Category Archives: Intentional Communities

Millions of Americans believe in the adage that there is no greater gift than the gift of giving. And Mississippi continues to be one of the most giving states in the nation, giving more in proportion to income.

From Thanksgiving through the New Year, opportunities abound to make a difference in the lives of those around us. Its a time of year when most of us more freely part with our money, and in many cases, pause to consider how lucky we are in our abundance.

According to Catalogue for Philanthropy, people in our state give a lot of money to charities even though we make much less money than people in other parts of the country. A survey from Windows USA, reveals that the Magnolia State could double as the Good Samaritan State, with Mississippians willing to offer up $268.38 to neighbors, which ranks sixth in the nation.

The key is to be intentional about giving, and to find ways to bring the inevitable indulgence of the holidays into balance with mindfulness and generosity toward those whose condition requires a response from us as fellow members of the human family.

Many charitable organizations in Northeast Mississippi support a wide variety of causes, with an almost indescribable range of services and causes funded by undertakings large and small. These organizations depend on the generosity of our communities to make donations so they can carry out their work.

An examination of ones own blessings can lead to a desire to share them with others, beyond the close ties of family and friends. The wider communities in which we live and thrive in so many ways assert a special call upon us in this holiday period.

It has been said that the true character of a community is revealed in how well it takes care of the needy and vulnerable in its midst. This shouldnt be just a holiday glow, but if it doesnt shine in these days, it will be dim the rest of the year.

The charitable impulse says something about the character of Mississippians. And Northeast Mississippi doesnt close its eyes to the needs around us because we all need help sometime in our lives.

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OUR OPINION: Count your blessings and give to those in need - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Its 2030, and the risk of raging wildfires has intensified since the largest utility in California made history a decade earlier by triggering intentional blackouts for millions of residents. Higher temperatures bake the arid West, and warmer, drier winds threaten to turn sparks into roaring infernos.

In this potential future, envisioned by climate scientists and policy experts, utilities would still need to cut power when high winds race across tinder in northern forests and southern chaparral. Their liability could be higher than ever. To avoid major cash settlements or even bankruptcy, they might risk the wrath of politicians and customers to avoid sparking a catastrophic event.

The Golden State can travel down two potential paths over the next decade, experts said. In one, solar panels, battery storage and microgrids provide backup power in high-risk communities. That could alleviate the effects of power cuts.

In a darker scenario, affluent residents add solar and energy storage to their homes. Middle-class residents run diesel-powered generators that spew air pollution. And lower-income families go without electricity for multiple days a year.

Thats the conversation we have to have, said Michael Wara, director of Stanford Universitys Climate and Energy Policy Program. Do we want to have kind of dystopian California, or do we want to have utopian Californian, clean California? And how much will either vision cost?

Millions of Californians lost electricity in recent weeks when San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric Co. shut off power during what it called historic wind gusts. The utility defended its actions as a lifesaving step. CEO and President Bill Johnson said it would take a decade to fix its system to the point where blackouts would be rare.

PG&E and other utilities need to replace wooden poles and uninsulated power lines, and add cameras and artificial intelligence systems to monitor problems, experts said. San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) will start using satellites next year to track wildfire activity. Locating fires with precision will help it increase the safety of the electric infrastructure, SDG&E said. The utilitys weather station network is being rebuilt to provide temperature, humidity and wind readings every 30 seconds, instead of every 10 minutes.

But that falls short of the adaptation thats needed, experts said.

The state, which prides itself on setting future trends, needs to overhaul policies in housing, wildlands, electricity delivery, insurance and more.

The next 10 years are crucial for getting ahead of the fire issue, said Chris Field, director of Stanford Universitys Woods Institute for the Environment. We really need to address almost every aspect.

Three factors have combined to ramp up risk of extreme fires, Field said. Many more people are living near wildlands, theres an accumulation of dead and dying vegetation in forests, and climate change is ongoing.

Its clearly the crisis of the decade for the state, Field said. Its unimaginable how much the landscape has changed in the last few years.

Climate scientists draw links between global warming and a sharp increase in the number of extreme wildfires.

If you look at the temperature when wildfires occur, its pretty correlated with their size and intensity, said Alex Hall, director of the Center for Climate Science at UCLA.

Columbia University research professor Park Williams and other scientists, in a study published in July in the journalEarths Future, said wildfires in California increased fivefold since the early 1970s. The states temperature over that time rose about 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Both Columbia and UCLA looked at changes in atmospheric moisture. Hall and his colleagues found a strong correlation between relative humidityhow much moisture is in the air compared with how much it could holdand the amount of fire that spread. Winds have become drier primarily because of warming.

When those winds are dry, Hall said, that leads to larger fires and more intense fires. Some recent fires have coincided with humidity in the low single digits, he said.

Halls research forecasts on average a doubling of burned area by 2050 compared with the last few decades of the 20th century.

That means residents shouldnt expect utilities to stop shutting off their power.

In Northern California, where PG&E operates, it will take 10 years to make blackouts happen less frequently and affect fewer homes, Wara said. But some shut-offs will still occur.

There are creative solutions to deal with it. They include helping people in high-risk areas get electric vehicles. EV batteries are big enough that they could power a home for a few days, better than a generator, and still have enough power to drive away if needed, Wara said.

A major challenge is that few EVs have the needed hardware. Their inverters are one-way and dont allow for two-way power flow. The state could limit its EV incentives to manufacturers that agree to add the needed equipment, he said.

Other California-centric factors have indirectly contributed to its wildfire risk, experts said. Residents in some urban areas have opposed efforts to build apartments buildings, condos or other forms of multifamily development. Thats pushed more people into the wildland-urban interface (WUI), Wara said.

Proposition 13, passed in 1978, also plays a role. It caps property taxes at a percent of the sales price, with an inflationary amount added each year. That limits the ability of cities and counties to raise tax revenue. So many allow new development instead, even in high-risk areas. And because permitting is costly, developers are looking for large lots on which they can build more homes.

Throughout the United States, between roughly 2000 and 2010, about 75% of homes that burned in wildfires were located in the WUI, said Van Butsic, a land use specialist at the University of California, Berkeley. The rest was mostly in rural areas, with about 2% in cities.

People go back after they lose homes, Butsic said. He surveyed the 28 largest fires in California from about 1975 to 2005, and through aerial photos tracked what was rebuilt. About 90% of destroyed homes were rebuilt within a decade, he found. New homes also filled in large tracts of undeveloped land in formerly burned areas.

