Where the deer roams

People sitting in The City Mission’s Crossroads dining room looked out the window today to see a deer looking in at them. Somehow a family of deer found its way into the Central Neighborhood, the doe collided with a car and was killed, and this little one remained.

It ended up in this partially enclosed area on our campus. The Cleveland police were called upon to assist, and they in turn called upon a wildlife agency to tranquilize the deer and remove it to a safer habitat.

It created quite a stir in the neighborhood and was enough to bring out at least one television station.

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Lyrics from Home on the Range:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_on_the_Range

Brain muscles

It’s amazing how tiring it can be to traverse up the steep slope of a learning curve. I was among several staff at The City Mission who participated in three days of training this week on an upgraded version of our donor software. I could feel my brain muscles working hard to stay attentive to the instructor and then to comprehend, to wrap my brain around what he was explaining.

Using the computer lab in our youth building, each of us worked at a computer station while the instructor walked us through the technical aspects of such things as data entry, reporting and security. Even though I am not directly involved in all of these things in my daily work, it’s helpful for me to know what’s involved. I took the approach that I always took in my college classes, to get as much out of it as I could. By the end of each day I was whooped. Even a coworker who just recently turned thirty told me today that her brain was “fried.”

With all the new things we learned this week, we will be able to more effectively manage relationships with our donors, now numbering about 40,000 in active status (including individuals, businesses, organizations, churches and foundations.) It’s all about respecting our donors’ wishes, letting them know how their support helps and showing appreciation for their partnership in our work.

Cleveland Botanical Gardens

I visited the Gardens last Wednesday evening in hopes of getting some good spring photos. It became overcast in the evening which actually worked in my favor as an overcast sky produces a softer light with more even distribution. On just about any day, the quality of light is best before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. Photography lesson 101, be cognizant of the quality and direction of the light and use it to your advantage. Meanwhile, enjoy some of the natural beauty planted in the middle of the city!

Remembering Memorial Day 2008

The day began with breakfast at the Legion at 8 a.m. Dad is talking things over with another veteran. He says that only one month passed between when he enlisted and when he sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. With passage out of the country, his monthly pay increased by five dollars. He also recalls that for all the time he was in the service he never saw anyone he already knew.

Mom looks over portraits of all the World War II veterans. She only finds a handful of women veterans, of which she was one.

Officer of the day, Marvin Randleman (my high school classmate) escorts the young lady that will lay the wreath at the monument.

A gun salute in the park by the library in New London.

The gun salute at the Fitchville Cemetery.

Remembering Pt. 3

[See my April 6th and 9th posts for Parts 1 and 2].

There was an e-mail circulated among staff this week pertaining to the ways that veterans have helped to assure our many freedoms. In that e-mail is a memorable photograph of people watching a parade. The only person standing as the flag passes by is a man bracing himself in front of his wheelchair.

It was that photograph that compelled one of my coworkers to announce that she intended to commemorate Memorial Day in a meaningful way, not just with the traditional barbecue. She reflected that many of us tend to take our freedoms and our flag for granted. I would agree. Most of us go about our daily lives without much thought of the conflict in Iraq, unless we know someone who is there.

I am proud to say that both of my parents served in WWII. Mom was stationed stateside in Topeka and Dad in the South Pacific.

Here's my Grandpa Hester with two of his sons in uniform. He had a world map on his wall and kept track of where everyone was. Thankfully my uncles Jim and Finlay survived the war as well.

I can only imagine that probably the greatest hardship of being in the military is the lonely separation from loved ones. My Great Great Grandfather Loren expressed such thoughts in his Civil War diary.

December 4, 1861... Having received a letter from home, I learned that my mother is nigh unto death. I therefore wrote this evening a farewell letter to her, bidding her a final adieu. I find it a hard task and it gives me much pain.

Here is an excerpt from an old Civil War song:

Our weary hearts, a song of home,
And friends we love so dear.
Of the lov'd ones at home that gave us the hand,
and the tear that said, "Goodbye!"
Of the brave and true who've left their homes,
Others wounded long. Some are dead and some are dying,
Many are in tears.

