SVP Calgary

13 Years.

Folks who know me are not surprised when my mind jumps from thought to thought.   It’s not easy to carry on a conversation, but they are use to it.   In fact, the reason I write is because it helps to sort out my monkey brain, as it swings from idea to idea.

I chalk part of this up to being an Aries and have been dealing with it all my life.  In high school, I tried out for each sport.  In most cases, I never went to see if I made it.  I just wanted to “try”  In my twenties, I moved from country to country.  Again, because I wanted to try.

So finding myself at Calgary Youth Justice’s AGM last night, I was challenged by a sheet of paper listing over 300 volunteers, some of whom have given 13 years of volunteer service to the organization.

13 YEARS!

In this industry, we talk about patience.  Change and impact take a long time.  One small act at a time.  As I sat with members of the Youth Justice Committees, I was in awe of their immediate knowledge of the services in Calgary.  When asked, “How would you support a teen with addiction?” – a list of organizations and supports was rattled off, from memory, by three ladies at my table.

I sat bewildered.  My mind swirled, “How do you know all of that?!  And so quickly?”

The most apparent answer – longevity.

When you spend the time, over time – you learn.  And when you have 300 committed people doing that same thing, you’ve created a community.  What I love most about Calgary Youth Justice is that they’ve created a community (over 10+) years dedicated to giving Calgary’s at-risk youth another chance.

It is a community solution – to what many would consider the role of the Police, the legal system, the government.

Certainly, longevity is why we find community within Social Venture Partners.  Because people who have spent the past ten years with together, or portions there of, know that the strength of change in their city – is through community.  We are a community of Investors supporting a community of Youth Justice Committees.

In each situation, the strength of community is because people are in it for the long haul.  They are patiently optimistic.   And with one small act at a time, they will make change.  They are making change.

And while this monkey brain is challenged to focus for 13 minutes, it is happy that it can at least call attention to those who serve, have served, are serving for 13 years.

Twenty years and counting…Connections Counselling

A warm and breezy Sunday evening in May was the perfect backdrop for Connections Counselling’s 20th year celebration at the Yardhouse in Kensington.  Greeted by champagne on entry, you felt like family the moment you walked through the door.  And that’s undoubtedly because building families is at the core of what Connections does.

Champagne in hand & silent auction in my sights, I paused as my eyes were drawn to the TV screens around the room.  A puzzle piece, simple type, and the word “Connections”.  The beauty of great design is that it can say everything – even when the message is complex.

While I personally had absolutely zero to do with the process, procurement, or design – I couldn’t help but being overwhelmed with pride and excitement.  And to Houman, an amazing lead partner, who was involved  – an immense thank you.  It’s the seemingly small bits that when all added up make incredible impact and change for the organizations SVP supports.

Here’s the “new” Connections.

In chatting with Lauren, who began the organization twenty years ago, I asked, “How does it feel to be standing here twenty years later?  Did you know how this would all unfold ?”   She laughed.  And smiled at her daughter standing next to her, who also now works with Connection and said, “I was pregnant with her.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  And here we are.”

And isn’t it so, that the small actions we do everyday, somehow collect themselves into great moments?
(I love the quote “the days are long, but the years are short”).

These moments celebrate why we are in this business.
They allow us time for joy in work that is hard.
They gather the family who made it possible.
And they let us delight in what we’ve built.

On a personal note, these are also the very rare moments where I am able to show my shear THRILL at the magic of Jason “The Funny Magic Guy” and let my competitive edge show (in my hard-fought yet mostly unsuccessful) dashes to the silent auction.

It’s an honor for SVP Calgary to be part of the Connections family.  We’ll be cheering for you in your  next twenty years!

Canada Helps asks “Did you Know?”

Following on the success of similar ‘edutainment’ videos, Canada Helps spices up the world of donors and giving in their short 4 minute video.  Great job presenting statistics on donors & donations – so I don’t fall asleep!

Do what you can.

This quote arrived in my email inbox this week:

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.  (Theodore Roosevelt)

Earlier in the week, I heard it said another way, “Do your share.  Know your share.”

And this morning, I found a note I wrote last August (which I love), “If you help, this will get better.”

Why the universe lines up little hints like this is beyond me.  But when they stack up like this, I stand back and take notice.

In our blog, I usually try to write something related to specifically to  philanthropy. .. how to give better, more effectively, with more intention…etc.  But the element that I find so powerful in these thoughts is not about the technical or professional side of the field, it is really about asking ourselves, “what brings us joy?” and then doing that.  What we “should” be doing doesn’t matter.   In fact, the “how we give, how we donate our time, and how we engage in our community” are all greatly improved if we can find the joy.

