With Gratitude in Mind

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." ~Epictetus

The upheaval of the last few months has left us all scrambling to find solid ground. Budget cuts have crippled our programs and left us breathless as we run to make the difficult changes necessary to keep the most essential services. It has been a challenge.

But every challenge brings opportunity. We are fortunate to have so many assets in our community bank - relationships and connections that are impervious to budget cuts because they are golden intangibles. And we are very grateful for them.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we want to take this opportunity to be mindful of our gifts. It is risky to list them, they are so numerous that we will inevitably omit many. Listed or not, we want to express our thanks to our supporters and those who share our vision of recovery for people with mental illness and addictions.

Here are a few:

• Our Law Enforcement Task Force is transforming the way officers and first responders interact with our consumers. Many have given hours of valuable time to be trained in CIT and attend our Task Force meetings. Thank you.
• Our Family and Children First Councils have worked right along side of us to make sure that our most vulnerable kids have needed services. They bring needed resources to the table, and we have been happy to help them as they have helped us. Thank you.
• We are privileged to have ethical, responsive leadership at our agencies. Confidence in their leadership management is something that money simply cannot buy. They have responded professionally to the cuts that have affected their agencies and continue to be creative in meeting needs with fewer dollars. Thank you.
• The We Care Faith Partners have transformed our outreach. Never in our history have people of such good will come together to support us and the community in such a selfless and energetic way. This is a group of doers - people who give hours and hours of time to make things like support groups, Oksoberfest, and Debra Jay's presentation happen in our communities. They make a difference with us and for us. Thank you.
• The number of partnerships we have is unbelievable. Our relationships with seniors and senior serving agencies, our connection with agencies serving people with developmental disabilities, our connections with agencies committed to making sure that people have safe and affordable housing, our presence in local schools - all of these help further our mission of reaching out. To all of you, thank you.
• Every day nearly 200 professionals work within the We Care system to make sure that our consumers get what they need. Administrators, counselors, social workers, case managers, support staff, medical records technicians, doctors, nurses, and facilities support give tirelessly to our consumers. They do not have easy jobs. They deserve higher salaries and lighter work loads, but they do it because they believe in it. To all of you, thank you.
• Finally, we are incredibly fortunate to have a Board of Directors that understands the intricacies of what we do, and finds a way to balance their responsibilties of governance with sensitivity and compassion for our consumers and the staff. Remember, they are volunteers. To a person, they take their roles and responsibilties seriously, giving hours that could easily be spent with their families and careers in order to give us support and direction. To the 15 people who guide us, we say of course, thank you.

With gratitude we remember our strengths and bring the last weeks of 2009 to a close. We know that the year to come will continue to bring challenges, false starts, and unforeseen roadblocks. Bring them on. We have relational cash in the back to meet them and with all of the creativity and compassion of our partners - we will make a way.

Please enjoy a little Josh Groban. The song is "THANKFUL" from his Noel CD.