University of Cancer

Treasure

Where Is It?

Four young men sit by the bedside of their dying father. The old man, with his last breath, tells them there is a huge treasure buried in the family fields. The sons crowd around him crying, “Where, where?” but it is too late. The day after the funeral and for many days to come, the young men go out with their picks and shovels and turn the soil, digging deeply into the ground from one end of each field to the other. They find nothing and, bitterly disappointed, abandon the search. The next season the farm has its best harvest ever.

A parable told by Benjamin Zander
Source: The Art of Possibility

CitySquare employment trainees experience work on The Cottages

Recently, CitySquare's Build 4 Success construction trades training program participants worked on site at The Cottages at Hickory Crossing. It was a great experience for our students, and it is great to see these 50 new homes coming out of the ground at last!

When you support CitySquare, you lift neighbors to a higher place!

Another success story to celebrate!

Ocell Donaldson was first introduced and referred to CitySquare by another agency and accessed services through the Resource Center with Neighbor Support Services case management.  He originally came to CitySquare in need of financial assistance, employment, transportation and food assistance.

      In January 2011, at intake, Ocell was unemployed and at risk of homelessness.  He received a notice to vacate from his apartment complex, was about to get evicted, and in desperate need of financial rental assistance and assistance with meeting his other basic needs.

      CitySquare's Neighbor Support Services provided Ocell with:  medium term rental assistance (for 9 months),

Intensive Case Management--working on setting and completing goals, provided hygiene and toiletries, bus passes, clothing vouchers to the CitySquare Thrift Store, money management/life skills and employment workshop classes.  He also received food from the pantry and community resources. 

      Today, Ocell Donaldson is stably housed and able to pay his rent each month.  Ocell is also employed full time at DART and has maintained employment at DART for the last 7 months and now receives full benefits. 

     

      Ocell was referred to CitySquare by West Dallas Multipurpose Center when they could no longer provide Ocell with rental assistance.  CitySquare at that time had Homeless Prevention Rapid-Re-Housing (HPRP) funding, which allowed CitySquare to provide rental assistance to neighbors for up to 18 months, if needed. This funding was designed to provide assistance for a longer period of time, thus allowing a neighbor to get back on their feet, prevent homelessness, and have neighbors keep and maintain their housing by achieving housing stably.  Ocell is the perfect example of what HPRP funding was designed to do. When I first met Ocell in January 2011, he reported that he had been laid off his job in Feb. 2009 and had been struggling to find employment ever since.  Ocell’s unemployment had ran out in Oct. 2010.  

      Unable to find employment Ocell had not been able to pay the rent on his 2-bedroom room apartment.  Ocell is an honest, hard-working neighbor and has even had a poem he wrote published.  He currently is working on writing an entire book of poetry.  

      During the time he received case management through Neighbor Support services, CitySquare was able to provide Ocell with financial assistance with rent and utilities.  We were able to get his landlord to move him into a one-bedroom apartment lowering his rent.  Ocell was dedicated to find employment and provided job search logs, indicating he was willing to do whatever it took to get employed and he was willing to work anywhere.  

       I mailed Ocell a daily bus pass every week so he could attend life skills/employment and money management classes and every week he showed up.  

       During intake, Ocell stated he couldn’t get food stamps and assistance with food.  I referred Ocell to the food stamp representatives downstairs at CitySquare’s food pantry and Ocell began receiving food stamps (SNAP) benefits shortly after.  He also shopped in CitySquare’s pantry to meet his additional food needs.  

      During this time, Ocell had met goals and gained employment, however, he had also experienced set-backs by getting laid off again by his new employer.   When the HPRP grant ended, Ocell had gained employment again allowing him to pay his rent when CitySquare no longer could.  Ocell came in my office a couple of weeks ago and reported that he no longer had that job but has been employed at DART for the last 7 months and receives full benefits, and access to transportation (courtesy of DART).  Ocell is stably housed and pays his rent on time every month.  Ocell is able to meet all his basic needs and more without assistance.  He will frequently stop by CitySquare to say hi and to thank CitySquare for our partnership with him.  During his most recent visit earlier this week, he informed me that his daughter is now enrolled and attending college.

Krystal Lotspeich

Social worker at CitySquare

CitySquare Thrift: Customer Testimony

Now a word from an encouraging supporter of CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries):


Please, let me share an experience that I had over the holidays.

