NOLA – No One Lives Alone

A favorite story in Margaret Wheatley’s Turning to One Another is what happened after friends began discussing the needs of children in a Vietnamese orphanage. One woman was returning to Vietnam to adopt a second child and she had promised herself that she would take medical supplies with her. One friend help make a list of critical supplies. Weeks later, the small group had collected enough donations to fill four forty-foot shipping containers. And it all began when “some friends and I started talking.”

Recently I was one of ten people who attended the first meeting of NOLA, an initiative in Grand Haven and Holland to match homeowners with people needing housing. NOLA stands for No One Lives Alone. A common scenario that NOLA would address is an elder homeowner who is a widow and experiencing both loneliness and rising costs of home ownership being matched with someone needing affordable housing. Ron Bechtel, Executive Director of NOLA, facilitated the meeting. We watched and discussed a PowerPoint presentation that helped us understand what NOLA is trying to accomplish:

1. create economically sustainable housing for both residents and owners,
2. open doors of opportunity for the most vulnerable people,
3. design housing systems built to naturally foster community,
4. form coalitions to achieve what no single group could do alone.

Ron walked us through three major processes that have to be created in order for home sharing to become a reality:

Homeshare Approval Process – a process that will gain political approval and make home sharing legal and simple.
Available Homes Process – identifies homeowners willing to share their home with another person.
Committed Sharers Process – when applied, ensures the safety and compatibility of both parties and an understanding of the monthly home share fee, access to features of the property and any work responsibilities that will be traded for fee reduction, if any.

When we consider housing problems, we begin to realize that they have been brought about by the way we structure housing. And the number of people seeking affordable housing is only growing larger. In Ottawa County (2012) 8,191 people declared that they needed affordable housing. In 2015 the number had already jumped to 15,258.

NOLA has solutions to some of our housing problems. Bechtel says that NOLA is not a broad-brush program. It matches a specific population with a specific solution. The housing crisis in Holland will not be solved by any single solution – we need many solutions working together.

Four words seemed particularly important during our discussion and pointed to an intentional framework with which to guide future activity.

catalyst– we are to build coalitions that result in home sharing becoming reality
sustainable– forming long-term relationships between participants
focused– impacting specific people who are alone or need housing
organic– helping form healthy relationships that are natural and mutually supportive

The question and answer period produced some smiles.
How many are on the Program Approval Process Team? No one.
How many are on the Available Homes Process Team? No one.
How about the Committed Sharers Process Team? No one.

Smiling from the modest starting point, we realized that the ten of us were NOLA, Holland. Ron then asked, “Who will convene the next meeting of the Program Approval Process?” Available Homes Process? Committed Sharers Process? and attendees declared what they were willing to do. Bechtel wisely described the committees as action committees.

I’m anxious for progress to be made on NOLA so that we can look back and say, “It all began when a few of us got together and started talking.”

Contact Ron if you are interested in taking action on affordable housing (RonB@mynola.org).

