Change

Last month I posted the following as my status on facebook and twitter, "I've had some eye opening revelations today! I can't even get into it fully but we are about to experience a major paradigm shift.”

Over the next few months I plan to unpack this statement. As I stated in my last post I have been doing a lot of reading that is causing me to have to rethink how I lead and how Urban Connection leads on the West End of San Antonio. If we want to bring about strategic, significant, sustained change in the community we can't continue doing things the way we've been doing them.

I'm reminded of the quote, "If you want something you have never had, you must do something you've never done." What makes us think that we can overcome poverty, and all the issues related doing things the same old way.

Social Service programs aren't making any type of real changes. And I believe the reason is because we have more faith in our professional experience and "proven models" than we do in people. We see the same organizations year after year, receiving funding to serve those in our communities, yet everyone knows that they aren't effective. But because everyone knows their name and they've been around a long time they are getting the funds and nothing is changing.

Our charity is just building dependence. I was horrified this past Christmas season of how literally, people came into the neighborhood dressed as Santa Claus and just passed out gifts while walking up and down the street. Our families literally thought that everything they did and everywhere they went was supposed to end in them receiving a gift. There is something wrong with that. We have to do better by people than this.

People are resilient if given the tools or better yet, if they are shown how to use the tools that they already possess. And it takes time. Did we achieved our success over night? No, some of us are still working to achieve it, yet we expect people without the social capital that we have to succeed in a blink of an eye. Because we give them some food, or clothing or job assistance, a Christmas present, that all their problems are supposed to go away. Does it happen that way for us? Why the double standard?

Change is hard for everyone. To come out of what you are comfortable in doing is a challenge and the hardest part is not returning to old habits and patterns.

This year, 2011, will be a season of change for Urban Connection and the neighborhood in which we serve. I guarantee that we will have difficult days. But we will face those days with courage.

We are going to not only DO better, we are going to BE better.