In terms of building safe, he said smaller houses with smaller yards are best for reducing wildfire risk. Big yards with foliage increase risk of flying embers igniting fires, he said. That could shift how California sees itself.

The California Dream might have to change a little bit, Butsic said. Its not a three-bedroom house and a yard and a swimming pool, its living in a fire-safe community in an apartment and being able to walk to your job.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in April told the Associated Press that he wont support a ban on new housing in high-risk fire areas, saying, Theres something that is truly Californian about the wilderness and the wild and pioneering spirit. His office didnt respond to inquiries about his position.

Seven million or 8 million people already live in the WUI, Wara said.

Repeated wildfires raise the question of whether there are some neighborhoods or communities that are simply in such high-risk areas they really need to be relocated for community safety, said Field with Stanford. We need to take a serious look at that in California.

The issue of managed retreat, or relocating people away from high-risk fire areas, is politically thorny, said Bruce Cain, a political science professor at Stanford University.

Stanford recently surveyed residents about preferred responses to wildfires. It found that theres not a lot of support for either subsidizing people to move or mandating people to move, Cain said.

The August survey found that a majority of respondents support restricting future development in high-risk areas and for the use of preventive burns by state and federal agencies. Residents didnt support requiring people to buy insurance.

What you get is a picture that the public doesnt want to do anything really hard about this problem, Cain said. They see it as a problem that certain communities have and that if they want to assume these risks, thats on them.

The survey was done before the PG&E power shut-offs. Those hit areas with many affluent and politically powerful people, Cain said. That could help drive support for state actions over the next decade, he said, although right now the shut-offs mostly triggered anger.

Programs for managed retreat might prompt a similar reaction.

Its just a tough sell, said Butsic with UC Berkeley. Everybody agrees its intuitive and is probably whats needed, but no one wants to take the medicine.

Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News. E&E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news atwww.eenews.net.

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Are Blackouts Here to Stay? A Look into the Future - Scientific American

I wound my way up the roads that web themselves around Mount Helix, resisting the urge to push down on the gas. I know these bends well enough to know you can never know what will come whipping around them, and all the more so on a foggy evening in November.

I was definitely going to be late.

It took a little convincing for several of the women I see at church on Sunday or at debate practice where I coach their kids to persuade me to return to our bi-weekly Bible study. I had been a frequent attendee in college, but life got busy and so did I.

The idea of Bible studies and book clubs is always nice in theory a group of friends (and at least one outspoken frenemy to add tension and drama) nestled over cups of hot tea or coffee (or wine or beer your imagination, your choice), discussing the finer details of a shared reading experience. What bonding! What growth of mind and heart!

Sure, sure, but did I tell you that Im busy?

Like many other East County residents, Im sure and certainly all the other women at this particular Bible study all the hours in my day are well accounted for. I work a full-time job and I attend school (where I am six units away from finally getting my fingers on this degree that has been ten years in the making). I have family commitments and, for reasons I still cant fully explain, I now play on a recreational kickball team and if Im not there every Thursday evening they will have no one to blame for our inevitable loss.

To top things off, this week I have been under the weather as well as under the wire. So when I parked in my friends pine tree-lined driveway, stars blinking condescendingly above, and walked up to her front door, I thought to myself, Id really rather be in bed right now.

Letting myself in through her front door, I felt a warmth reach out and pull me in. It might have been that her home really was a higher temperature than the chilly outdoors. It might also have been the Thanksgiving decorations some fancy and others homemade that created a sense of home and familiarity. The four smiling faces in the parlor may have been key factors in the general spirit of the home I was walking into as well.

But I think the warmth I felt was a nostalgia, a feeling of returning somewhere I knew I was welcomed and safe.

How many times had this friend opened her doors to me in the late hours of the evening for dinner or coffee or social gathers, like Christmas parties and book clubs, or in the wee hours of the morning when I needed a friend and I knew she would be awake, getting the day started for her own family with whole grain blueberry muffins baking in the oven and a tea pot whistling on the stove as her sleepy-eyed tots stumbled into the kitchen like little kittens.

For the purposes of what I hope to convey to my readers, this is important. It is important that this study and discussion group was taking place in a place where I felt comfortable. It literally took place on common ground.

Having joined the Bible study later than the rest of the ladies, most of whom I had met before, I was not caught up on either the reading or the questionnaire. The ladies went verse by verse and question by question, diving into the finer points of the New Testament epistle.

Not all of us come from the same doctrinal background. I knew that already. But as we discussed the questions in our study guide, it became clearer that our differing backgrounds directly impacted how we responded to some of these questions. Even our personal make-up, struggles and experiences created distinct perceptions on the passages we read.

It felt so good to deep-dive with these women and listen to how they reacted to a book we all consider to be the Truth. We debated the finer points of definitions (what is a trial and what is a temptation) and applied them to our own lives, trying to decipher what commands and promises God is really making to his people through this passage of Scripture.

When I left for the evening, I was fuller by two cups of tea, about eight cookies and 90 minutes of brain-stimulating, heart-stirring conversation. And I thought, I have time for this.

I think Americans should revive the practice of live intentional discourse. We should have book clubs, writers groups and coffee houses in our living rooms. We should study and learn and read and talk together. Our brains are aching from lack of exercise. Everything we think comes from a one-dimensional source: media. But learning requires interaction. We have to take what we hear or read or see and make it our own through the meticulous process of discussion.

We need to learn how to listen and discern.

But we need to learn how to do all this in a way that is friendly and productive, which means leaving the impersonal choir boxes of social media and inviting our friends and neighbors into our homes.

Ah, but remember, those homes need to be sanctuaries of common ground, which means those same people should feel welcome to show up at our door early on a Saturday morning because theyre out of milk or they need help with their car or they just need someone to talk to right away. They should feel comfortable and welcome and safe because we have made a practice of extending our hospitality.

I adovocate for two things today: building our minds through the thoughtful discourse of our communities, and building communities through the genuine persuit of good-neighborliness.

If you need a place to start, I know of a good Bible study group.

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It's time to make time for civil discourse and community building - The East County Californian

GREENSBORO, N.C. Greensboro's got a lot going on and Millenials are taking notice.

A study from Smartassetcalculated the difference between how many people moved to a city and left it.

Using census data from 2017, Greensboro was the 18th most moved to city by millennials, outranking cities like Raleigh (23rd) and Austin (21st).

These are the top 25 cities millennials are moving to.

