How many people does it take to change a town?

As I drove up with the Bus Boutique to Winton LifeLine Community Center today, people were already standing in line for the USDA food distribution. Inside about 20 volunteers prepared the boxes for 453 people to have food this week. 

There wasn't much space to move the old school bus into place and I needed some help. One gentleman guided me along so that  I would avoid the parked cars... but there really wasn't much space so a professional truck driver helped with his expertise to move the bus into the right place... having only 2 inches to spare. Then volunteers helped getting the bus ready that served over 100 people today. 

We met with a representative from Friends of the Library trying to help them keep the branch library open. We had a volunteer drop off the wood for the computer stations he is building, another volunteer cleaned up some old discarded furniture. Someone donated a Christmas tree and a volunteer was putting it up. Another volunteer created a database to help with some of our chores, he also is setting up the building for the VITA program (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). Another volunteer looked at a way to put our mural up that Jr High students created. Then there were phone calls and conversations and brainstorming about the upcoming Christmas store... and a number of other things.

Today I saw it again. The beauty of volunteering, the beauty of giving back, the beauty of making your place more liveable. The beauty of friendship. 

So tomorrow, if you should go to Winton... stop by and see what it takes to "put Winton on the map for something good."

"Don't judge a book by it's cover...... and don't judge it by the first chapter."

Our newest volunteer is Toby who spent 16 years of his life in prison and many other years in gangs, getting shot the first time at age 11 by rival gang members.  As Toby shared his story on CNN several years ago, he used the phrase "don't judge the book by it's first chapter" and I was struck with the depth of it.

It is so true, how often do we look at people and have already made up our minds before they ever open their mouths? How many times do we dismiss people because of small things.

How often do we believe that people with a history, a past, a record, a bad 'first chapter', have no chance in learning, growing, developing? How often do we dismiss them?

Toby reminded me again that we all have many more chapters to write in the book of our lives and that maybe the last chapter is the one that pulls it all together.


For this season, I pray to be more open to read beyond the cover and the first chapter!

Fog in the valley and other musings on community development

Driving to Fresno I saw the beautiful "tule fogs".  I know they can be very dangerous, but what I saw was just beautiful. Overhead the sun was shining and at ground level the fields were covered with white blankets. You could make out some things, while others were hidden. You could see the top of farm buildings and tall trees but they looked like they were standing in nothing.

I was on my way to a conference on "Abundant Community" and I had to smile when I saw the fog, because it reminded me how often I talk with people about Asset Based Community Development and the need to look deeper into the community, to see all the assets and resources and gifts, that are already in the community and not just see only certain parts.

As I kept driving a second fog developed, this one high up in the sky covering up the early morning rays of the sun It created an eerie picture. At ground level we had the Tule fogs and above the sun was covered in fog as well. It was a  strange sight alright. And again I was drawn to community development. Sometimes the problems and struggles seem so great that it is difficult to not see the 'darkness' of the work. To despair for lack of sun, the struggles for survival. There are days when I wonder if we make any progress, if we see any changes.

But then my eyes were drawn to the middle. There the crystal clear view of structures and trees and beauty could be seen in all its glory.

Sometimes I guess it depends on where you chose to look. You look up high and things seems dark and ominous, you look too far down and the fog might cover everything.

But if you have eyes to see the beauty in all of it, if you look for what is there and not what is missing... you see some amazing things.

I was reminded that I need to look for what is already there and then I might even see the things that are hidden. Because it is in the journey of exploration and discovery that we see the beauty around us.

Can a community change because of ONE person changes?

Can a community change because one person changes?

We often look at the big picture of community development but when I think of community transformation I think of individual community members making changes by being better neighbors, being more active in the community. People who chose to change their lives so that the whole community will be affected.

When I think of Adrian I think of Community Transformation!

