Giraffes, Ostriches and Communities

Image: Joyce Geleynse

I am encouraged right now. I’m wrapping up my reading of Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-Smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond by John Graham, President of The Giraffe Heroes Project. This book has lots of inspiring stories about individuals taking risks to make a difference in their communities, and it provides some concrete tips on beginning and sustaining these efforts. It’s an easy read that helps to fuel the possibilities.

I’m also a regular reader of Rich Harwood’s blog and appreciate his regular acknowledgements of individuals making a difference. He often takes popular culture or nationally reported incidences and finds the golden nugget or the silver lining, gently but cogently urging us to work from the better place within. And I watch with admiration as Steve Clift of eDemocracy and Matt Leighninger of Deliberative Democracy work away to foment change at a collective level.

In the press I often read that people are too busy to get involved, but we at the Foundation find that people are incredibly generous with their time as long as it’s time well spent. Our work often relies on the willingness of individuals of all different ages, economic levels, races, etc. to actively commit to making positive change in their communities. Developing a process that is open, responsive and constantly feeds back to the community is essential to keeping the energy going. Check out the Current Projects page of our website for deeper examples of participation and leadership.

I also sense a growing awareness that now is the time for change. People are pulling their heads out of the sand and are ready, even eager, to get involved. Foundation Staff and Partners, residents of our Project Towns and the folks I’ve mentioned above all welcome this new sense of civic possibility and responsibility. And so I circle back around to encouraging those of you who want to make a change, but aren’t quite sure how to start. Get a copy of John Graham’s Stick Your Neck Out, which states in its preface, “Three key ideas anchor this book: (1) Courageous and compassionate people can solve any problems and meet any challenges, in their communitieis and in the world; (2) The surest path to a meaningful life is service—acting for the common good; and (3) The key to success on this path is balance—head and heart, trust and street smarts, passion and professionalism, reflection and action.” Good stuff.

Along these lines, I’m excited to read the recently published Authentic Patriotism by Stephen Kiernan and am intrigued by the following statement: “This book’s publication also marks the launch of the B1 Campaign to foster volunteerism nationwide. The campaign’s website offers 72,000 volunteer opportunities nationwide, which you can search by your zip code. Here is the link: http://stephenpkiernan.com/b1-campaign/.”

Orton staffers are always looking for things we should be reading, innovative community work we should be following, or people and organizations with whom we should connect, so let us know if you’ve got something to share.