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There’s no feeling in the world like seeing your dreams come true. One of my dreams that is coming true at our Riverside Campus is having more opportunities to engage directly with the people who use our services. One of the ways I’m doing that is through a monthly "Coffee with Carol." Our most recent session involved six individuals: four women, one man and a six-month-old. They gave me feedback on their experience with our services and wanted to hear what we envision for the future. They also gave me their ideas for ways we can expand our programming.
Their ideas were smart, fresh, enthusiastic, innovative and based on what our community needs now. Their ideas were all about how to increase safety, foster more of a sense of community and belonging for youth, and get more people employed while creatively solving for child care. More of these conversations will lead to more ideas, stronger relationships and greater credibility in the 76119 community into which we have introduced ourselves.
I left our conversation feeling excited but also knowing that they’d hold me accountable. They see the Riverside Campus and its beauty as a promise to the community. “You didn’t come here and build this to do nothing, right?” one of them asked, rhetorically. No, we came to make a difference. By holding these conversations, by forging relationships between people, by building a community hub with opportunities for new partners and needed services such as health care, we have widened our impact exponentially, but we are just starting to see what is possible.
Speaking of ideas, I always love to hear your thoughts and feedback! Send me an email at cklocek@transforminglives.org if you have ideas to share.
Categories: Words on the Wing
