Something interesting that I have discovered lately is that Feeding Inc. is a microcosm of our community. Being a part of a community means that we move beyond just keeping our own houses and begin to help our neighbors with their problems. I have been just as guilty as the next when it comes to having the mindset of 'just taking care of our own'. Through my time here serving at Feeding Inc., I have come to see that a community is only as healthy as its individual residents. I love our community and it has a lot of great things happening in it, but I cannot and will not turn a blind eye any longer to its problems.
If we want to see our community transformed, then we need to step up and step in and do our part to help our neighbors. Each person's problems are complex combinations of their upbringing, traumatic experiences, the environment they live in, the company they keep, the resources they have access to, the health of their families and themselves, their education level, their political and spiritual beliefs and the society in which they live. While each person's choices are their own responsibility, it is not so simple to just label them as lazy and write them off as a liability with no potential. Each person has been created with the potential for greatness inside.
Feeding Inc. is here to help unlock that potential with classes and goal setting tools, but to transform a community, we need to have our mindsets shifted from seeing people as problems to seeing people as potential. Almost four years ago, I would have been one of those people you see as a problem. But I have potential and just needed someone to care and step in with directive wisdom. Feeding Inc. was there to help me. How can you begin to shift how you see people? By getting to know them and their struggles and learning to love them. Who is on your path that you can learn to love and encourage with directive wisdom?