I recently replaced the behemoth tube television in my bedroom with an LCD - it was so cheap. Problem is...what to do with its giant box of a predecessor!

Ahhhhhh, I called the Central Dallas Ministries (now CitySquare) Thrift Store.

A person named Will answered the phone - I explained that I knew that they did pick-ups but hated to ask them to come for one item so, if they would pick up the tube, I would gather some other "stuff". Will said that they had time the following day and that he would call me in the morning to confirm a time.

He did so and said that they would arrive between one and two. They did so. Two fellows in a large truck arrived right on time, receipt in hand. They picked up the TV and sundry parkas. In my embarrassed appreciation, I muttered, "Gee, I feel terrible that you all are getting so little."

One of the gentlemen said, "Thank you so much. This will help a lot of people." Both politely shook my hand, thanked me profusely and wished me a happy holiday.

Wow! What about this experience differed from every other one I have had with [she mentions other organizations]? EVERYTHING!!! They did exactly what they said they would do, on time and as courteous as can be...not to mention appreciative and, in reality, they had helped me.

This is an organization populated by folks who have been homeless, had addictions, fallen on hard times and they are more professional and more courteous than any for-profit organization I can bring to mind.

The last week of the year most of us are cleaning out closets,garages and scurrying around to drop-offs. If you are engaging in this enterprise, I encourage you to consider the Central Dallas Ministries Thrift Shop. You can deliver items there, too, but they will gladly send a truck and the nicest people in the world if you, like me, have something you cannot lift or fit into the car.

And, by the way, the Thrift Store is really cool- also very professionally managed and since folks like us with some pretty decent "stuff" to donate have learned about it- you can find some fun things.

Here is their contact information. I encourage you to have a great new year's experience!

Hugs, Lou Ann

CitySquare Thrift Store
1213 N Washington Ave, 75204

Hours: M-F 9a-6p, Sa 10a-3p
Closed on Sunday and major holidays

972-231-2220

http://citysq.org/donate

We all fall down. . .

This has to be in the running for "ad of the year," if there is such an award!

Everyone understands the beauty of and the need for recovery and redemption after failure.

Community depends on both.

Congratulations, GM!

The whole world's about to change. . .

Since October last year, we've been working closely with a Fortune 500 international corporation to build a business model that could affect great changes in inner city Dallas and, by export, any other major inner city community.

While I am not at liberty to go into the details today--and that is tough because our progress is very real and I want to give the company all the credit that I can and that day is approaching--I can share the video below. Produced by some amazing employees and leaders from our corporate partner, it seeks to open a window on the people and the community of inner city Dallas.

Great plans are in the works.

Could the song be true--The whole world's about to change?

New book from William Julius Wilson worth your time

William Julius Wilson writes provocative, groundbreaking stuff.

Included in his bibliography are books like When Work Disappears, The Declining Significance of Race and The Truly Disadvantaged.

Now, Wilson is out with his latest study that promises to be his most important work to date. More Than Just Race tackles the historic debate sparked over four decades ago by the social commentary of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action," or the so-called "Moynihan Report."

As would be expected, Wilson comes at the issue from a new perspective that rings true upon reading the first reviews of his latest book. As a matter of fact, I heard a group of young black men speaking in exactly Wilson's terms just last week as we discussed a new project that aimed to create real jobs for their community.

For a sample of Wilson's thinking, take a look at the review from Slate below:

How To Understand the Culture of Poverty

William Julius Wilson once again defies both right and left

By Sudhir Venkatesh

Pop quiz: Who made the following observation? "At the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of [black America] is the deterioration of the [black] family. It is a fundamental weakness of [black Americans] at the present time." Each year, I pose this question to my undergraduate students. Most will guess George Bush, Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton, or Bill Clinton. This is not surprising, given their age. More telling is their perception that such a view might come from the political left or right. It reveals just how commonplace the link of family-race-poverty is in the American mindset.

But there is a little trickery going on: Replace "black" with "Negro" and change the date to 1965. The correct author is Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He wrote these words as part of a policy brief to help President Lyndon Johnson understand the distressed social conditions in urban ghettos. "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action" leaked to the press and created a firestorm of controversy with its contention that a "tangle of pathology" engulfed black America.
The so-called "Moynihan Report" brought about a new language for understanding race and poverty: Now-familiar terms like pathology, blame the victim, and culture of poverty entered American thought as people debated whether Moynihan was courageously pointing out the causes of social ills or simply finger-pointing. Moynihan forced a nation to ask, "Is the culture of poor blacks at the core of their problems?"

