Many of my frustrations stem from the very nature of Boaz & Ruth and are a natural occurrence for anyone who chooses to be involved with the organization. Unlike any other nonprofit I have worked with or witnessed, it is extremely difficult to see positive progress and results from your efforts over a short time period. It takes months and even years sometimes to observe noticeable personal growth and development of the people we are working with. I was speaking with Tony, one of the staff members and teacher of the anger management and conflict resolution classes, about these frustrations and he reiterated this point. He says that the age and background of the typical B&R apprentice leads to growth in baby steps. He considers it an accomplishment when a given person is only cussing other people out 2 times a week, for example, instead of five.
Even with daily positive affirmations at the end of each day, which is a tradition at Boaz & Ruth, it becomes surprisingly easy to get caught up in the negativity and criticism that are a part of the daily course of events. I came to Boaz & Ruth a huge supporter and believer in their work, but find myself growing ever more skeptical of the effectiveness of such a program because of all the criticisms coming from the program participants. I continually need to remind myself that those in the program have many frustrations and obstacles in their recovery back into society, and are often unrealistic and irrational in their evaluation of the program.
Another source of frustration and difficultly was the resignation of a member of the ‘leadership team,’ a man who had been involved with the organization nearly from the beginning and who filled a lot of holes and responsibilities that others simply wouldn’t take on. Bill was the manager of all the Life Labs, which are the different businesses that teach job skills. Apparently, the stresses of the job had become too hazardous to his health. His wife also worked at Boaz & Ruth, managing an antique store in a different neighborhood of Richmond, but decided to quit on the same day. Needless to say, their resignation was unexpected and left many holes to fill within the organization.
Even more surprising to me was the way the situation was handled by the organization. I learned of the news in a brief announcement at the end of class on Monday along with most everybody else in the organization, staff, interns, and apprentices alike. I figured that a special meeting would be held to discuss the fallout from the situation later in the day or the next, but no such communication occurred. I felt as though a very significant event in the organization’s operations had been swept under the rug, so to speak, although I’m sure the upper management of the organization had more internal discussions on how to handle the situation.
While I’m at it, I may as well vent about my personal role within B&R. As I mentioned last week, I spent much of the week driving the Mountain Movers truck for the moving business, which I enjoyed but was looking forward to being done with this week. Unfortunately, the resignation of Bill had left some confusion within the Life Labs, since he determined the manpower assigned to each business on a daily basis. That, coupled with the fact that the regular driver was still having health problems, meant I was back out on the truck for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Finally on Friday, when I was relieved of my duties, I thought I would be ready to tackle many of the projects I had put to the side. Instead, I struggled to find motivation to work on anything, bogged down by some of the frustrations listed above along with problems installing the accounting software Quickbooks on my laptop. Instead I found myself researching post-graduation opportunities, particularly the AmeriCorps NCCC program, which (for the record) allows you to travel in a team of ten and serve the greatest needs of the country.
One highlight of the week was class on Friday morning, where my roommate Kevin facilitated a discussion on the documentary Invisible Children. For those who haven’t seen it, IC is the story of three guys from California on their journey to Sudan and Uganda, and the untold story of the outrageous humanitarian crisis and 17-year war happening in Northern Uganda. Having seen the documentary before and participated in an Invisible Children rally earlier in the year, I was very interested to see how the folks at Boaz & Ruth would react to this film. In the discussion that followed the film, a few people said the situation was unfortunate, but felt they couldn’t do anything about it. Others likened the situation of the refugees of Northern Uganda to slavery in the United States, explaining that the people of Uganda were having their ancestry erased just as decedents of slaves can only trace their ancestry back to America. Most were moved by what they saw and were inquiring into ways they could support the movement that was happening in the United States. It was uplifting to me that even those with less than the majority of Americans were willing to donate time or money to such a cause. I’m excited to see what comes of showing the film.
Other events in the closing on Friday helped turn around my mood and planted some ideas in my mind that I hope will help me turn my frustrations and struggles into opportunities for improvement, learning, and growth. Starting at 4pm on every Friday, we have what’s called an Organizational Meeting involving everybody at Boaz & Ruth. It is a time for people to bring up any concerns they have about the organization, including suggestions for improvement or criticisms. However, because of the time of day, it is usually attending sparingly and little comes of it. I didn’t show up at the meeting until a few minutes before 5 because I was helping a co-working with a last-minute project, but this time I was glad I showed up when I did.
I walked in when Mike, a graduate of the program and now on staff at Boaz & Ruth, was talking about the importance for him of just acknowledging the simple pleasures in life, and hearing other people recognize them. In particular, he spoke of Tommy, who was simply enjoying the freedom of being to stand out in the rain after being incarcerated for 26 years. I felt as though he was speaking directly to me with this message. Here I was, getting caught up in all the negativity and frustrations of the daily grind; I suddenly realized I need to take more pleasures in the simple successes that happen on a daily basis at B&R and in other areas of my life.
This message was reinforced yet again when Melvin, of whom I’ve mentioned many times before, closed with words of prayer and thankfulness. He mentioned how touched he was by watching Invisible Children earlier that morning because it made him realize how grateful he was to have the basic necessities in his life. Here was a man who had sold drugs, probably paid an unnecessarily high price for his decisions, and been released back into society with little support, yet he was still grateful to God for all He has given. I was suddenly humbled because of how fortunate and lucky have been to be surrounded by supportive and loving friends and family.
At that point I knew I had to do something to show my gratitude and appreciation, and at the same time recognize the simple victories happening every day at Boaz & Ruth. After pondering on this, I figured it would be best to start simple by leaving anonymous notes of appreciation to co-workers and the apprentices of Boaz & Ruth. To keep it anonymous I will have to be sneaky and strategic. I plan to write a couple simple notes per day. If you have any more suggestions on anonymous kindness please let me know.
Of course, over the last week was the 4th of July. I had aspirations to go all-out patriotic with Mount Vernon and Washington DC, but I couldn’t find anybody to make the journey with me. On Tuesday, I went out to a horse track called Colonial Downs and saw a horse race and some fireworks. Wednesday was a lazy and relaxing day filled with napping and reading. In the evening, Kevin & I went to a huge park in Richmond along with the other half of Richmond to watch the city concert band and more fireworks. I also met one of his college friends who attended the Breck School in Minneapolis, and other who participated in the Minnesota Studies in International Development (MSID) program in India while at the University of Richmond. MSID is based out of the U of M and only about 100 people participate per year, so this was quite the coincidence. Even crazier is that I will be participating in MSID when I go to Ecuador in the fall!
The view of the fireworks from our back porch
Richmond City Concert Band
On Saturday I helped celebrate the 40th birthday of somebody I didn’t even know at a 1700 acre ranch with a private 25 acre lake about ½ hour west of Richmond. There were probably about 150 people there and plenty of food for everybody with a 100 lb. pig! It was refreshing to finally spend some time in a natural, freshwater lake as well.
So, I am entering the week with renewed energy and determination at work. I am looking forward to dropping random notes of kindness on multiple people this week. Stay tuned for updates!
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