Where Faith and Justice Meet

I believe there is a disconnect between Christians and the poor. Most Christians, including me, don’t act like Jesus who spent his ministry teaching, healing and living among the marginalized. In fact, Jesus was one of the marginalized.
The way we practice our faith can be called “devotional.” We can be found praying, singing and listening to sermons while the homeless remain homeless and hungry. This gap between need and inaction is troubling, but some churches reflect the understanding that Christians must respond to the pain and suffering of the marginalized in concrete ways.
I believe that the First United Methodist Church of Holland is living its way toward an authentic faith, one that uses the hands and feet of its members to live out its values. This week I talked with Lead Pastor Brad Bartelmay to learn about the foundations of the church’s activism.
Brad was raised in Youngstown, Ohio, “a great place to grow up.” He was a high school sophomore and able to grasp the grim realities of economic collapse when the steel mills closed on “Black Monday.” While he grew up “unchurched,” he felt the call to ministry during college. He received a classical education at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary, affiliated with the United Methodist Church, but was also challenged to consider the contemporary issues of systemic injustice and white privilege. The work of Rosemary Ruether and black liberation theology became influential. “The Gospels are about developing a personal relationship with God, but they’re also about living the ethic of Jesus and contributing to the establishment of the Reign of God.”
           Situations arise when a prophetic voice is desperately needed. Injustice must be condemned, and people mobilized. Early in his ministry a black family awakened to find a burning cross in their front yard in a community near the church he was serving. Brad pushed back against the racism and worked to develop a circle of support for the family. When the casino was being built in New Buffalo Brad spoke against systems of income inequality and corporations that prey on those who are addicted.
Brad’s first exposure to the LGBTQ community occurred while he was in high school.  He noticed tension in a girlfriend’s family, and he came to realize that her father knew about and resented her brother’s sexual orientation. Through witnessing the young man’s pain Brad experienced the destructive nature of bigotry first hand. His support for the LGBTQ community came from this and other personal experiences.
Who are the marginalized? According to Pastor Brad, they are people hungering to be known, cared for, respected and seen as real human beings. The myths spun about them are not who they are. “We objectify them so that those “objects” can be cast aside and ignored.” As products of capitalism, we have been told that life is a competition, it’s “everyone for themselves.” Seeing the marginalized as human beings in need would perturb our plan to get ahead.
Can we end poverty? “That’s unlikely.” We haven’t created systems that are fair. And, as a consequence of human nature, of taking care of ourselves and ignoring others, “You will always have the poor among you….” (John 12:8, NIV). “As Christians, we are called to do our part, called to establish the Reign of God, but it remains for God to finally fulfill that task. What we can do here, is establish a church where the marginalized are seen and valued. Poverty is a reality, yes, but marginalization is never acceptable. We can be a place for those who don’t have a place.”
How about policy changes that would have a positive impact? “We are growing aware of the positive impact that affordable housing can have. Everyone deserves a home. Everyone deserves justice. There is a great deal of tension between the two political parties regarding immigration, economics and creation care (to name a few conflicts) and, hopefully, we will find a way to resolve those tensions.”
Next week we will learn what else Lead Pastor Brad Bartelmay had to say about First United Methodist Church of Holland and its relationship with the marginalized.

 

 

Four Quarters Giving Circle

Like the young boy who plugs the leak in the dyke with his thumb, we know of situations where even one person can make a big difference in the lives of others. If that one person invites others to join the cause, all the better.

This week’s focus is on Four Quarters, a Holland philanthropy group that meets quarterly at Brew Merchant to write $100 personal checks to deserving non-profits. I interviewed Jerry Root, one of Four Quarter’s champions. He’s a former HPS teacher, now working in retirement on Hope College’s Campus Ministry Team.

Jerry shared that Four Quarters began in 2017 with the knowledge that Women Who Care and 100 Men Who Give a Damn (elsewhere) were doing similar work. A few friends began thinking about starting a 100 Men chapter, but discovered some locals were ready to launch Four Quarters.

Four Quarters meets quarterly to hear 10-minute presentations by three local non-profit representatives (often those with less name recognition). Following the presentations, one of those groups receives personal checks directly from FQ members. Jerry indicates that meeting absentees can still write checks. They forward $100 checks in advance of the meeting with the recipient line left blank.

The two non-profits, who are not picked on a given night, still win. FQ members learn about the organizations and some members write a check(s) for one or more of those non-profits.

FQ “Coaches” recruit new members and are responsible from four to a dozen on a “team.” Recruits are asked to commit to a year of meetings, so they can truly begin to grasp the scope and impact of FQ. Coaches also are in charge of scheduling meetings and inviting non-profits to participate. Jerry indicates that “the group tends to nominate smaller non-profits that often don’t receive grant funding.” To learn more:

616-262-6501

4quartersteam@gmail.com

Website

https://www.facebook.com/groups/267142187155021/

 

Two activities stand apart from the rhythm of quarterly meetings.  One quarter each year is dedicated to supporting Holland Public Schools. Part of a community’s strength comes from strong public schools. The other activity is a community service day. The last service day found FQ members painting alongside Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity volunteers. FQ’s brochure states that the organization is “a giving circle with a community service focus.”