[read more here]

Reactions???

.

Play, play, play!

Ran into what is posted below in Heron Dance, a continuing source for contemplative thought and practice.

Sure makes sense over here in my part of the world. How about yours?

____________________________

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung.
- Rabindranath Tagore

We string and unstring our instrument because we don’t believe enough in our song.

Sometimes we’re afraid of our song. The metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly demands a lot, including courage, sacrifice and hard work. It requires resourcefulness. It is shy and retreats easily. It requires nurturing.

In return, it offers a deep experience of life.

The starting point, the process from which one discovers one’s song, is a dream. It arises out of our center. Its roots are in the pre-verbal, the half understood, the subconscious. There is a wisdom inside of each of us that often cannot be put into words but, with practice, can be used to guide and shape our lives and our work.

Our song arises out of that which is holy inside of us.

.

What Work Is

Philip Levine writes poems about working class people. People much like many of my friends. People who possess a strong desire to work. People who don't earn much. People who are accustomed to waiting for any and every opportunity.

Levine comes out of his soul and his own experience from a generation ago growing up in Detroit.

But things haven't changed all that much, except that manual labor doesn't pay what it once did, relatively speaking.

Levine writes songs, he tells stories about ordinary working folks looking for even a glimmer of hope.

What Work Is

We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.
You know what work is--if you're
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.
Forget you. This is about waiting,
shifting from one foot to another.
Feeling the light rain falling like mist
into your hair, blurring your vision
until you think you see your own brother
ahead of you, maybe ten places.
You rub your glasses with your fingers,
and of course it's someone else's brother,
narrower across the shoulders than
yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin
that does not hide the stubbornness,
the sad refusal to give in to
rain, to the hours wasted waiting,
to the knowledge that somewhere ahead
a man is waiting who will say, "No,
we're not hiring today," for any
reason he wants. You love your brother,
now suddenly you can hardly stand
the love flooding you for your brother,
who's not beside you or behind or
ahead because he's home trying to
sleep off a miserable night shift
at Cadillac so he can get up
before noon to study his German.
Works eight hours a night so he can sing
Wagner, the opera you hate most,
the worst music ever invented.
How long has it been since you told him
you loved him, held his wide shoulders,
opened your eyes wide and said those words,
and maybe kissed his cheek? You've never
done something so simple, so obvious,
not because you're too young or too dumb,
not because you're jealous or even mean
or incapable of crying in
the presence of another man, no,
just because you don't know what work is.

[Philip Levine, "What Work Is," from What Work Is: Poems, pages 18-19]

Labor: Shift workers

Did you catch the duo performance featuring Kenny Chesney and George Strait during the recent CMA Awards show?

Chesney's new song, "Shiftwork" speaks to the soul of working people in every part of this country. Sadly, just because a person works hard every day, a job does not come with a guarantee that earnings keep pace with the rising cost of living. We see this reality on a daily basis here in inner city Dallas.

I suppose my experience here is why I find the music moving. Everyone who works hard should be able to earn enough to sustain at the very least a modest, workable life.

The song calls us to pay attention to labor. It is a good call.

Shiftwork

Shift work, hard work, tired bar
Blue-collar shirt and a baseball cap
Union made

He’s hot, sweat drops, ’round the clock
The door never locks
And the noise never stops
Night or day
Work-n seven To three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven

Shift work, tough work, for the busy convenience store clerk
Two feet that hurt, going insane
She’s mad, at some lad
Drove off and didn’t pay for his gas and he won’t be the last
’round the clock pain
Work-n seven To three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven

Talkin’ about a bunch of shift work
A big ol’ pile of shift work
Seven to three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven

Well I worked, shift work,
Ten years man, I hated that work
Then I made a break, with the money I saved
It took me, to the beach, to have a beer by the edge of the sea
In this ’round a clock place
I drank my money away
We partied
Seven To three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven

I’m talkin’ about a bunch of shift work
A big ol’ pile of shift work
Seven to three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven

Talkin’ about a bunch of shift work
A big ol’ pile of shift work
Seven to three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven
Eleven to seven
Seven to three
Three to eleven
Eleven to seven

[Title : SHIFTWORK Taken from Album : Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates]

People want to move forward. . .

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I should just stop typing right here!

Inner city residents want to advance. They want to work at decent jobs that offer a fair return for their labor.