And this is the important part, “joy” doesn’t have to be complex.  It actually may be incredibly simple & seemingly quite “uninteresting”.   Personally, and for some reason I can’t quite figure out, I adore manual labor.  LOVE IT!  I love the opportunities to pick up trash, build stuff, garden, lift boxes, etc.  You can imagine that it took me sometime to figure this out, and longer, to actually admit it.  After all, aren’t I “suppose” to want to do “interesting” things like draw up a strategic plan, think about social enterprise, and sign up to volunteer in Africa?

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” because “if you help, it’ll get better.”

It’s simple.  Possibly uninteresting.  But there is no guilt in that statement.  The only requirement is to know what brings you joy, and do just that.

Have your cake? If you like cake.

Among the many topics at the Skoll World Forum, the question that has swirled around my head is “can you have your cake and eat it too?” posed in relation to social good with market returns.  The most interesting answer to this question came as “Well, it depends on if you like cake.”

Filled with a panel of financial and foundation experts, the conversation got to the heart of the debate – what kind of returns can you/should you expect from social good organizations?  Is there a number you can attach?  Is 7%, over time, an accurate amount?  How much “time” are we talking?

The opinion from a leading investment bank representative was “if you aspire to create a positive externality, it’ll cost you.”  For many of us of interested in creating social good, that is a fair trade off.  After all, how do you price the externality of alleviating poverty, improving education, or reversing climate change?  Certainly they would be worth a smaller financial return?

My favorite analogy made was in relation to baseball owners.   It is financially certain that you will lose money by owning a baseball team.  Yet, we continue to have teams – and folks continue to own teams.  In this sense, there is more than just making a financial return.  It’s more than just the most rational choice, its about personal interest – possibly, personal legacy.

Going forward, we need to create financial products that allow us to explore the area between social and commercial investment.  In the future, balancing this duality will be a core competency of any investor.  (At least that is my hope.)  But to get to this place we’ll need two things: 1) we’ll need to understand what the risk/reward is for social ventures and 2) we need to encourage long term thinking – just building, scaling, and selling will not be enough.

This isn’t an easy task, but it plenty exciting.  Or, it just depends on if you like cake.

Do Nonprofit Boards Really Want Younger Members? The Answer is YES!

It is needless to say how essential Board members are to an organization, whether for profit or not for profit. They provide directions and guidance, they present opportunities to potential resources and networks, and some fund raise (36% according to the Assessing Not-for profits Boards: Governance Structures and Practices report done by Innovative Research Group in 2009).

In addition to the common topics around effective Board governance such as diversity of the member skills and development, fundamental training and retention, time commitment and fundraising, discussions and questions on the age of Board members are also on the rise recently. 

How many Board members of your organization are under the age of 30?

Asking this question is not meant to disrespect all of the more mature Board members because of their age in any way, nor does it undermine the huge support and great skills that those members have given to our industry. The reason why there is an emphasis on “under the age of 30″ is because that age bracket includes all of Generation Y, which is the largest generational demographic behind the Baby Boomers at 80 million strong! Just imagine the amount of potentials and resources available in that sheer number!

Considering the pros and cons, the benefits of having young Board members include:
 - Fresh perspective on old problems,
 - Access and ability to new technology and networks,
 - Result-oriented thinking,
 - Passion for the mission,
 - and the willingness to try new things;

Some concerns about recruiting youn members may include:
 - Qualifications, accountability and commitment,
 - Concerns of isolation (of being the only young person the board),
 - The need to have younger generation on boards,
 - Or even where to find them!

From the perspective of providing services to those who make up our community, maybe it is time to re-examine who sits on your Board. From the stance of involving those who have potentials of being effective and dedicated with a fresh approach, perhaps we ought to think about which generation of audience and voices do our Board members represent, and consider expanding that scope to give us a bigger picture of our society today!

For young folks out there who are looking to give back to your community in a different way but not sure how - join a Board! Become a part and help steering that organization which always touches your heart, and be a voice in your community!

(Inspiration and some facts of this blog entry is from “Do Nonprofit Boards Really Want Younger Members?” by Rosetta Thurman in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.)

What does it feel like to live in poverty?

Can you imagine being a single dad, with a nine year old son with learning disability and asthma, and a twenty year old daughter who has her own one year old baby?  What would you do to make sure you have food on the table for them, a roof over their heads, clean clothes to wear, and a proper education?  What would you sacrifice over another to barely make ends meet? Tough questions! And those were the questions I had to ponder on a Sunday afternoon during a 90-minute Poverty Simulation exercise.

