1/6/2012

A friend of mine from another state and i, (whom i have never met in person by the way) have extensive conversations on the work we do and our intense desires or “call” to help others.  The conversations are always great because the friend has a great deal of input and has an awesome will to help those in need.  The friend of mine and i are from different ends of the assistance world.  BTW, My organization, which is a micro nonprofit, the one you are reading this blog on helps those in need directly, hands on.  My friends organization helps or desires to help fund organizations like us.   Although our work may be different, the end results can be the same.  What we are finding out together are the struggles can also be the same and just as frustrating.

My problem is, i hate bringing people, whether they be friends, companies etc into my end of the ugliness of the nonprofit world, the assistance world as i call it.  Especially, depending on their personal outlook or makeup.  Sometimes the reality of what things are simply isn’t the best for everybody all the time. Sometimes i try to protect others who are not a nonprofit from getting too involved when they do not need to.  Thus is the case with this friend of mine.  The friend is an awesome person i believe and have come to feel.

This friend is has in the very recent past helped organizations by donating his own monies and is wanting, trying, deeply desiring and “called” to help.  The problem is, the friend is running into pretty much the same obstacles, struggles and frustrations that i do when i ask for help for a homeless “Friend In Need” from other nonprofit staff and nonprofit organizations and or government entities.

WTH?

So, what i am getting at is like almost every other time, my friend, who by the way is an awesome listener,  shared his frustrations with me and which almost always opens the floodgates and i pound him with my personal realities/frustrations of trying to help others in need.  This happened on a very recent phone conversation the other day and like every other time, i felt guilty as i was speaking to him, as i kept asking him to forgive my ranting, which every time he graciously does.  When i hung up the phone i really felt badly and still do.  At the same time, the friend and i accomplish a great deal of exchanging ideas.  We both want to make a difference.  We both want and are “called” to help others.  We both believe in doing and not simply talking.

Simply, we should not have to struggle like this in our efforts to help others. We are not part of the way the typical “process” is in the industry.  If you knew how much of this friends for-profit revenue is going to be Donated to nonprofit organizations, you would be floored!  The catch is, the friend wants the nonprofits to participate in the program.  Not entirely unreasonable.  It is not complicated, it is extremely easy, is not a scam and most importantly… does not cost anyone a dime except this friend of mine.  It is going to cost the friend half…HALF of ALL my friends for profit company profits.   It drives me crazy to hear how much trouble the friend is having getting nonprofit organizations to get involved, to participate.  It angers me and frustrates my friend.  Thus, our phone conversations.  I believe my friend would have more success with an audience of his Philanthropic peers.

The problem i have is, by my friend getting so close to the nonprofit organizations and involved in selling the idea to them, this friend gets to see the ugly side of it all.  What people really simply cannot do or will not do for whatever reason.  Me and my organization included.  However, me and my organization are trying to do all in our tiny power we can to help this friend get this idea as much exposure as possible.

I have personally done this homeless assistance thing and suicide prevention since 1985.   I have struggled with it that entire time because it seems our world has created a “process” which simply makes it too difficult to help others.  It is not simply the “process” but also the mindset which has been created to go along with the process.  HOWEVER, i have never struggled with it like i have since we became a 501c3 nonprofit in 2010.   Since we became a nonprofit, the struggle to help others in need has become so ridiculously difficult and frustrating, that i find myself thinking……WTH!!!????

When i was doing this work as just a normal person/individual i barely ever had an issue helping others.  I simply helped those as i could, when i could in the way i wanted to because i was funding it all myself.  And WOW, the results were awesome!  I miss those days.  WTH!  Now that i have made it this big bad nonprofit, the way everybody looks at and the mindset that has been created in  helping others has been so adulterated, unnecessarily complicated and twisted, that it is simply a tragedy because many, hundreds of thousands at a time are going unhelped for absolutely no reason.  WTH! 

SO, as I believe this friend of mine has to be thinking the same thing as i am.  I know almost everyday now i find myself thinking to  myself……WTH am i knocking myself out for, why am i draining every once of energy i have left, ignoring my health and WTH have i allowed my fiance and i to spend every last extra dime we have had in order to help others.  WTH?  My friend has done the same.

Because we are Called to do it.  It has nothing to do with us.  Jesus has called us to do something for Him.  Take care of my Sheep.  Help the Lost ones, the Weak and the Sick ones.

So, i personally will find another way, and look for more direction from Jesus and His Father Jehovah in the work i am called to do.

As far as my friend, i and my organization will do as much as i possibly can to help his for profit company make all the money he can so he can give 50% of his profits to nonprofit organizations helping others.  He is slowly learning which ones those are and which ones they are not.  Thats the ugliness.  OH and BTW, that 50% is exactly that.  Nothing will be taken out for anything else, nothing else…..so as far as I am concerned, my friend is giving 100% of that 50% as anything else comes out of his personal funds as far as operating his company, that is the for profit company that is “called” to help nonprofits raise money.

WTH?

Want more information?   Email me at: straightaheadlwg@gmail.com or call me on my cell: 865.964.1461

Lance Greene/Founder of Straight Ahead Outreach-Taking back Your life Inc.