Smartasset

"Why isn't every young professional moving here? It's affordable. You can get involved. You can get around to places. There's a ton of events," Jodee Ruppel said.

If you let her, Jodee Ruppel will sing Greensboro's praises all day long. But it wasn't always that way. Her first stint in Greensboro came after she graduated from NC State.

"Hated Greensboro. It was boring. There was nothing to do. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't wait to leave," she said.

She and her husband moved back to Greensboro recently after years in DC then New York City.

"We decided you know I'm ready. I'm ready for not only a two-bedroom, but I'm also ready to make an impact," Ruppel said.

She and her husband are just a few of the growing number of young professionals moving to Greensboro.

Brent Christensen with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce says drawing in millennials is crucial to the local economy.

"It's our next phase of workforce for this community," he said.

And with 50,000 college students filtering through the city's seven colleges and universities every year, keeping them here once they graduate is a big priority.

"We found through research that a lot of the times students don't realize what career opportunities are actually here in Greensboro," Lizzie Tahsuda said.

Tahsuda works for Campus Greensboro. The organization focuses on preparing students for the workforce while showing them why Greensboro would be a good fit to start their careers.

"We want to expose them to the industry that's here. we want them to get plugged into their communities, not just their campuses," she explained.

Campus Greensboro is just one of many organizations that partner with the city of Greensboro to retain and attract young talent.

SynerG, a young professional organization is another one. They focus on three things professional development, leadership development, and networking opportunities.

RELATED: Survey: Nearly half of millennials cite living costs as a key barrier to homeownership

"So we like to offer a lot of programming for every stage of a young professional life, Sarah McGuire, director of Synergy said.

The effort put forth from both the city and those two organizations among others are paying off.

"Its been an intentional effort across the community, from developers building housing downtown to a ballpark being put downtown to everything that we are seeing in the amenities that have been built in this community in recent years that are starting to attract and get the attention of those young professionals," Christensen said.

Brandon Hunter, a financial planner, graduated with two degrees from North Carolina A &T University in 2014.

He stayed in Greensboro while many of his friends moved to bigger cities after graduation.

RELATED: 58% of millennials have been denied at least one financial product because of their credit score

"I knew that I wanted to go into the financial planning industry and I figured let me start at a place that I kind of grew up professionally," Hunter said.

The draw for him he says was the low cost of living, little to no traffic, and the amount of things to do, if you know where to look.

"You can be young and go out at night. At the same time, you can go have brunch," he said. "At the same time, if youre looking for something quiet to do or you just want some peace and tranquility weve got that."

Both he and Jodee Ruppel agree Greensboro would flourish even more if people knew how great it's become.

"Greensboro needs to own it's really cool gritty maker identity and just soar with that," Ruppel said.

From multiple global headquarters to a growing downtown area, to reasonably priced homes, Greensboro has many draws.

The hope from city leaders is that more people choose Greensboro as their place to live, work, and play.

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Migrating Millennials: Greensboro Ranks 18th Most Moved To City - WFMYNews2.com

Could Traverse City be one of the countrys next hubs of health technology innovation? Its the goal of HealthSpark, a healthtech program that has launched as part ofthe 20Fathoms tech incubator. Managing Director Jesse Wolff says the program will help attract companies to northern Michigan, create high-paying jobs within the healthtech space, and build a culture of health throughout the region.

Wolff was previously the senior advisor for the Accelerate Health initiative at the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation. That program focused on identifying and breaking down the barriers to population health. Wolffs job was to connect the players in the northern Michigan health space with hopes of improving access to healthcare via technology and transportation. One collaborator was 20Fathoms, where Wolff says Executive Director Andy Cole was already toying with the idea of establishing some sort of cluster of healthtech startups and entrepreneurs.

In July, 20Fathomslanded a $750,000 i6 Challenge grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The grant is a part of the EDAs Regional Innovation Strategies Program, which aims to help build regional capacity to translate innovations into jobs through proof-of-concept and commercialization assistance to innovators and entrepreneurs. Healthtech was a core piece of the application.

When we launched 20Fathoms in 2018, we were intentional about serving startups from a broad array of industries, Cole says. This strategy led to the success of several notable startups, and Traverse City became nationally recognized as thenumber four best small town to launch and grow a startup. This is great progress, but if we want to take it to the next level and really drive top talent to our community, we must carve out a niche in which we will be a national authority. It won't happen overnight, but given the momentum we've observed, we have an opportunity to be thebest city to launch and grow a startup in health innovation..."

The funding, which also includes an additional $750,000 in matched dollars from local entities, enabled 20Fathoms to launch HealthSpark and bring Wolff on as its director.

Even before the funding came through, there were several companies operating within 20Fathoms involved in health.HealthBridge works with employers and their insurance providers to simplify claim tracking and billing for health insurance plans. Naveego is a cloud-based software company that works with enterprises to manage their data and detect inaccuracies or inconsistencies (Naveego played an important role in Munson Healthcaresefforts to integrate its nine hospitals).

HealthBridge has since graduated from 20Fathoms, establishing its own space on State Street, but the HealthSpark cluster is still thriving. Other healthtech companies with office space at 20Fathoms include SpireHealth, which develops remote patient monitoring technology for individuals with chronic respiratory diseases; and Midmark, which works to improve patient experience through workflow efficiency, technology integration, and more.

Over time, Wolff says the goal of HealthSpark is to draw more companies like these to northern Michigan. One effort could be lobbying for local tax incentives for tech companies, which Wolff say are often a very key component in establishing communities as successful innovation hubs. Another piece could be working with tech transfer offices at colleges, universities, or hospitals, which take ideas or inventions developed in those institutional settings and work to spin those ideas out into the marketplace. Wolff already has strong contacts at Michigan State University and Michigan Tech, both of which are working to help student and faculty entrepreneurs find investors and homes for their startups.

For now, most of Wolffs efforts are focused on building HealthSpark into a super convener and connector for local and state players that might include existing healthtech companies, colleges and universities, researchers, investors, corporations, and local governments. One early partner was Munson,which signed an agreement with 20Fathoms a year ago to explore opportunities in health technology. Other connections, Wolff says, will help establish HealthSpark as a healthtech innovation hub with a gravitational pull for businesses and entrepreneurs.

When you have a connected ecosystem, one of the functions you can have [as the connector] is to introduce this investor to that company, or this entrepreneur to that university, Wolff says. The ability to create those introductions and connections only comes from having a thriving ecosystem with lots of dots in it that are connected. So thats what were working on right now.