These photos were taken recently at the Charlie Mae Ransom Technology Learning Center, Central Dallas Ministries' neighborhood workforce development center located in the Roseland Homes neighborhood.

The center is named for Ms. Charlie Mae Ransom (pictured last below with Lenora Holmes, CDM staff member), a resident of Roseland Homes for almost 65 years! Ms. Ransom is also my boss due to the fact that she serves on our Board of Directors.

The photos were taken during a visit by MicroSoft, our biggest supporter of the center.

Work vs poverty

“If you work in this country, you should not be poor.”

--Barack Obama
Dallas, Texas
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Reunion Arena

Questions:

1) Is this true? Do you agree? Why or why not?

2) If it is true, what does this statement imply or suggest?

3) If it is not true, what does that say about work and its value in view of the traditional high regard with which we have always held it?

4) If you were making a speech on work and advancing economic progress among the poor, would you ever use such a line? Why or why not?

5) If you wouldn't, what line would you put in its place?

Just wondering.

.

Tired out. . .

Do you ever get tired?

Silly question, I know.

But, I mean, really, really tired without the option of taking a break or a "time out?"

One of my associates here at CDM told me one day not long ago that he had taken off about three hours in the early morning hours earlier in his week to pursue his passion--running his canoe down White Rock Creek.

"I was able to get more work done in the half a day that remained than I had all the week before because I could actually think clearly!" he reported.

Where do I buy a canoe?

I always know when it is time for a vacation when. . .

. . .I snap at those who are closest to me and who are trying to help me.

. . .I have an extra difficult time getting to sleep at night and remaining asleep through the entire night.

. . .I find myself distracted and jumping from task to task without really finishing anything.

. . .I feel like running away, but not running in the mornings at the lake!

. . .I'm not interested any more. . .in anything, even baseball.

. . .I find it hard to read.

. . .almost nothing makes me feel better.

I'm tired right now. Not sure that I have ever been as tired.

Any suggestions about how to make it until the fall when I can finally take some time off?

I'm really not complaining here.

I'm asking for help!

What do you do when you are tired, really tired?

Labor and Capital

Labor finds itself on the short end of the American stick these days. Many factors contribute to this hard reality for working people. No society can thrive for long without a high view of the value of labor.

That's why I really like the recent "Walk a Day in My Shoes" campaign initiated by the Services Employees International Union (SEIU). Have you seen reports about this unique effort?

Through “Walk a Day in My Shoes,” SEIU invites presidential candidates to spend a day fully engulfed in the world of a ordinary American worker both at work and at home. It is all about making sure politicians experience the real world of American labor.is like for the rest of us.

In each case the workers expose the politicians to their daily lives and struggles that often make even the most routine tasks difficult. Forced to work second jobs, they have less time to spend with their families. They return home from work and just hours later have to get their kids off to school or day care on time and make it to their next job on time.

The common worries heard during these ventures into national reality include concerns about what happens to their savings (if they have any) if they or their children contract a devastating illness. Workers are anxious about becoming a burden to their kids if they can’t save enough for retirement. Most believe that the future facing their children will be even more challenging than what they have faced and endured.

The union believes that every candidate running for president needs to understand these worries, and feel them. The workers involved and those they represent expect real results on the issues that matter to them—a paycheck that supports a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement and a better life for themselves and their families.

“Walk a Day in My Shoes” is about making sure politicians truly know what the real world is like for millions of American voters. Only candidates who participate will be considered for an endorsement by SEIU.

Senator Barack Obama walked in the shoes of home care worker Pauline Beck on August 8th.

Senator Christopher Dodd walked in the shoes of Head Start teacher Colleen Mehaffey on July 26th.

Governor Bill Richardson walked in the shoes of family services worker Mark Fitzgerald on June 7th.

Senator John Edwards walked in the shoes of nursing home worker Elaine Ellis on April 11th.

Senator Hillary Clinton walked in the shoes of Las Vegas nurse Michelle Estrada yesterday.

Senator Joseph Biden and Gov. Mike Huckabee have accepted SEIU’s challenge and will be walking soon.

I like what one great American President said about the value of labor during his "Annual Message to Congress."

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." (Abraham Lincoln, December 3, 1861 )

Ordinary workers should be respected, their voices and concerns heard, their needs and their contributions valued.




.

A chance to work and make a life. . .

Last Friday, I attended the graduation of our current WorkPaths class.