As a part of the Urban Exposure Project workshop, a group of 32 Calgarians experienced what it feels like to be living under poverty. The activity was a game-like simulation in a gymnasium – tables were set up  to act as service stations and chairs were placed in a circle representing homes. Our sense of reality was gone – and this struck my fellow participants and I very hard. With each person given a role and a scenario, we had to try our best to survive a “1 month” period divided into 15-minute “weeks” with short breaks in between. We were asked to live according to our scenario, as close to reality as possible. In my role as a dad, I was unable to consult my peer who played the 9-year-old boy - since in real life he wouldn’t be able to tell me how to budget!

Despite the fact that my group was organized (at least I thought we were) – we planned and calculated all the income and the expenses before we started – within the first two “weeks”, my 9-year-old and my granddaughter were taken away twice by social services due to child neglect (as I had to leave them alone at home while I went to work and couldn’t afford childcare!) I was sent home from work due to tardiness because I was running errands trying to pay for my utilities/food bill.   I had to put up with unethical interest charges at the quick cash station twice or else I couldn’t cash my cheque. My daughter had to pawn most of our furniture. And my family was evicted once because I failed to pay the mortgage on time!!! By the end of 3rd week, I was so stressed by the running around and trying to stay organized while scrambling around for available resources and keeping my family fed!  My daughter did not show up at her college class once because she had to help me run errands and take care of her baby. 

My story is not unique, other groups had their own surprises as they went through different scenarios and came up with desperate solutions (such as selling drugs) in order to support their families. Long story short, it came down to sacrificing many things we take for grants for our mere survival. Given the short time and limited knowledge on the services available out there, I had to make tough choices taking care of immediate and short term needs instead of having a long term plan or even a “dream”.  

The session definitely opened my eyes and got me thinking about what it feels like for those who are living under the LICO (Low Income Cut Off) line. It also shed some lights on the kind of things we (the fortunate) could help such as promoting helpful resources and agencies and making them available for easier access.

(For more information, the povery-simulation day was featured in the news. Click here to read more.)

Seeing Calgary with a different set of eyes

Last week’s Urban Exposure Project adventure was different from our first, and in a very real sense,  we saw downtown from an entirely different perspective.  Our downtown tour guides were Frank and his wife Elizabeth. They were both homeless when they became friends with Melanie, a participant of the same United Way project last year.  Frank and Elizabeth took a group of us for a walk on a breezy Sunday afternoon to tell us their story and give us a tour of downtown through their eyes.   Since a lot of my friends live in the Beltline area of downtown, I thought I was familiar with the area…until Sunday!

Have you hear of St. Francis Church? Or Inn from the Cold? Or The Alpha House? Do you know what they are or the kind of services they provide?”

Some people may know Inn from the Cold as they are a bigger organization with a reputation of providing temporary shelters for homeless people. But I bet not very many know about St. Francis Church and The Alpha House or the fact that Inn from the Cold is the only shelter that will take in an entire homeless families – with children AND men as well!

St. Francis Church is one block behind the busy trendy shopping area on 17 Ave SW. Tucked behind where people stroll around – enjoying the sunshine, a cup of Starbucks coffee and shopping – is this church that opens once a week to homeless people (providing the best hot meals, according to Frank).  People line up as early as 2 o’clock in the afternoon even though they open the doors at 3:30pm.   Being homeless before, Frank said for many living on the street this may very well be the only hot meal available in a week.  This was the only place that they’d serve you a meal without asking you a single question or turning you away.

With the hope of speaking to those lining up, to hear their stories, we joined the line up too.  We received a lot of curious and sometimes “discriminating” looks (a bunch of youngsters wearing clean trendy clothes with our camera bags on our backs, and some of us wearing brand name sunglasses, and mostly girls), of course!  Unfortunately, when the volunteers  found out we were a group from United Way, we were asked to leave (due to privacy issues). We understood the concerns of the church, but at the same time, we were disappointed by a missed opportunity.

During our stop at the Inn from the Cold, staff member Carla said that she finds that there are homeless people who come in, having issues with addiction of alcohol or drugs, but it does not exempt anyone from being one pay cheque away or being one accident away from living in poverty or on the street.  She told the story of a past client who came to the shelter with her daughter fleeing fom an abusive husband.  They became homeless overnight regardless of whether they live in a luxurious house or not.   Fortunately, they found appropriate help in a timely fashion.