Pictured: Jesse Wolff, HealthSpark; Andy Cole, 20Fathoms; Ben Yule, SpireHealth.

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A New Focus On Making Traverse City A HealthTech Hub - Traverse City Ticker

Center for the Common Good (CCG) assistant director Dustin Killpack leans nostalgic when talking about his journey in building the Tommies Together Volunteer Center (TTVC), but he dodges credit wherever he can.

We spent days in here, he said, referring to himself and the cohort of students, now mostly seniors, who worked to establish many of the programs the Center sees thriving today. A lot of lessons learned.

The formation of the TTVC and the CCG the department that encapsulates TTVC as well as other social change initiatives has been quite the marathon, but the numbers continue to grow and TTVC continues to expand in new and innovative ways. Last year, TTVC tracked more than 80,000 volunteer hours, and helped more than 3,000 students engage in their communities. This year, the CCG is looking to reach new students through partnerships with Admissions, Athletics and Residence Life, and is deepening impact with preferred partners like Catholic Charities and Keystone Community Services through a variety of student run programs.

The largest of the TTVC programs, Tutor-Mentor, originated neither with Killpack, nor with the two student co-directors, Sophia Wolf and Alex Upton.

Tutor-Mentor had a really vibrant history at St. Thomas, Killpack said. When CCG was founded as part of President Sullivans strategic plan, there was a resounding consensus on campus: Tommies wanted Tutor-Mentor back, and Killpack answered the call.

In the first year, we were very intentional. We started with 10 students, and they volunteered every week, Killpack said. But this first cohort of Tutor-Mentor volunteers got more than they bargained for: In return for their commitment to helping close the opportunity gap in Minnesota, Killpack made a commitment to his tutors and established one-on-one professional development sessions with them every two weeks. Due in part to this commitment, two students from this first cohort of Tutor-Mentors stayed with TTVC and now oversee, among other things, the biggest volunteer group at the university.

In Tutor-Mentors second year, Julia Pohlman student director of TTVC and a senior majoring in Business Leadership and Management tripled participation in the program.

She managed to recruit 30 students and retained them for the entire year, Killpack said. No one dropped, which is crazy. She was really intentional and really got to know those students.

From there, the program continued to grow. In Tutor-Mentors third year, Wolf and Upton took over as co-directors under Pohlmans leadership and, over the full academic year, saw more than 130 students volunteer with their program. Now in its fourth year, the program has already surpassed that number, having sent more than 150 volunteers into classrooms across the Twin Cities in just two months.

Killpacks excitement for what his students have done is palpable.

I was talking to Sophia about her resume, and I was like, Sophia, you can literally put that you increased volunteerism by more than 500 percent [during your time as co-director]. Thats crazy. Not a lot of students get the opportunity to lead programs that are so big.

The student leadership at the TTVC is a great example of what the Center for the Common Good aims to do, which is put students at the forefront of the universitys efforts in changemaking locally, nationally and globally. Soon, however, that leadership will graduate and go on to shape change in their communities as graduate students and professionals.

Im so excited to see the impact they have out there in the real world, but Im also really sad to see them go. Ill probably cry, Killpack said with a laugh. But thats the way things work at a university, and new students will have new perspectives and new ideas.

If you or someone you know is interested in applying to be a student leader in the Tommies Together Volunteer Center, please have them apply through the student employment site applications open on Nov. 15. Applications to become a Tutor-Mentor for the Spring semester open on Jan. 2.

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Tutor-Mentor Program Students Lead the Way - University of St. Thomas Newsroom

For the fourth time, Nightingale College is selected as one of Utah's Top Workplaces.

SALT LAKE CITY (PRWEB) November 17, 2019

Nightingale College was named a 2019 Top Workplace by The Salt Lake Tribune and ranked number 16 in the Midsize Business category.

"Nightingale College is honored that it's culture of Evolvitude is being recognized among Utah workplaces," said Jonathan Tanner, Vice President, Partnerships and Business Development. "Having been here since the founding of Nightingale, I have observed how our incredible collaborators have contributed to a culture that is challenging, full of appreciation, and keeps Nightingale always moving in the right direction."

Nightingale College has previously been recognized as a Top Workplace by The Salt Lake Tribune in 2015, 2017, and 2018 in the Small Business category.

The Top Workplaces selection process is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by The Salt Lake Tribune's research partner Energage, LLC, a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools. The anonymous survey measures several aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.

"The Top Workplaces award is about much more than recognition and celebration," said Eric Rubino, CEO of Energage. "Our research also shows that these organizations achieve higher referral rates, lower employee turnover, and double the employee engagement levels. It just goes to show that being intentional about culture delivers bottom-line results."

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Nightingale College has almost 200 collaborators who work collectively to realize the College's mission of "facilitating educational achievement, personal growth, and professional development of its learners, alumni, and collaborators; serving diverse communities; and elevating health." Together with its health care partners, the College is bringing access to nursing education to underserved communities in many states.

"At Nightingale College, we are grateful to have received this honor," said Thomas Reams, Vice President, Finance. "Although we do not set out to win awards by doing what we do, when a company receives an award like this, it's a wonderful affirmation that our collaborators align with and value our culture of Evolvitude."

ABOUT NIGHTINGALE COLLEGE

Nightingale College, headquartered in Salt Lake City, creates access to nursing programs with its fully accredited blended-distance education associate and bachelor's degree nursing programs, and post-graduate online nursing degree programs. Supporting the growing need for nurses and providing strategies to combat the nursing shortage, the College's academic programs work to not only develop but also maintain a steady supply of homegrown nurses, with the help of local health care systems. Nightingale College emphasizes preparing future nurses who are confident, competent, and compassionate. Since its establishment in 2010 in Ogden, Utah, the College has graduated more than 800 learners and is currently operating in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, and Kansas. To learn more about Nightingale College, its mission, and programs, visit nightingale.edu.

About Energage, LLC

Headquartered in Exton, Pa., Energage is a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools that help leaders to unlock potential, inspire performance, and achieve amazing results within their organizations. The research partner behind the Top Workplaces program, Energage has surveyed more than 58,000 organizations representing well over 20 million employees in the United States.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: https://www.prweb.com/releases/nightingale_college_named_top_workplace_by_the_salt_lake_tribune/prweb16728024.htm

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Nightingale College Named Top Workplace by The Salt Lake Tribune - Benzinga

Klamath Basin Friend and youth. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Children)

Friends of the Children had only five chapters across the country when I became CEO in 2012, and we hadnt launched a new chapter in nine years. But we knew our model worked, and we had the data to prove it.

