The Lines are Blurring

I've lived in urban settings most of my life and consider myself an urbanist or 'city planner'. While I've not held public office or have sought employment that is specifically oriented to city or town planning, I have taken where I live seriously - as have most of my acquaintances.

Most people I know, and this is probably true of you, have taken some kind of active role in their community or city in an effort to participate in its wellness. And so you've joined block watches, or attend council meetings or maybe even visit your kids school - all intentional activities that signal you are engaged and aware.

I think about our beloved City of Toledo, and it's surrounding communities a lot - I mean a lot. While Toledo is the most densely populated area in our region it is also an island in a sea of rural communities - as is most of the Midwest. As a matter of fact, one of the more distinctive desirables of our City is that you can be in 'the country' inside of 20 minutes from any location.

That being said, when you look at traditional urban vs. rural issues, or for that matter urban vs. suburban issues - is there really a difference any more? A careful search of statistics and percentages of statistics against population densities doesn't really yield that large of a swing in terms of contrast as it did, lets say even a decade ago.

For example, forcible rape, burglary, larceny and property crimes in Findlay are higher than the national average. Yes, and you've figured it out - the same is true of Toledo in the same categories.

Drop out rates, graduation rates and enrollment rates across Northwest Ohio when put in perspective of population densities don't really change from District to District and if they do, it's only by a few percentage points either way.

Here's today's question; "When considering strategies to bring about community wellness, can we afford to continue delineating solutions by specifying what is urban, suburban or rural?"

I don't think so.

Poverty, addictions of every kind, the break down of the family unit and the near obliteration of the value of parents have all contributed to blurring and in most cases have erased the lines of urban vs. rural.

The 263 men and women that slept in one of the beds at Cherry Street Mission Ministries last night did not all come from Toledo. As a matter of fact, nearly half of the men and women we serve on any given day were not raised in, or came from Toledo.

What we face as a community can no longer be defined by something so small as geography. What we participate in for the betterment of the whole is a people [person by person] schematic and must be addressed by the 'who' standard rather than the 'where' standard.

And so our planning as concerned and engaged citizens must be within the context of our present realities. We would do well not to surrender or limit our actions or intentions to the old model of urban vs. rural. Choosing instead to focus on the real and systemic issues of the human condition.

It's not complicated, it's just complex
Dan

We need to change our thinking

Steve Eder, an investigative reporter with the Toledo Blade has begun a year long series (Sunday February 22, 2009) which will examine poverty and the regions readiness, entitled; Poverty Line, Unraveling the safety net.

In today's edition, Mr. Eder quotes me correctly when in our interview I said; "It [our regions growing poverty] is bleak, but the silver lining is that right now as a community we are still ahead of it. but we need to change our thinking".

And, we do!

As we [the service and funding community] change the way we think, we'll change our behavior. As our behavior changes, our outcomes will change as well. We have to think better regarding not only what and how we are serving the growing and present need, but we need a complete overhaul in the way we think regarding prevention.

Again I will say, an ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure. That's why I contend money is not our problem. We just need to utilize our resources better by changing our thinking concerning the communities problems, from a needs based to an assett based approach.

If you start the solution to any problem without first identifying the assetts in place, wastefulness will result and the problem will increase. Which is what our community is facing right now. The majority of the dollars flowing into our community on a local level from state and federal funding focus on the need, not the assetts and resources which have previously been purchased and largely under utilized.

It is actually good news we don't know what the watershed looks like right now. While our window to act is narrowing daily, rather than wondering the possible or even probable, let's behave decisively in the present and participate in the always inevitable results of working comprehensively together.

Thinking for a Change,
Dan

A Growing Intolerance

I'm a member, along with my wife, of New Life Church of God in Christ on Oakwood where Bishop Edward T. Cook is the Pastor. Along the back of the sanctuary is a large banner. It reads; Deliberate Mediocrity is a Sin.

This banner sums up the attitude our Pastor and the members of New Life have when it comes to pew sitting as a vocation. The banner is across the back of the Sanctuary so we can all read it on our way to our respective mission fields;

Deliberate Mediocrity is a Sin!

Personally, I believe there is a divine intolerance within the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether it’s Jesus making a whip and driving out distractions from intended purpose or Jesus’ healing of a crippled woman on the Sabbath and being threatened for doing so. He was intolerant towards any evil that resulted in people being threatened, abused or ignored.

While we live in a society that preaches tolerance as an antidote to hatred and discrimination - and well we should. We also realize of course, that tolerance is a double edge sword in that you cannot be tolerant of a particular thing, without being intolerant of its opposite.

And so I hope you've come to your own divine intolerance to the injustices around you. That you've grown your own resistant strain toward mediocrity. When all around you may suggest a conservative approach, remember that to observe Christs' teachings and follow His model of living results in a passionate focus that is unrelenting and without so much of a flinch, during times of distress

Intolerant of the darkness,
Dan

It's a Shame!

Connecting Point, here in Toledo, has closed its doors to hundreds of troubled youth and the families who depended on them. This, after decades of service in our communities. Though I've not read of a public reason offered by the organization, I've already begun to hear the excuses which for the most part have been blaming the economy and the financial uncertain times in which we all live.

I believe we are not only accountable for what we say, but also for what we don't say.

So let me say it; shame on you, the leaders of Connection Point. Your apparent irresponsibility and negligence have caused this closure.

You were a primary preventative service to many people - you helped keep young men and women off the streets and prevented them from ending up in one of our facilities. You provided outreach for young men and women staying at our Monroe Street or Sparrow's Nest facilities in an effort to connect them with other services

Now what?

The sad, and I'm sure unintended consequence from your perspective, is the reality that now, more than likely, Cherry Street and others like us, will be the burden bearers of your failure as we take in the inevitable flow of humanity you could have prevented.

A word of caution.

For those leaders in the social service arena who are watching the closure of Connecting Point - take a lesson. This didn't happen in a vacuum and it certainly didn't happen over night. For many of you there is still time to right your course, diversify your thinking and behavior and provide leadership to the community so we can all have a different outcome; changed lives, changed communities and ultimately a changed city.

You matter,

Dan

Black History Month

Let us pause on the first day of February; Black History Month, to recognize and celebrate the hopeful present and bright future where all people are honored and life is sacred.

On February 4th, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a sermon entitled 'The Drum Major Instinct' to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. This is one of my favorite speeches by Dr. King, second only to his speech as he received the Nobel Peace Prize. In the Drum Major Instinct sermon, and nearing the end, Dr. King recites an old poem;

If I can help somebody as I pass along
If I can cheer somebody he’s traveling wrong
Then my living will not be in vain
If I can do my duty as a Christian ought
If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought
If I can spread the message as the master taught
Then my living will not be in vain

And not more than two weeks ago, our Nations 44th President, Barack Obama took the oath of office of the President of the United States - our nations first black President. Nearing the end of his Inaugural Address he said;

"So let us mark this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At the moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words to be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America: In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

With Hope and Virtue,
Dan