Monday, October 29, 2007

Pinch me...

I am in disbelief...


I got a call today from the ED for United Way [of Larimer County] and he told me that basically he'd volunteered "my expertise," to the people working on this HUGE economic development project in town. HUGE!


First, I had to laugh - "expertise?" That I've magically accumulated in all of my 6 years in the worforce - I mean really?

Yeah, he meant really.

See, the hub of this re-development project is the Poudre River corridor, an area which is populated with the camps of many of our chronic homeless. My job will be to advise the committees of this project about:
1.) homelessness in Fort Collins - both chronic and transitional
2.) how different industries (i.e. retail/service) perpetuate the problem with non-living wages
3.) how aspects of the project will affect the homeless, either positively or negatively
The woman he directed me to, for purposes of working together, noted that Fort Collins may be implementing a program very similar to Denver's Road Home project, a project that I have watched and admired from afar for about 2 years now, but have felt that was impossible, due to the discrepancy in resources that non-urban areas receive for these issues. Thanks to an anonymous donor, the seed money for such a program could be available!

Huge exposure opportunity for me. Huge opportunity to effect change and truly help those in need!

Good thing I rediscovered my mojo, eh?

6 comments:

  1. That's huge! So much for cutting back, eh? Sounds like a very worthwhile project, though. Can't wait to hear more!

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  2. Sounds like a great opportunity to work toward change in your community. Congratulations!

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  3. I'd say you have some expertise! Most of this post sounded like Greek to me. What was that, something about "non-living wages"? I would assume that to mean minimum wage is impossible to live on. I've seen from experience that while even single, it is tough to get by on TWICE minimum wage, these days. And does this mean you'll be traveling to Fort Collins a lot?

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  4. This is great news. I have always been interested in writing a pilot based on this type of thing. You would be my consultant. For free at first. Then when a network picks it up, we will be RIIIIICH. Like how I volunteered you among all your other duties? (Not ready to write it now... just at some point... so kind of think about it...)

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