Our founder, Duncan Campbell, a successful business entrepreneur who had a very challenging childhood, had commissioned research to learn what support children needed who had experienced childhood trauma and/or were living in economically challenged households. The research pinpointed a long-term, consistent relationship with a caring adult as the crucial factor, so Campbell founded Friends of the Children in Portland, Oregan, with an innovative model: We pair salaried, professional mentors (called Friends) with each child from age 4-6 through high school graduation, committing to at least 12 years, no matter what.

Having successfully launching new chapters in New York City and Boston, we realized our model was scalable. But since we had no national fundingor national teamto support scaling efforts, Campbell and our board of directors needed to launch an aggressive $25-million national expansion campaign, allowing us to launch five new chapters and enroll more youth at two of our existing chapters. Our journey since then has been a whirlwind as weve grown from five to 20 locations in just seven years, and grew our network-wide operating budget from $7.5 million to $32 million. This has fundamentally changed the way we operate and opened doors to future growth.

Here are some of the lessons weve learned:

1. Invest in performance management.Organizations seeking to scale need to demonstrate to funders and communities that the organization is well managed and high performing. As an active member of the Leap Ambassadors Community, we use The Performance Imperative framework to ensure we are providing the best possible support for each child. We track progress throughout their years in the program, inputting data on a daily basis that track to our five intermediate outcomes: school success, social and emotional development, improved health, making good choices, and building plans and skills for the future (as well as data related to school attendance, eating habits, relationship-building skills, access to health care, mental health indicators and choices made). We also track progress against goals across our entire network, and we check in on progress through monthly and quarterly scorecards that show whether chapters are meeting their goals and how they have improved over previous reporting periods. Our scorecards also ensure that we are focusing on the right program areas and implementing our model consistently.

2. Invest in independent research and evaluation. Nonprofits that scale successfully can show that their outcomes have been validated by a third party. Friends of the Childrens data is independently evaluated by NPC Research annually, and we are in the 12thyear of a randomized control trial conducted by researchers from the University of Washington, Princeton University, and New York University. Our scaling and replication efforts are independently evaluated by ICF International, with a focus on both program implementation and impact. Finally, to ensure that the voices of our program participants and caregivers are heard, we conduct annual surveys that provide valuable insights on program success. We also recently participated in a qualitative study funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that showed the impact our program has on caregivers involved in foster care.

3. Ensure new sites are financially sustainable from the get-go.Weve found sustainability to be key for scaling nonprofits that serve vulnerable populations. Communities, investors, and populations who count on those services want to know that an organization will stand the test of time. Because of the long-term commitment Friends of the Children makes to each child, we have to ensure the long-term sustainability of each chapter. Along with hiring leaders who have a track record of local fundraising success and financial acumen, we require local champions to raise at least three years of seed funding before launching a new chapter. We have been able to offer some national matching grant opportunities, but the majority of the seed funding must be raised locally. This seed funding allows newly hired executive directors to focus on identifying the right program staff and implementing the program successfully. It also demonstrates community buy-inand ensures that new locations start with an existing donor base.

Friends of the Children locations. (Image courtesy of Friends of the Children)

4. Get buy-in from the local community.You cannot make a site successful from the national office. Friends of the Children therefore identifies and hires local champions who are already leaders within their communities. We set up each site as an independent 501(c)(3), that relies heavily on local support, with its own executive and board of directors. Independence brings its own challenges, but it also allows chapters to address issues that are unique to their community. Before a chapter launches, we assess whether we have the full support from key community stakeholders we seek to partner with: public officials, state and local agencies, business leaders, community organizations and philanthropic leaders. Since communities are already hard at work solving their problems, our goal is for those communities to invite us to be a part of their efforts.

For example, Los Angeles County has the largest foster care system in the country. Local leadershaving learned of our modelcontacted us to help fill gaps in services for parents impacted by foster care. We launched Friends of the ChildrenLos Angeles with seed funding from Ballmer Group and support from Los Angeles County leaders, and we hired a local youth advocacy leader to serve as the executive director, which opened doors to partnerships with community-based organizations and allowed us to amplify other efforts already underway. As a result of that early, local buy-in and support, Los Angeles is currently one of our fastest growing new chapters.

5. Diversify funding streams.Having a diverse mix of donors and funders helps to mitigate risk should one or more funding streams dry up. Both before launch and ongoing, Friends of the Children works hard to ensure that our sites are funded by a diverse mix of sources, and mostly with private funds. We recommend that no more than one-third of a sites budget come from any single funding source (e.g., public funding, investment by a single private foundation, or funding from the national office). Of course, the percentage can vary depending on a local market. When sites rely too heavily on a single funding source, the risk of closure is great as we ourselves experienced during the economic recession.

6. Ensure proper oversight.A direct line of sight into financial, personnel, and leadership operations can stave off potential red flags and ensure the success of new sites. One of the most important factors in scaling success is putting proper oversight in place from the very beginning.

At Friends of the Children, a member of our executive team sits on the board of each new site to ensure we have that critical line of sight so that necessary adjustments can be made in real-time. To manage the financial risk associated with starting a new chapter, we require sites to use our time-tested financial and accounting services for at least three years, and we outline our expectations for chapter success in a written agreement. Each year, we review program administration and performance, including detailed program elements that we hold sites accountable for implementing. We also review a network-wide organizational health dashboard semi-annually, according to key metrics such as board engagement, staff retention, youth enrollment and retention, and according to financial indicators such as fund diversity, cash-on-hand, and percent of budget from multi-year gifts.

7. Innovate your model.One of the most important elements in scaling successfully is openness to innovations that maximize the impact of the model. Human services organizations are on the front lines of newly emerging social issues, which we are well-positioned to address if we are nimble enough to innovate new approaches and opportunities.

Several years ago, for example, we began noticing particularly successful outcomes with youth who had experienced foster care. Despite the immense challenges that youth aging out of the foster care system too often experiencefrom dropping out of school to crossing over into the juvenile justice systemour youth in foster care were achieving the same outcomes as their peers in the program who had not experienced foster care (as well as significantly better outcomes than youth in foster care without a Friend). To take advantage of this opportunity for impact, we adapted our child selection process in 2014, in partnership with child welfare agencies around the country, to serve more youth in foster care (as well as becoming part of child welfare reform efforts in jurisdictions looking to strengthen outcomes for children and families). With the help of catalytic funding from Ballmer Group and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, we also developed an intentional Two-Generation (2Gen) impact approachwith pilot programs in Los Angeles and New York Cityserving the children (ages 4 to 6) of parents who were impacted by foster care.

