For the most part, the week at Boaz & Ruth was enjoyable and filled with learning opportunities. I kicked off the week on Monday morning by teaching my second class ever. The class was centered around evaluating the performance of a recent move performed by the moving company which was a 440 mile round trip and required 4 separate truckloads. We particularly wanted to evaluate the move from a business and financial standpoint. It was great to see everybody thinking from a business perspective and apply the lessons of this case study to their own businesses. This was the first step in what will hopefully be a few intense weeks of working with all the different businesses on improving their business practices. More classes and meetings will follow in the weeks ahead.
Boaz & Ruth witnessed another casualty, so to speak, in its manpower over the last week. Randy, who was an intern/volunteer from VCU and was working on developing the job placement capabilities of B&R, resigned midweek. Randy, in his 50’s, was himself an ex-felon and was deeply passionate about the B&R mission, or so it seemed. Therefore, his resignation came as a surprise to me as he never would show frustration or anger with his work situation. At the weekly intern meeting later in the week, we described the high turnover of personnel at B&R as “God’s way of pruning the Boaz & Ruth tree.” To me, this seemed like a convenient explanation to sidestep a growing problem within the organization. The turnover will be even more remarkable when a group of six interns leave over the next month. So far, only one intern replacement is committed; he will start this Wednesday. This means that of the 16-or-so staff and interns that were at B&R when I started, only about 8 will be left when I leave. This is both a great challenge and opportunity for the organization!
I also experienced the personal struggle of an apprentice at B&R in a more real way then ever before. Jerome, who has been at B&R for a little over 6 months, had started to relapse into an alcohol addition that he had avoided since being out of prison. My first impression of Jerome was a man who had a very hard shell- who was set in his ways and invincible to the temptations of society. As I have gotten to know Jerome better, I have found him to be more of an honest, even innocent individual than I originally thought. He has struggled through a number of different things since being at B&R- a housing transition, the lack of money for basic necessities, and not getting along with fellow program participants. For this reason, my roommate Kevin, and myself to a lesser extent, had befriended Jerome like no one else except for maybe his immediate family. Therefore, I was concerned when Jerome looked very distressed on Wednesday. Later, he told me that some of his problems with alcoholism had returned and he was afraid it would lead him on a path back to jail. His psychological condition became so tumultuous that Kevin & I had to drive him to the Richmond Crisis Center for a counseling session on Thursday afternoon. It was difficult to see a man who had already gone through so much hardship to struggle like that. In a way, I felt helpless because I am not a psychologist and I had no way of understanding his situation, but at the same time, by Kevin & I being there for him and just listening was a big difference maker for him.
During the week, I also made a few journeys outside the office to learn from experts in the nonprofit sector. I always love taking advantage of these opportunities to network with others who work in the sector and to hear experts talk about Board governance and nonprofit accountability (I know, I’m special). On Wednesday, I made the journey up to Falls Church, VA (just south of DC) with fellow interns Josh & Kevin to a luncheon on social entrepreneurship. The event was hosted by the formed governor of Virginia Mark Warner and included a panelist discussion with some locally revered nonprofit icons. At $150/plate (paid for, thankfully, by Boaz & Ruth), the event was definitely a high-profile one. However, the price tags on made-for-nonprofit events like that really get me wondering. When nonprofits are already scrapping for money, is it just to charge so much, even if the event is professionally catered and includes individuals whose time is worth a lot of money? I’d like to think that sometimes everybody could agree to put on a cheaper event for the betterment of the nonprofit sector, but I have come to learn that the world does not always work that way.
Another issue the event brought up in my mind was the great contrast events like these bring about in the nonprofit sector- one minute we are whining and dining in an elegant ballroom, the next we are listening to Jerome talk about his fear of returning back to jail. This contrast of a world of struggle and service with a world of privilege and elegance was made even more apparent as I enjoyed a weekend of luxury and relaxation back out at the river near the Chesapeake Bay with friends.
While I had been out to this house back on my third weekend in Richmond, this time it seemed even more luxurious and foreign, probably because the everyday battles at Boaz & Ruth were now more entrenched in my mind. Regardless, I was grateful to spend two nights out at the river in the company of friends as we boated, tubed, and wakeboarded by day and conversed and gazed at the stars by night. Even as things seemed so carefree and relaxing, there was still a bit of guilt in the back of my mind knowing that many of my friends back at Boaz & Ruth never have or ever will experience this.
Blaine is the new intern at Boaz & Ruth
That is NOT me
That IS
Barefoot races around the house were part of the festivities
On Sunday morning, I went from the Bay Area (1.5 hours east of Richmond) all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Humpback Rocks (2 hours west of Richmond). This hiking excursion was with Eternity Church, my roommate’s home church which I have been attending off-and-on. The hike was short but strenuous because of its rapid decent. However, the 270 degree view from the summit was well worth all the effort expended to reach the top. I will let the pictures do the describing of the majesty atop this mountain.
Laura & I
Landon & Kevin
As we came back from the hike, I was felt the need to bring the experience of hiking to the folks of Boaz & Ruth, much as we had done the previous weekend with the beach. With my time running out in Richmond, though, it may have to be an idea I entrust with someone else to make happen. Only God knows the remaining opportunities I will have over my last three weeks in Richmond. All I know is that it will be over before I realize it!
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