Adrian (better known as FATZ) worked at the Winton Community Center through the “Welfare to Work” program. He had come a long way, from being a rich young man with a paid for brand-new home at 20 and all the ‘bling’ you can imagine, to a Welfare recipient at 26.

Adrian learned the hard way that a life of crime, no matter how successful, does not meet the greatest needs in a family. Both, he and his girlfriend, were on drugs, both were about to lose their children and Adrian, who had been incarcerated several times, realized that he was heading for ‘hard time’ if he did not change. His final breaking point was when he missed the birth of his child.

Adrian ended up on welfare, at that point had 5 children and a girlfriend that was going through recovery.

When we got to know Adrian we saw so much more than a former gangster, we saw a community organizer, a person willing to work with our at-risk-youth, a person willing not to stay at that low point in his life.

Adrian became our AmeriCorps member and just last week finished his term. Through his service he brought community members together, broke down some of the age barriers and had a big passion in helping at-risk-youth.

The Winton community is being transformed because a gangster turned community organizer stepped out of his comfort zone to be part of the solution.

He headed up the graffiti abatement youth team that connected with senior citizens who would bring them home-made cookies; he connected with officials to let them see that community members are active to ‘put Winton on the map for something good’. He helped clean up the community and worked tirelessly to make it a better place, often times being surrounded by young people who would help and his own 6 year old son who wanted to be just like dad.

He worked with a team on a community garden, organized groups to help senior citizens, worked hand-in-hand with everyone willing to made Winton a better place.

Yesterday Adrian called me all excited! He has big dreams and they are becoming a reality. He enrolled in school to become a chef! His dream has been to be a cook, a job he has been doing for years, but now with the scholarship for his AmeriCorps service he can go on to school and get the right training.

This spring Adrian and Liz got married, but as of today Liz chose to return to a life of drugs, leaving Adrian with his 6 children under10.

But he is not worried! He has a community that surrounds him, plans for his future and new understanding that there might be a God who is involved in the everyday part of life. (Although as he would state it, he not yet convinced). But we are not worried because we know that we build the road as we walk it.

Monika Grasley

LifeLine CDC

October 2011

My soul is joyful while my heart is crying

A lovely 78 year old lady and her 50+ year old son came to the Bus Boutique today. The Dial-a-ride dropped them off and she slowly went up the stairs in the Bus Boutique. R. was referred through a local agency and was in need of clothing.

Her wrinkled old face reflected some of the heartache of her life but when she spoke her eyes lit up and she was joyful and excited about the things that where going well.

She recently lost her daughter and to pay for the funeral everyone in the family sold most of their belongings at a yard sale. They also made tamales, had car washes and whatever else they could think of to pay for the funeral expenses.

But winter was coming and her wardrobe is empty.

So, together we went 'shopping'.....and with every piece of clothing we found, she was excited thanking Jesus for what she was given.

But I have to admit, I don't know who enjoyed this more. I enjoyed watching her son help me organize some things while he found clothing for himself, I enjoyed the joy on her face when she was blessed with good winter clothing. I was joyful to be able share some time with her and hear a little of her life story. I am joyful because I get to see how the many clothing donations community members have made are coming to good use. I am thankful for the grant from Merced Foundations for the upkeep, gas, and insurance for the Bus Boutique.

At the same time I had to hold back my tears, tears over the brokenness of our system and society that made a 78 year old woman not have enough money for clothing. It made me sad when she shared that she might have to move out of her 1 bedroom apartment because on her social security she cannot afford it My heart was crying over her agony of having to bury her own daughter. I was sad because there are many more people around in the same predicament.

So I am once again faced with the paradox of our work. The joy when people connect with each other, the sharing stories and resources, the being a little bit of community together, while at the same time my heart is broken over the smallness of our impact in the vast amount of pain and loneliness in our communities.

But I will not forget her face, or her story, I will remember that with every smile I give, every kind word I have, every resource I share, every help I ask for, someones live is changed, if even only in a small way.