We know there are many more children and families who can thrive with the support of a Friend. As more communities hear about our model, more and more seek us out: We now get dozens of calls a month from leaders around the country asking how they can bring a chapter to their city. Today, Friends of the Children is moving on to the next challenge: raising $50 million with the goal of expanding to 25 cities by 2025.

We like to say that our model works because our secret sauce is love. But that love takes the form of strategy, performance management, data, planning, investment, and a relentless commitment to improve.

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How a Portland-Based Nonprofit Scaled From 5 to 20 Locations in 7 Years - Stanford Social Innovation Review

With co-housing on the rise in the UK, it is touted as a model for better homes and stronger communities. In Brexit Britain, can this type of living where decisions are made by consensus and everybody pulls together in times of crisis also help us become better citizens?

Poppy Stones is redirecting trains. Its 9am on a Sunday morning and, on a homemade map of Network Rails London North Western route that takes up most of the living room floor, she is diverting the miniature locomotives from their assigned course, much to the irritation of her five-year-old brother, Jasper.

At 15 months old, Poppy is Lancaster Cohousings youngest resident, and she and Jasper have lived in the intentional community all their lives. We were really drawn to the way of living where you know your neighbours it felt like an old-fashioned village, says their mother, Becky Stones.

Forgebank, home to the familys community, is one of 27 such developments in the UK. Poppy and Jaspers home sits on a quiet terrace along with 40 others, facing south across the River Lune and overlooking the woodland opposite.

Like Stones, many residents are attracted to living in a way that affords better relationships with the people around them. I dont think its actually natural for humans to live alone, says Mary Searle-Chatterjee, a retired anthropology lecturer.

She is Lancaster Cohousings oldest member although she says: I dont believe with age comes wisdom and lives on her own. She wanted to balance her independence with being part of a community. I wanted to live in co-housing. This one seemed practical, down-to-earth, politically committed and in tune with my views, she says.

Like any other street in the UK, the households along Forgebank contain a spectrum of human life: residents (some 60 adults and 15 children) range in age from one to 77 years. There are young families and couples expecting new arrivals, households with teenage children and empty nesters, child-free couples, LGBT couples, people living alone all with their own private homes with a lockable front door.

Unlike other streets, however, it also has a common house halfway along it, which is shared by everyone who lives here. Its a large, high-ceilinged space with an industrial-sized kitchen, tables for group meals, plus a log fire and sofas. French windows lead out on to a terrace overlooking the river, where theres patio furniture and a recent addition: the childrens trampoline. With the idyllic river backdrop, it feels a little like a holiday camp.

Becky moved into the community with her now-husband Robin in 2012. Since living in Forgebank theyve got married and had two children: Jasper, whos five and Poppy, 15 months.

Across the walkway, there are letterboxes and the communal laundry, deliberately separate to encourage residents to chat with each other. Several storerooms have been given over to a small grocery shop as well as a bike room, a kids playroom and a meticulously organised garden shed.

Vehicles are confined to a carpark near the main road, meaning Jasper and other children on the street can safely whizz between each others homes on their scooters.

We could have chosen very different options. We wanted to live as part of a community and somewhere that would be really great for kids, says Charlie Little, a social worker who lives with her partner Johnny Unger, a linguistics lecturer at Lancaster University. They are expecting a baby this autumn, and Unger also has a four-year-old son, Byron.

Co-housing began, in 1960s Denmark, based around the philosophy that a child should have 100 parents. Its ideal for children and parents, confirms Becky. You have instant playmates without having to plan things all the time.

Jasper has lived in co-housing all his life

Theres also instant support. When Poppy was born, one of our neighbours came and washed up for us for about four weeks, which was incredible. The next-door neighbour said, if you ever need me to hold Poppy while you do something. Ive only done it a few times but its so helpful when theres something that I just cant do while Im holding the baby.

And its not only parents with young children who feel the benefits of living communally. This is a very stimulating place to live. Its full of opinionated people, a lot of whom are quite independent, and I value that, says Searle- Chatterjee.

There are so many different people with different interests organising different things, says Patrice Van Cleemput, a retired health visitor who lives with her partner Corinne Cambrey, an ambulance driver. We have lots of experiences that we probably would never have had if we didnt live here.

The access to resources that living here gives me has been so normalised that I dont even think about itChris Coates

Co-housing is gaining in popularity in the UK. In 2013, there were 14 completed developments just over half todays number. This year alone has seen two new projects finalised Marmalade Lane in Cambridge and Cannock Mill in Colchester with a combined 65 new homes between them.

Often described as a model for a better way of creating houses, it offers alternatives to a host of problems and is increasingly attracting the attention of councils and housing associations. For a start, homes are designed by or for the people who are going to live in them one of the defining characteristics of co-housing developments. Its people-powered housing getting people to think about whats best for them and their community, as opposed to being passive recipients, says Angela Vincent, a board member for the UK Cohousing Network.

For the community in Lancaster, one of the projects original aims was to create sustainable, energy efficient homes. As a result, the houses and common house have been built to Passivhaus standards, a German-originated building style that promotes passive heating (such as heat via the sun) and insulation, and which require, on average, 75 per cent less energy to heat, compared to standard new-builds in the UK.

The homes are heated via a biomass-powered district heating system and receive electricity from solar and the nearby Halton Lune Hydro plant. Growing up in Austria, I find that houses in the UK, particularly newer ones, are built with pathetic levels of insulation and very little thought to sustainability, says Unger. Its really good to have a house thats really well insulated, and has a district heating system and renewable energy.

Forgebanks shared bike store

Lancaster is not the only community to have chosen to build their homes to such a hi-spec: Cannock Mill has also built Passivhaus homes. The 20 homes at Lilac (Low Impact Living Affordable Community) in Leeds include some Passivhaus features and other low-carbon building methods.

I think weve managed to persuade the council that if they build council houses again, they should build them to Passivhaus standards, says Chris Coates, a Lancaster Cohousing member who lives with his partner, Kate.

Then theres the community aspect of co-housing, a potential cure for the loneliness epidemic sweeping the UK. According to figures published in 2018, 5 per cent of UK adults often or always feel lonely, and 16 per cent feel lonely some of the time. The number of people living alone surpassed 8 million in 2018, up from 7.7 million in 2017, and is projected to rise further.

