That Awkward Moment When You Try To Explain Your Work…I handed my business card over to the nice lady at the community meeting who had just asked me, “So, what do you do?” The card is sort of a mandatory tool of the networking trade, but honestly, it’s not all that helpful in answering this common question. So, I turned it over and showed her our mission printed on the back…
Read MorePOVERTY IS THE MOTHER OF CRIME…My mother is the queen of the common proverb. She was a school teacher, always capitalizing on what she called “teachable moments” and she loved using popular sayings to scold and mold her children. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; Don’t put your eggs in one basket; Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” were a few of the litany of famous axioms we routinely heard in our home…
Read MoreMy Facebook feed is frantic with headlines of children being ripped away from their parents trying to cross the US border. Families being separated with parents having no communication with their children is provoking outrage in news outlets all over the Internet….
Read MoreJessica and Anita were the closest of sisters. Only 18 months apart in age and one year apart in school gave many folks in their small town the impression they were twins. After attending college out of state, they returned home and married local men within two years of each other….
Read MoreWHY WE FAIL- Common sense and common business practice tell us that every once in a while, businesses, nonprofits, churches, community groups, and pretty much every organization needs to step back and ask some hard questions about their operations. Questions like, “Is this consistent with our mission?” and “Is this sustainable?” are key to evaluating organizational health…
Read MoreWon’t You be My Neighbor? Some of us of a certain age and stage remember vividly the theme song of the beloved PBS children’s program Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. On beautiful spring days like today, while looking out my kitchen window at budding trees and the gorgeous blue sky, I like to break into this cheesy song for a laugh…
Read MoreIt’s Wednesday Night and I’m in Prison- I spend my Wednesday evenings at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville. This is the only women’s prison in the state of Oregon and on any given day houses approximately 1,300 women. And no, I am not there doing my time in weekly installments…
Read MoreOur home is no stranger to parties. It’s not uncommon for us to pack a crowd into our 1979, ranch-style abode to eat, drink, and share around a topic. A good time is usually had by all, and sometimes we even learn something! Most recently, we hosted an incredibly diverse group of lawyers, nonprofit leaders…
Read MoreMany of us have heard the numbers of how many folks in our country are in prison and jails. But, what does that cost us as a society. The emotional, spiritual and communal costs are hard to quantify. But, the money is easy to follow. Read this article to better understand how expensive our system is to our communities…
Read MoreRemnant Initiatives was born out of identifying three critical local problems. Yes, the problems are national in nature, but we know we can only address what is in our control and so we have focused on the local as the dream for this organization…
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