Chorus:
Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,
Wishing for the war to cease;
Many are the hearts looking for the right
To see the dawn of peace.

Giving back

Those of us in the Development Department at The City Mission have the unique opportunity and purpose to connect with people in our community who want to "give back" whether as a volunteer or as a contributor of goods, services or finances.

On Monday we learned that a grant request I had submitted to a foundation in January was going to be funded for the full amount of the request. This particular foundation was started by a family who had done very well in business. I can't give too many details here for sake of confidentiality but suffice it to say that they have provided very generous support to the Mission over the years. It has all been based on relationships that have been cultivated for a long time.

On Tuesday the founder of another family foundation and one of their staff members visited our campus for a tour and a meeting to discuss their potential interest in funding a special project. This particular family also has done very well in business and has provided very generous support to a variety of nonprofits. They invited us to submit a proposal for the full cost of the project.

While touring the campus with this foundation, one of residents in the men's program shared how his life had been transformed. He had come in "off the street", an addict, without hope. Today he's enrolled in classes at a local community college and hopes to get into the computer field. He's been helping out in our adult learning lab, saying its his way of "giving back." He had no idea that he was talking with a man of great wealth who also wants to give back.

On Thursday we had a lunch event highlighting our Laura's Home program for women. We were true to our promise to end the program promptly at 1, but many became engaged in conversation which went on for another hour, mostly around the idea of "giving back."

Today I had lunch with one of our two new board members, a woman whose professional expertise has particular relevance to my work. I came away from that time feeling so appreciative of her and our other board members who give so much of themselves to our work.

This evening one of my coworkers called to say that members of the community came out in full force today to help us fill one of our buses with food supplies. This was a special drive to restock our emergency food pantry which has been running low for weeks.

It's a good kind of tired that we all feel at the end of this busy week, and its a deep sense of gratitude that propels us into the weeks ahead.

"...And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs...will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God." 2 Corinthians 9: 11-12 NLT

Unsung hero

While I consider myself a journalist, I don't think I'd ever want to work in mainstream media as it tends towards the negative, presumably because that's what sells. But since this blog is not a profit-making venture (at least not for now), and since we could all benefit from an uplifting story now and then, I will try to do my part to give people some positive things to think about.

Crystal is the subject of this story. She goes to my church, plays bass guitar in our worship band and is married to professional drummer, Billy. Among other things she's been a cab driver, proprietor of a vintage clothing shop and guitar player for a rock band. I'm convinced that she has the creativity and talent to be an interior decorator, and the know-how and business sense to be a realtor. She and her husband had the foresight to buy a house in a somewhat run-down area of the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood and fix it up real nice. The area is now the latest hot-spot for urban re-development. Their property has appreciated substantially as a result.

One of the things I admire most about Crystal is that she simply adores caring for older people who need nursing care. She's been serving as a nursing assistant at a care facility in her neighborhood. She's the one who takes care of the rather unpleasant tasks, in a matter-of-fact way, yet with the utmost dignity and respect.

She was once assigned to an Alzheimer's unit. One of the first things she did was turn off the tv and replace it with some gentle music, using cd's she had brought from home. The agitation and confusion so often seen in such patients quickly diminished. One man who initially kept pleading, "Help me. Help me," soon quieted and he could be heard to say in a soft voice, "Hold me. Hold me."

Crystal loves to provide those extra touches, taking the time to hold someone's hand for a few moments, or rubbing lotion on their feet, or simply listening patiently to the same story over and over again. But she's been assigned so many patients that she barely has had time to cover the basics. It's been sucking the life out of her to work that way, enough so that she just asked to go on "prn" status (meaning "as needed") and will likely work only one weekend a month. She likes the idea that she'll still have a staff ID badge which will give her some freedom to go in (even on her own time) and provide some of that extra care that she's not been able to do. Meanwhile, she intends to look for a place where she can fulfill her natural calling to provide loving care for those who are too often passed quickly by.

"Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippians 4:8 NLT