Teachers, family members and friends gathered to honor and to celebrate the accomplishments of twenty-two dedicated students who completed the arduous 12-week course that provided training in a full range of basic construction skills with an emphasis on hazardous waste and Brownfield remediation.

The training was challenging, rewarding and promising. Thanks to Andrea Bills, our program director, to Gerald Britt who provides leadership and vision for all of our Community Development Programs and to numerous staff members from several departments who are continually supportive of this part of our work.

As each of the students walked forward to receive their hard-won certificates, we could not contain our applause. What a celebration!

This week the students will return to the training center to meet with a number of contracting companies to interview for jobs that will pay them a livable wage and set them on a path for personal growth and the realization of better lives for themselves and their families.

The eagerness and excitement over their new found opportunity could not be contained. As I watched and listened, I realized I was observing a process that needs to be repeated thousands of times across the nation. Skill set development provides a pathway out of poverty. As communities, we must find ways to fund and deliver this sort of training to every man and woman who wants to do better with work and earning.

CDM provides this training (this was our second class to complete the course) thanks to funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science. Our other partners were OAI, North Lake College/Dallas County Community College District, Construction Education Foundation of North Texas, and JPMorganChase.

The class members formed an amazing group.

Most were very young men.

One was a middle aged woman that everyone referred to as "Momma" by the end of class.

Many had been incarcerated in Texas prisons in a past life--ex-offenders.

One was homeless, recruited to the class while attending one of our Urban Engagement Book Club meetings!


All had learned the benefit and the necessity of helping each other as a team or community in the learning process.

The graduation celebration spoke volumes about hope, achievement and visions for better tomorrows!

I was more than honored to be in the room.

In the world. . .

A good "just for fun read" is Brother Odd by Dean Koontz.

Odd Thomas is a Koontz character introduced to readers a few novels back.

In this book, "Oddie" finds himself in retreat at St. Bartholomew's Abbey on the California side of the Sierra Nevada range. It is here, inside the Abbey, that the really strange story unfolds. Koontz ends his tale in a way that makes it clear that we haven't heard the last of Brother Odd!

Surprisingly, I found some fairly amazing quotes buried in the science fiction. I'll share one now and then in coming posts.

Listen in to the conversation Brother Odd has with his beloved "Brother Knuckles."
_____________________

"Though if I was your dad," Brother Knuckles continued, "you'd probably be shorter and thicker, with your head set closer to your shoulders."

"I don't need a neck anyway," I said. "I never wear ties."

"No, son, you need a neck so you can stick it out. That's what you do. That's who you are."

"Lately, I've been thinking I might get myself measured for a habit, become a novice."

He returned to his chair but only sat on the arm of it, studying me. After consideration, he said, "Maybe someday you'll hear the call, but not anytime soon. You're of the world, and need to be."

I shook my head. "I don't think I need to be of the world."

"The world needs you to be out there in it. You got things to do, son."

"That's what I'm afraid of. The things I'll have to do."

"The monastery ain't a hideout. A mug wants to come in here, take the vows, he should come because he wants to open himself to somethin' bigger than the world, not because he wants to close himself up in a little ball like a pill bug."

Depressed and Lifted

When I worked in the church as a minister and preacher, I battled cycles of despondency that became almost predictable in their timing.

At times, my emotional life felt like a roller coaster.

I can recall feeling as if it would be easier to extract eye teeth than to come up with even one more word to speak to my church!

Those feelings were difficult and, at times, scary.

Over the past 13 years I have experienced this sort of episodic depression only rarely.

My most recent awareness of these feelings surfaced about a month ago.

I don't know all of the reasons. I expect the press of our unrelenting need for funding, the growing pains of our expanding organization, the number of fairly high intensity projects now on the drawing boards and the dramatic increase in the need in our community all combine in a way that wears me out!

While I have never been certain about all the causes behind such experiences and feelings, I am clear about their remedy:

People and the energy flowing from them.

Tuesday of this week turned out to be a "break through" day for me. I found my life for my work again--a literal surge of new energy, but even more a sort of clearing away the fog from my soul.

How?

I sat and listened, really listened to five guys who live on the street.

Earlier that same day I reconnected with a fellow I hadn't seen in about 8 years. He had been locked up in prison until just about a month ago. Our reunion was invigorating. He was so glad to be home.

It is the connection to this reality, the reality and beauty of people--the human enterprise--that lifts me when I struggle with my work.

People always provide that for me.

How about you?