Four Quarters is excited about their successful start and are pushing to expand. New members are welcome. The next meeting of Four Quarters is September 12, 2019, at 7pm, Brew Merchant in Washington Square.

This is yet another story about the goodness of people that live next door. Some observations:

1. One person can make a difference
2. That impact is multiplied when that person is invitational
3. Companies (in this case, Brew Merchant) can donate their spaces for community meetings
4. With a little thought, we can be “strategic” in our giving
5. Philanthropy can support important local efforts that government does not
6. Knowledge of local efforts helps balance negative news cycles
7. The strength of a community is predicated on the good will of its members
8. What else?

 

From Inequality.org:
The 1%’s increase in income from 1979 to 2016 = 226%
The bottom 20% of Americans income increase in same time period = 85%

Benevolence is not Justice

I often learn from reader feedback. Friend Pat shared with me the four-word title of today’s blog. It’s a very good mantra for those of us interested in ending poverty. *** Benevolence is not justice *** Giving is not a substitute for dismantling systems that block people from having reasonable lives. The phrase reminds us that much of what we do is a band-aid in the lives of the poor. We feed the poor, but they become hungry again and must be fed over and over. Nothing about feeding the poor, in itself, brings justice. Some other activity must be undertaken to finally end hunger. The reason experts suggest that it takes a dozen or more years to exit poverty (with everything going right) is that there is so much structural oppression. Those structures only yield to the political activity of millions.

We should continue to give, but sometimes our giving doesn’t go as planned. A Holland local tells of being in charge of major aid initiatives around the world. She learned that ships filled with grain would turn around, still full of grain, because the designated port was too shallow. Elsewhere, grain could sit on the docks and spoil for lack of trucking. She saw rusting tractors in fields because of inadequate distribution of fuel. Another memorable scenario was the man who called her from the Equator, begging her not to send any more black, wool trousers. Even making shorts from them proved unsatisfactory.

Benevolence is not justice. We have to be politically active in order for the marginalized to receive the justice they deserve. Confusion may arise when faith meets politics. The founding fathers knew that they wanted to be free of government influence on faith, so they provided for the separation of church and state. But the reverse is not necessarily true. Faith can inform governmental policy, especially if it is focused on the common good. Jesus scholars write convincingly about Jesus being political. He created a compelling alternative to Rome, The Kingdom of God, that still influences us today. And he taught his followers non-violent resistance. Go the extra mile…. Turn the other cheek….

If we don’t use our faith politically for the common good, suspect values from oppressive ideologies, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, marketplace myths of the rich and other forms of evil will fill the void. Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, “the nun on the bus,” writes that the civil rights movement has created fear in white men of privilege, as if there is a limited amount of civil rights and those rights are being transferred away from them. Her suggestion to calm the fears of whites is to emphasize “civil obligations” that ask us to become active for the common good. Civil obligations require us to be active participants in the political process. We must hold ourselves accountable and our representatives. We must take responsibility for our nation and, especially, for the most vulnerable.

If everyone had civil rights, it follows that everyone would also have civil obligations. One such obligation is dialog, entering into discussion with people who have opinions different than ours. Talking to each other seems nearly impossible these days, but it isn’t. I discovered the key while talking with Quakers.

I visited a rare place called Pendle Hill just outside of Philadelphia and interviewed some of its residents. These Quakers had held their community together for over 75 years, unlike some experiments in living together that blew apart. I drove from Michigan to Pendle Hill to discover what the glue was. What was the secret sauce?

These Quakers valued someone else giving them a “kick in the pants” or having their “socks knocked off.” They valued truth. They respected each, requiring them to listen to each other. They were open to change. Which one of us is not longing right now to be part of a national conversation about the future of our country?

We the People are called to form a more perfect union. “We the People” means everyone. A “perfect union” would mean everyone as well. If all of us practiced our civil obligations, the downward direction of our nation would reverse. Our country would become more just and its people less in need of benevolence.

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.

Frederick Douglass