell the last 12 toques. Hurry please!

1:14 PM
Freedom at last! 101 toques sold, exceeding our target. This means enough to provide 4 months of housing to local youth.

1:15 PM
Sprinting down the mall to the bathrooms. Don't look left or right. Just get to my goal!

1:30 PM
Packed up the display and have a total of 107 toques sold. Camrose rocks!

Supporting Homeless/At-Risk Youth is a Good Investment

Unfortunately, many of us have negative views of "charity" and trust investing in companies more than investing in people. Often, this is connected to a lack of empathy for homeless or at-risk people. I can remember many instances where I walked past someone and had very negative thoughts about them. (Why don't you get a job? How could you let yourself be homeless? etc.) What about you?

Raising the Roof, a national organization working to end youth homelessness, estimate that there are 65,000 homeless youth in Canada. In Camrose, we average almost 6 youth per night in our supportive housing. It costs us $250 to provide a bed for one month. For the vast majority, homelessness is not a choice. Many of these youth come from unstable situations. One youth texted us recently asking for housing. If we didn't have any he was going to get arrested so that he had a place to stay.

Supporting at risk and homeless youth makes economic and social sense. Housing a youth in the shelter system costs $40,000 per year while being in prison costs society $100,000 per year (>$250/night). Without a comprehensive plan to address youth homelessness the numbers of street-involved youth will continue to accelerate, and associated health care, criminal justice, social services and emergency shelter costs will continue to grow. Providing youth with educational and employment training and opportunities, stable, secure housing and essential life skills – helps them along the positive path towards independence and self-sufficiency as contributing member of society. The cost of NOT supporting homeless youth is much greater.

Join Raising the Roof's call for 65,000 acts of support for homeless youth. Buy a toque, support an agency like the Open Door that provides services and maybe, most importantly, have empathy for those that find themselves at risk.

Saying Thanks is Difficult

Today is the last day for the participants in our Cafe Connections project. They have spent 19 weeks with us learning a lot about life and employment and gaining work experience. We have seen many successes. (some of them I've talked about in earlier blogs) Over those weeks we have seen some of the tough exterior of these young men chipped away as we saw glimpses of the real person come out.

This morning most of them have reverted back to the tough exterior by exhibiting anger towards staff, a lack of thankfulness and general sour attitude. We understand that this is driven by concern over the future, a feeling that they are abandoned again and an anger that they need to leave a supportive environment and move on.

How should our staff respond? They deserve respect just as much as the youth deserve respect. As a parent I would try to validate my child's feelings and communicate that the response is not acceptable.

What do you think? Is there a way to minimize these feelings? Are these feeling natural for someone who has probably felt abandoned in the past?

A Little Whine on Blue Monday

Today is Blue Monday. It is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. People are dealing with their holiday credit card statements, living in a cold Canadian climate with no end to winter and generally feeling blah. Maybe it comes from hearing that the 100 highest paid Canadian CEOs made the same amount of money by 2:20 PM on Jan. 3 (the first working day of the year) as the average Canadian worker does in a year.

Here are a couple of extra reasons for this Executive Director to feel blue: (bear with me while I whine for a bit)

• it is budget development season. The time of year where you work hard for 3 months on applications for funding. IF you are successful you get exactly 9 months before you need to start again.
• it is difficult for our clients to find jobs. It is disaappointing to hear how they applied at many jobs and didn't get any positive responses.
• the hypocrisy of some funders. For the fourth year in a row we have a status quo budget from one of our funders. No extra money for salaries or operating costs while that funder replaces furniture and enxures that all salaries increase every year. How do you meet standards and provide better service with no increase in resources?
• some of our clients move from crisis to crisis. Just when you think things are better for them, they come back in the same place they started.

Thanks for bearing with me. I feel much better. Maybe that is the purpose of Blue Monday. Wallow in self pity for a while and then come out better for it. As my son says, it is better to be a pessimist since you won't be disappointed.

There are also many reasons to look forward positively:

• over 400 individuals and groups contributed to the work of the Open Door in 2010.
• several of our clients have found jobs!
• our funders are still interested in supporting our work.
• a 'yes' answer to a funding proposal is a great feeling
• people are interested in volunteering and working at the Open Door

I hope that your Blue Monday reenergizes you and helps you look forward positively.

The Future is Far Enough to Plan For

We received a donation of a notebook computer before Christmas with the instructions to give it to a client who could make use of it. We weren’t sure how to choose this person. Staff suggested that we ask the young people working in our Café to write a brief description of their experience in the project, why they should get the computer and what they plan to do with it. We agreed and made our decision based on the 4 submissions we received. I’ve included some excerpts for you as they are a powerful testament to the growth that has occured for the participants in the project.

“My life before joining peer connections was hectic. I had been in and out of jail for years due to money making schemes gone wrong.”

“Before my future was only the next day, now the future is far enough to plan for.”

The PEER project has “showed me there is more to life than making money on the streets, going to jail, or selling and doing drugs.”

“I’ve made choices in my life that have caused a lot of pain and hatred to the ones around me.”

“I grew up in a small town which made everything easy to do. But I could not stand the hate that was around me and could [not] stand the way my mom looked at me, it was the look of disappointment.”

“My life routine before open door was very much like any other person the age of twenty and that was to see the money and spend it, It was like every day was one big party and it should never stop and the money should just be coming in for no reason.”

“My day to day routine has also improved every morning I get up and go to work with the knowledge that I can SUCCEED if I truly wanted to…”

Thank you to all of you who make a difference in your community.