A Nonprofit Destiny

This is my first time writing a blog. I'm always wanting to talk about nonprofits (especially the ones I am apart of). My main goal in this blog is not to make you get out your checkbook and send us something. The goal is to make you aware of the need for change. So please come back and see what else is going on. Some days may be serious. Some days may be funny. Some posts may be long and others short. I'm looking forward to taking this journey. Are you?

It's hard to believe that my destiny began when I wasn't even looking. But isn't that how life usually goes? We work hard and think we know what we want to do but then before we know it God's made the way for what we are meant to do. I guess that's how my destiny brought me to nonprofits.

If you would've asked me about nonprofit work 5 years ago, I wouldn't have had any idea about it. Though I had a college education, I wasn't educated in the vast need of assistance for those in need. Sure I knew there were people out there who weren't as fortunate as me but I never thought about the people who slept on park benches because they had no home or went days without eating because there was no money for food. But it isn't just these situations that bring the attention for help. It's also someone who has worked all their life only to be let go from their job and can't pay a utility bill. Or a mom who wants to go back to school and make a better life for herself and her child but there is no affordable childcare available. This is a society we live in. This is what's all around us. No matter how big or small your community is the need for change is there.

I now work for a smaller nonprofit agency but I like to say that we have a big heart. Sarah's Place mission is to empower all, especially women and their children, with the tools and resources that promote self-worth and self-sufficiency. It provides the building blocks of opportunity. Founded in 1996, two Catholic sisters (Sister Sally and Sister Maritia) came to small Sandy Hook on a mission to make a difference. They didn't come in saying "This is what we are going to do." They came in and asked the community "What do you need?" That's what the agency continues to do but as a society we need to take part in this theory. Ask yourself "How can I help this person/family out?" or "What do they need from me to help make a change?"

We can't be selfish. We can't go into it with our own motives to make ourselves happy. No, we perform these actions with the other person in mind. That's what I do on a daily basis. That's the outlook I use every day. I want to make a change but I want to make sure that I don't do it for myself. I want to make the changes that matter to the particular person. It's not always easy but it's what's best for others that count. What changes can you make?