Who Gets Along in Life? Who is working in Sync for the ultimate good that we can learn from?
There is an endless stream of messages barraging all of us every day about the “officials”, “parties”, “sides”, “groups”, “participants”, or some other body of people that do not, are not, or may not get along with some other entity.
With all the battles going on, you wonder how anything ever gets done.
Yet everyday I hear, see, write about, photograph, or am a party to stacks of examples of people who are in sync, who DO get along, who cooperate more than compete, and share and support, rather than take from or attack.
So I started this series, did a little outreach, and confirmed my suspicions: There are people who work together in a selfless manner for good, beyond any immediate or future payback. There are groups that think in Sync with a common purpose. There are sides that find ways to agree, maybe not on everything, but at least on the most important ones.
I know you are out there. We’re going to share your stories, as they confirm a basic principle behind how we look at Life. And they’re inspiring. If we all talked about them a little more, others might be inspired to come together, on things big and small.
I hope you enjoy and get involved to share your story. I’ve got a hunch there are a lot more people getting along than there are fighting, no matter what you might be hearing, seeing, or reading.
This first edition brings you Bob Franko’s great insight of what it took from various community groups and the people involved focusing on the most important common mission for Housing Opportunities. A picture can tell a story, and the mental image he captured here is a great one, seeing the children playing at the bus top, asking “What if?”
“What If?” Community Comes Together for Housing Opportunities
Contributed by Bob Franko
Pulling into McDonald’s on Calumet Avenue the other morning I saw a group of children huddled under the bus shelter in front of Housing Opportunities. They were laughing and goofing around like any group of kids at any bus stop around the city that morning. In a few short minutes they’d be on the warm dry bus heading for school, a day of normal activity; a day of consistency, of encouragement from a helpful teacher, a day of laughing so hard at lunch that milk flies out of their noses.
I thought “what if…”
What if nearly two years ago, when the former Spring Valley Shelter could no longer operate as it had for decades before because of a crashing economy, donor fatigue and any other number of compounding difficulties, what if there wasn’t a group of people who rallied to find a new solution? Where would those kids be today? Would they be heading off to enjoy a day of school in one of the state’s finest education systems? Would they even have a front door to slam shut as they sprinted for the bus stop?
Two years has passed since those initial meetings started – when the “holy cow, we may lose the county’s only homeless shelter” realization hit. Two years of advocating, negotiating, waiting, rallying, begging, writing, rewriting, waiting some more, more meetings, then finally moving in, revamping, painting, rebuilding and celebrating has passed. There were so many individuals, including many who made huge contributions behind the scenes and anonymously. There were a few organizations that rallied, though, that bound together with a common mission: to save our homeless shelter.
Led by Barb Young and the Porter County Community Foundation, the initial group of folks from the former Christian Community Action board of directors, representatives from Housing Opportunities, Porter-Starke Services, and the United Way of Porter County started meeting. Soon others became involved, including The Caring Place. Each participant pledged their organization’s support and resources – even while in the midst of their own struggles afflicting so many non-profits. It seemed as soon as opportunities surfaced, an obstacle threatened to sink it before a move could be made. Yet the group plowed on. In sync, ever looking for synergy, for opportunity.
As the infrastructure of the shelter – both physically and administratively – crumbled, others were there to patch it over; even if temporarily. Under incredible adversity and uncertainty, the former staff soldiered through, taking care of the last residents, earning the eternal respect and admiration of the group members. The groups looked beyond their own needs toward the greater good of the community, gaining deep knowledge and understanding of complexities and issues of which most would never know. Someone still had to manage the physical structure, to pay the bills, to communicate with donors, to triage and coordinate services for those still in need. Each from the group pledged their support to cover the myriad details involved before ownership of the building and program could be transitioned.
The other day, those kids headed off to school to get an education while back at Housing Opportunities their parents worked on rebuilding their lives. Together they did their part to end their cycle of poverty, to enrich their own lives, which in turn enriches the quality of life of the whole community. Today, Housing Opportunities stands a proud testament to the commitment and dedication of what started as a small group of people trying to plug holes in a leaky dam and gained momentum into a large group of believers who moved mountains. It is an excellent example of people and organizations working in sync to tackle a major problem, and as a result, the whole community benefits.
Bob Franko
Vice President, Technical Assistance Training & Marketing, Cherokee Health Systems
It also includes the story from Natalie Banner Connors at Purdue North Central, about how the higher education community collaborates, rather than competes, to help not only the students, but veterans, and the communities they serve. We can admire the intent and the committment to biuld upon what they started. We can all educate ourselves with this thinking.
“What Can We Do Better Together That We Can’t Do Alone?”
Contributed by Natalie Banner Connors
Purdue North Central, Ivy Tech Northwest Indiana, and Purdue Calumet collaborated on August 5th to do a Veterans Career Transition Fair. The event was well attended by employers (we had 72!), but for some reason we had a low vet turn out. We are not losing the faith because we know this is important, and so we are looking to do another fair this spring.
I currently sit on a board with Matt Wells, who is a Career Advisor at Valparaiso Univerisity. We belong to an organization called Indiana Careers Consortium (INCC). Our motto is "what can we do better together that we can't do alone." The group has been together since 2006 and we are comprised of 11 universities and colleges throughout Northwest & North Central Indiana. We meet once a month and share best practices, and this upcoming summer we are going to hold an employer networking event with our organization at the new KROC center in South Bend.
In Northern Indiana there are so many opportunities for students in Higher Ed because we have so many wonderful universities & colleges in our area. What has been nice is when I left business and industry 3 years ago, my colleagues at these institutions reached out to me and suggested we work together. There is really no since in us competing, so we just collaborate to ensure our students have the best experience we can provide.
Natalie Connors
Director of Career Development, Purdue University North Central