Change

So last night, my Serta Memoryfoam topper and memoryfoam pillows came. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am VERY impressed. I think I slept with a minimum of tossing and turning, heard my back straightening out, and woke up refreshed and renewed. These are all good things. Change can be good.

Which is a concept I need to embrace. A little over three months ago, I accepted the task of heading up a small nonprofit in the South Bronx. We're located in the South Bronx which is, culturally, a million miles away from Manhattan. Then we service populations that are traditionally lost within the fabric of our social support systems: people living with HIV/AIDS, people with substance abuse issues, and people with mental health issues. There is quite a bit of overlap among the populations, and IMHO, it takes special people with special skillsets to properly deliver services.

So I have a staff of wonderful people, but the organization has a history of -- how can I say this -- mismanagement and abuse. IMHO, the employees have been traumatized, and the organization's coffers have been ravaged. I didn't know all this when I stepped in. Rather, I stepped into a situation where no monies were coming in, and our non-existent financial policies were under constant scrutiny. People appeared to have no individual accountability, and I've discovered the reason for that is the tendency/desire/attempt of my predecessor to micromanage every aspect of the agency. Except he was either crooked or incompetent.

So we have massive holes in our organizational structure and in our physical infrastructure (our networks become inoperable every time it rains, and we have no dedicated IT person). We have people who are tired and weary, but who still come in every day and try to give it their best. We are faced with a lack of capital and funding streams that, like our lifeblood, appear to be dessicating.

And I've embraced the challenge, realizing the change I thought would come about in three months is more likely to come about in three or more years. At our last Board meeting, the Secretary, who has a background in these sorts of programs, resigned. Earlier this month I found that the Chair of our Board of Directors needed to resign because of a conflict of interest with their primary place of employment. Then I found that the person who recruited me, who also has a background in these sorts of programs, will be resigning because of health issues and a desired return to school. Tonight I found that another Board member, a nurse, is also resigning. So I'm left with two or three seniors on the Board, all of whom possess willing spirits, but whose flesh is weakening. I've recruited an attorney and a financial professional, who will likely be voted in, and we have a couple more people from the neighborhood, among them a nurse, to be voted in. So we'll have our minimum of seven and I hope we'll have a Community Advisory Board as well. But it's all completely changed from the group that hired me.

The good news is probably that, as long as we can keep the agency afloat, I'll have job security and a good degree of autonomy. The bad news is that I'm not sure we'll have enough people on board to provide the kind of direction and oversight I need from a Board.

But I gotta do what I gotta do. I look at this place as my pastorate, complete with all the challenges and thrills that come with the position. Who knows but that God sent me here for just such a time as this....