Theres also evidence to suggest that living alone has an impact on health. People aged 65 or older who live alone are 50 per cent more likely to go to A&E than those living with other people; they are also more likely to suffer with a mental health condition.

There are limits to its ability to solve the UKs ills, however. While some communities (such as the one in Leeds) have found alternative financial models to make ownership accessible to people on lower incomes, co-housing often presents the same barriers as any other housing its unaffordable for many people.

Many Lancaster Cohousing members are passionate about environmental issues

Sunday brunch is a regular communal meal time for Lancaster Cohousing. This week, its veggie fritters with mushrooms and homemade beans and around 30 people trickle into the common house from about 10.30 am. The community had originally hoped theyd eat together four times a week. But in practice, its proved tricky to organise 60 adults that frequently.

The scale excites me but I know it doesnt other people, says Coates. We afford the scale of communal resources because were the size we are. At some point, it became cheaper to do district heating than to provide everybody with a central heating system in their house.

Sharing within communities allows the individuals to consume less. Theres a car club, with a pool of six vehicles including two electric. Anyone wanting their own car has to meet strict criteria to prove why they need it. Three washing machines in the laundry serve 41 households.

Mary Searle- Chatterjee is a retired anthropologist and has lived in the co-housing community since 2013. Were not singing from one hymn sheet, she says. But I feel going into the future with people who are active in different ways for me, I feel thats a good way to live.

The on-site grocery shop sells everything from milk to pulses and pasta, Fairtrade coffee or chocolate. Everything comes from brands carefully selected for their ethical and sustainable values that arent always available in mainstream supermarkets: tinned groceries from co-operative Suma; dried food in bulk containers so residents can avoid single-use packaging; toilet roll made from recycled tissue.

We were really worried if we let too many retired people in wed have to look after them. Its completely the other way around. The retired people look after the community, because theyve got the time, explains Coates.

Keeping everything running is no small task. There is always something that needs doing, says Van Cleemput. A condition of membership is giving two and a half hours per week to necessary work for the community, such as helping with finances or overseeing the grounds.

Residents take turns to cook for the community

Several members have taken the responsibility running Halton Mill, which sits at the top end of their site, nearest the main road. Once a factory for an engineering firm, it was derelict when Lancaster Cohousing was looking to buy the site in 2010, and restoring it became a condition of the communitys planning permission.

It now serves as a village hall, with studios to hire that are used for events or yoga lessons run by local instructors, as well as office space and a hotdesking hub that several co-housing residents work from.

The access to resources that living here gives me there are people here who run a food co-op; I can drive cars Id never be able to afford because Im part of a car club, says Coates. Those things have been normalised and I dont even think about them. The mill is the icing on the cake.

One thing Ive really learned since living here is the power of consensus decision makingJo Lyons

Though he rejects the term founder member (too much baggage were way past that now) Coates was one of the five people who first formalised their intention to create a co-housing development in 2006 by incorporating Lancaster Cohousing Company Ltd.

He and his partner, Kate, are also the only members of Lancaster Cohousing to have previous experience of living in intentional communities. You have to be a bit thick-skinned to live communally, to a certain extent, he cautions.

Because for all its benefits, co-housing comes with pain points, too. Its the longest and most expensive personal development course youll ever go on, says Jo Lyon, a knowledge and learning specialist in the charity sector who lives in the community. You learn so much about yourself and other people.

The thing that has caused me to re-evaluate so much is realising that what I understood as diversity was actually a very narrow form of diversity, says her partner, Miles Doubleday, a software developer. The breadth of the axis on which two humans can be different from each other my eyes have been totally opened to that.

Miles Doubleday, a software developer, and Jo Lyons, a learning specialist in the charity sector, moved from Oxford to join the community. They were the first members to move into Forgebank, in August 2012. I look around the world at people falling out with each other; the only way I could imagine trying to work against that was to move to an intentional community, says Miles.

Like any society, Lancaster Cohousing has a set of policies that community members must live by. There are general meetings every other month to discuss policies and other community matters. Decisions are made by consensus, as opposed to a majority rule. Anything by consensus is slow, says Van Cleemput. Some people might find a certain policy draconian; for others, its too weak. But, crucially, everyone needs to agree.

We woke up the morning after the EU referendum and Miles said I wish wed done that by consensus, says Lyon. One thing Ive really learned [since living here] is the power of consensus decision making. We follow quite a structured process and weve really worked hard on making that better and making sure no one is using power to influence other people.

It takes a lot of active listening, really trying to empathise with somebody that you dont agree with. It feels like the complete opposite to the way we seem to be making a lot of our political decisions at the moment. That winner-takes-all approach is horrendously divisive and potentially quite dangerous.

There is one topic that has caused factious rifts in the community: food. Specifically, the presence of meat and animal-derived foods in community meals. On one side, passionate vegans; on the other, omnivores who enjoy eating meat.

Its a conflict that has nagged at the group for years. There have been unpleasant meetings and arguments; community members have left. Its become a bitter war of ideologies: Lancaster Cohousings private version of Brexit.

Lancaster Cohousings district heating system

Unlike Brexit, however, both sides have to address their differences head-on. We had some strong conflict and high emotion, says Chambrey. [But] we cant run away from here. We have to solve it. If you dont learn to compromise, she says, the alternative is shrinking away from community life altogether.

Hours have been spent in meetings trying to reach a mutually satisfying solution, trying different methods of conflict resolution: restorative justice circle; one-on-one meetings between key protagonists. It has required a tremendous amount of patience and compromise. When you move into a community, its never going to be the community you dreamt of, because other people come and bring their own ideas, says Chambrey. You have to adapt.

Not everyone can. Several people have decided that communal life wasnt for them and moved out (the first few years typically bring the most movement for co-housing communities). I dont think there was any way of knowing if it was wrong for you, says Coates. We were selling a concept.

Ultimately, it comes down to putting a desire to be part of the community ahead of a desire to get your own way on individual issues. Its a sharp contrast to the politically polarised state the UK currently finds itself in.

Because were all in this space together, you have to work out how to maintain your friendships while sometimes profoundly disagreeing on an issue, says Lyon. Its a skill, she adds, and one that everybody has been forced to develop. The number of casual relationships Ive got with people who I dont see eye to eye with is great.

The community eats together a couple of times a week

One thing everyone does appear to agree on: community living really comes into its own in times of crisis. Storm Desmond was the best bit of community-building weve ever done, Coates says. All differences went out the window.

