Emergent Dreams

Most of you recall that I am a SCORE mentor. Have been for 7 and a half years. My management specialty is in strategic planning while most of my career was spent in the nonprofit sector. The latter makes me a bit unique. Most people don’t realize that 14% or more of our economy rests in nonprofit organizations. That does not include government or government agency enterprises. Those operations likely account for another 15% or more of our economy.

The thing I like about nonprofits is that they are driven by the passions of their founders and leaders. They are committed to the value structure they serve. For example, credit unions are nonprofit financial cooperatives originally formed to help low income wage earners. They provided financial services in bits and pieces to help the small guys in the economy. They still do, but credit unions have matured into much more sophisticated financial institutions in the last 30 years. They did so to survive. Today they continue their mission in helping people grow financial strength however small that definition is.

Day care for low income single mothers is another nonprofit field of enterprise. Covering operating costs and eking out measly earnings to the daycare workers is hard but necessary work. The kids benefit. The single parent homes benefit. A generation has a better chance to prosper.

So too battered wives and kids. Safehouses are created and operated by nonprofits. Same for private schools serving low income families. Centers for art education in poor school districts which cannot afford art education programs.

Readers of my blog know I care about quality of life issues. So many of these issues exist it is frustrating for me to witness society’s failure to adequately address these. However, many nonprofits enter the picture to address those very issues.

My work as a SCORE mentor encounters many entrepreneurs willing to create nonprofits to address these issues. A few recently emerged.

Gun Violence: a family suffered two sibling deaths by gun violence over 18 years. The first death plunged them into the reality of the issue. They responded by developing programs that help communities lessen gun violence in their midst. The second family death energized them to expand their operations significantly. That is what we are working on presently.

Gifted Child Education: three teachers with nearly 60 years’ experience combined teaching gifted kids were disappointed with school employers shutting their doors. These institutions could not sustain operations, so the teachers thought there was a better, nonprofit way forward. They started their own school. Four years later it is thriving. A true nonprofit, they are led by a talented board of experienced educators from across the nation. Who knows? They may just be inventing a successful template for gifted education to be copied by many communities nationwide.

Homeless Veterans: a woman client is heartbroken that homeless vets appear frequently in her community. She is committed to housing them and teaching them the skills that will help them graduate to permanent housing solutions.

There are other issues and nonprofits forming to address them. Too many to list here. The point is that there are people who care enough to take action to solve problems. This is not government in action. This is individual effort. In many instances these programs are a result of government inaction or inadequate resources.

In my career I have watched and worked with people who care about others and value quality of life they think all should share. At the very least, these people struggle to provide access to such quality of life elements.

This witness has been the source of my positivity. I believe people can do great things alone and in team. I believe this because I have seen it happen over and over again. Nonprofits are a little recognized asset to our nation. Thank God for them!

November 5, 2021