At the end of our tour, we stopped by The Alpha House.  Frank told us The Alpha House is usually the last resort among the shelters.  They accept homeless people who are on drugs or drunk that are often turned away from other facilities.  Frank’s wife, Elizabeth, described to us how she once had to pretend to be high on some drugs in order to be accepted into the shelter because she had no where to go – as all the other shelters were full.  It came down to desperate measure just to find a place to sleep at night.  The irony is that the Alpha House is located right beside the Victoria Park c-train station and by the newly-developed Sasso condominums.

It was an eye-opening experience to see places which I thought I was familiar – but in a  different light.   Frank made a candid comment that “poverty lives right here in Calgary”.   It lives right by the park and right on your doorstep. Don’t forget about the people in your very own community.

My Experience with Poverty in the Community

Urban Exposure Project 2010: Poverty in the Community is a volunteer project that I am a part of, using photography to document my own learnings and reflections on this social issue in Calgary. As part of the learning process, I went out on a little adventure with a few friends over the weekend, walking in downtown on Stephen’s Ave, all the way to Chinatown and looping back along the c-train line, observing and hoping to be inspired.

I went out with an optimism that there are people out there who are doing their best to overcome poverty and all they need is just a little bit more understanding and help from the society to guide them onto the right track. I also went out with an open mind eager to learn about the stories behind each person wondering on the street or busy working on a weekend. The outcome at the end of my adventure was bitter and sweet.

I met a young man on 8th Ave near Flames Central, his name is Henry. He’s 20 years old originally from Ontario. He just got laid off a month ago and is now living in the Homeless Shelter because he couldn’t afford rent on his part time job delivering papers for the Calgary Herald. He was energetic, clean groomed and dressed, and very open to answer all of my questions. He has 5 years of experience working in kitchens, but now having a real hard time finding a job due to the economy. He also mentioned the discrimination he’s experienced as soon as people find out that he currently does not have a permanent home address.

During our short conversation, he asked me to spare him 40 cents for a phone call. He said he needed to call some restaurants where he applied for jobs. I was sympathetic of his situation and also hopeful to see someone living in poverty is still trying hard to turn things around. I was optimistic in that whatever we (the people who want to help in society) do have a positive effect in some ways. He was almost the ideal example I could find and I felt good about stepping outside of my comfort zone to understand what poverty means to this young man.

I left with satisfaction and a sense of wanting to contribute more. When I was waiting to cross the street at a traffic light two blocks down, a street cleaner sweeping the curb came up to me and said

“How much did you give him, young lady? He fooled ya!”

I was confused…and I replied “5 bucks.”

Then he said, “Oh perfect! Just enough for a beer!”

Chatting with the street cleaner, I learned he has been sweeping 8 Ave for two years now and he had heard Henry asking for money and telling people the same story many times already. The street cleaner showed contempt towards Henry saying that he was just lazy regardless of having a healthy body, intact limbs that are more than enough to find a job to support himself. He claimed that Henry is an alcoholic who rather bag for money than getting back on his feet. In contrast, he’s doing everything he can include sweeping the street on a Saturday afternoon in order to feed and support his entire family.

A combination of emotions flood over me. Anger that I was fooled and that I was too naive, sympathy towards Henry’s situation nevertheless, apathy because of the lies and human nature, and a faint memory of slightly smelling that alcohol 0n Henry…

Obviously, Henry and the street cleaner are just two examples of the different perspectives of poverty out there in our community. After the emotions fade away and calming down, I recognize that there are many layers of issues contributing to the root of poverty, both internal and external problems. My friends explained it as that Henry didn’t lie intentionally, he was just too desperate for his current needs that he would make up stories to get alcohol, which is probably the main reason why he’s impoverished. His act of lying does not erase the fact that he is in poverty and he still needs help.

I wonder, is it simply a matter of personal choice or is it deeper than that? No surprise that there is a tension out there between those who dedicate their lives to help end poverty and those who are skeptical about whether all the charitable works have a impact or not when personal choice is really the determining factor! Now, if it’s really a matter of personal choice, is it realistic to have a goal to end poverty someday? I mean, it’s scary to think that a small decision could set back all the effort people put in trying to help! Perhaps it’s part of human nature that we keep hope and strive towards that goal.

Even though I work in the non-profit sector, I am still learning. For others who contemplate these same questions, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Provincial Budget affects the Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector

The new budget presented by Government of Alberta on February 9, 2010 offers mixed results for the nonprofit/voluntary sectory – maintaining same level of funding in some areas and deep cuts in others.

Click here for a great synthesis by the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO) on how the budget affects the sector.