The 2015 storm resulted in floods that put parts of Lancaster and Cumbria under more than a metre of water. Miraculously, the rising river stopped short of the homes at Forgebank, however there was still talk of evacuating the street. Luckily, the community was organised to deal with such an event.

Something happens, and were like a team of ants, says Chambrey. Everybody knows what they have to do, when they have to do it and we all check on each other. Thats brilliant.

Last year, the community dealt with its first death. It was very moving, says Coates, but, it was a very positive experience. It didnt feel in any way tragic, because of the way it had happened.

Roger had moved into the community knowing his cancer was terminal. He was living on his own, feeling very lonely so he moved here and got very involved in the community, Coates explains. As the side effects of his treatment got worse, however, Roger had decided stop taking the drugs. He made an announcement, said: Im quite happy to talk about it; quite happy not to talk about it if you find it upsetting. Come and see me.

So his neighbours sat and chatted with him and friends took care of him. At his suggestions, a coffin was placed in the mill for the community to write messages of farewell on. For the last two weeks he was in a hospice and the nurses could not believe hed been looked after for the previous six months by his neighbours. He would have been in hospital well before the last two weeks if he hadnt been living in co-housing, says Coates.

Johnny Unger, a linguistics lecturer at Lancaster University, and Charlie Little, a social worker, have owned their home on Forgebank since August 2018, having rented for six months before that. Having people around that you can depend on if it comes down to it was the attraction, says Johnny.

Every member has their personal gripes with the community, but a shift in perspective is often all it takes to remind them of everything they get right. Im a member of a tennis club and our committee meetings are so disorganised compared to our meetings here, says Van Cleemput.

Its a giant experiment, what were doing here, and all of us are working on it together in our different ways, adds Doubleday.

The rift, although not completely healed, has found an equilibrium. The people who have left have been replaced by new members who dont carry the baggage of past conflicts; Little and Unger, for example, bought their home in August 2018. When we came in we were all fresh-eyed and full of energy, explains Little. I think that was quite good for the community.

And life carries on. Since moving in, Lancaster Cohousing has had intra-community marriages and a handful of babies born with two more due to arrive before the end of the year. Weve matched, hatched and dispatched, says Coates. I feel incredibly lucky and privileged. This is far more than I thought we could ever achieve. I cannot believe what weve done here, from where we started.

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Co-housing: sharing the future - Positive News - Positive.News

Salt and Light founder Adrianne Hillman plans community for homeless based on successful model created in Austin, Texas

By Paul Myers@PaulM_SGN

TULARE If there is one thing everyone agrees on about homelessness in Tulare County its that it is not going away.

Where some turn to the government to handle it, others are putting themselves in the mix to try and find a solution.

Adrianne Hillman, founder of Salt and Light, welcomed Tulare County community members from all over to her home on Saturday, Oct. 12 to launch her vision for helping the homeless community. She said she was divinely inspired to do something for those in need.

God talks to you in whispers and then He taps you on the shoulder, and then sometimes He comes at you with a brick, and I didnt want the brick, Hillman said during her speech.

According to saltandlightworks.org, Hillman has lived in Tulare County her entire life and was raised in the rural dairy community of Tipton. Prior to founding Salt and light she practiced as a life coach, speaker and founder of the empowerment brand, Do It Afraid.

Salt and Lights mission is to create an intentional community that lifts Tulare Countys chronically homeless neighbors off the streets. Their goal it to reinvent the perception people have about the chronically homeless, revitalize local communities by offering palliative relief to the homeless, reawaken the homeless to a sense of purpose and value through partnering with them; reconnect a human to human experience; and renew lifestyles of abundance by inspiring people to offer their best.

Hillman has chosen to predicate her vision of a community on the Mobile Loaves and Fishes Community First! Village model in Austin, Texas. Initiated by Mobile Loaves and Fishes founder and CEO Alan Graham, Community First! Village has housed over 100 previously homeless neighbors, and is currently in Phase 2, which will total the village at 51 acres and over 500 tiny homes.

Graham was invited to speak at Hillmans launch party to give perspective to what Salt and Light is aiming to achieve. According to Mobile Loaves and Fishes website, Graham and his four friends, answered Gods call to love your neighbor. They did so by delivering meals to homeless men and women from the back of a green minivan. Since their founding they have served more than 5 million meals to the homeless living in Austin.

Graham is the author of Welcome Homeless: One Mans Journey of Discovering the Meaning of home and also hosts the Gospel Con Carne podcast that explores the wondedness of society through untold stories of individuals who have encountered homelessness.

At Hillmans launch party he noted some key reasons why people become homeless. In his Community First! Village, Graham said that people have ended up on the streets because of loss, and only community is the solution.

People have ended up on the streets because of a profound, catastrophic loss of familyHousing will never solve homelessness but a Community will, Graham said.

He added that it is important to understand how a home is supposed to function.

Home is a place of permanencewe should feel safe in our environment, Graham said.

At the Community First! Village, Graham and Loaves and Fishes attempts to create the permanent and safe environment he believes everyone needs. But first it starts with an extensive vetting process, and paying rent. Graham said that rent is a must because it puts some skin the in the game and gives them some level of ownership. But there are also micro enterprises.

At the village, residents have a bed and breakfast, blacksmithing and culinary courses in addition to several others. This way people have the purpose they need in their day-to-day lives.

Graham brought his message home when he talked about a friend and long time resident of the village, John Vincent Billard. Billard was abandoned by his father and family when he was 8 years old. Graham said that he lived a hard life filled with drugs and multiple arrests, but eventually found Mobile Loaves and Fishes Community First! Village. He was one of the first residents.

He was the life of the village, Graham said.

Then, Billard had a heart attack. Emergency Medical Services arrived and managed to bring him back to life after several rounds of chest compressions. On the way to the hospital they lost his pulse, but brought it back, again with chest compressions. Billard was in a coma for 10 days at the hospital, and his doctor made the call that there was little hope for his long term health. Billards wife decided it was time to pull the plug. Friends and family surrounded his bedside to say their goodbyes.

He was being loved on and cared for. A man who was abandoned by his familywas being sent off by the love the people of this community, Graham said, as a message to what the village could provide.

Hilman said during a Q&A segment of the launch party, that they are still exploring land opportunities to create a small community similar to that of the Mobile Loaves and Fishes village. She added that she plans to sell her home in Tulare and live in the community when things were settled.

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Salt of the earth light the way to help homeless - Foothills Sun Gazette