We Can Do This Together

I was sitting in a administrative meeting at the school where I work, listening to the faculty and staff talk about the ramifications of a $30 million shortfall in the AISD budget next year.  Of course, everyone knew that drastic cuts were coming and that hundreds of jobs might be lost.  It wasn't a very upbeat meeting.  I sat there thinking how it's tough enough to face all the challenges of a Title I school (significant number of at-risk, low-income students) without losing so many of the resources necessary to be successful. That it's tough enough to succeed in a district with no Title I schools, but so much more difficult in a district with several.

One of the lessons to be learned is that no urban school district can provide all the funding necessary to accomplish their mission.  It will require even more collaboration with local partners, including nonprofit organizations like ours (Urban Connection Austin). Which is why our proposal to the district next Spring is to assume most of the financial responsibility for our Family Resource Center.

Over the last two years I've heard a lot of rhetoric, from individuals and churches, asserting that Christians are the logical ones to help the "working poor."  I like the sound of that.  I've always believed that Christians are the most motivated and equipped to change the world and minister to the poor.  Now it's to put our money where our mouth is.  

I believe we have the opportunity, in these difficult times, to put down roots in this community and establish relationships of trust with our neighbors if we will assume the financial responsibility for maintaining this ministry. Otherwise, I fear that it will be lost in a wave of budget cuts over the next few months.  This would be tragic, given the progress we have made in just one year and the prospect of truly "moving the needle" when it comes to helping move families from crisis to stability and self-sufficiency.

Over the next few months you will hear more about our campaign to raise the funds necessary to preserve and secure this important work.  We will be appealing primarily to a broad base of those that can give $25, $50, or $100/month.  Many faith-based organizations like ours depend primarily on large donations, but our mainstay has always been those individuals that believe in what we're doing and continue to support us on a monthly basis.  If we are to secure the trust of Austin ISD, we must prove ourselves trustworthy.  I hope you will join us.

Resources Without Relationships

In a blog entry from a few days ago ("It's Getting Worse"), I observed that resources, without relationships, are invariably wasted.  Now, allow me to come back to that.  I spent this last summer delivering lunches to hungry kids in five multi-family complexes (four apartment complexes and a trailer park).  I would prepare the order for the day (usually about 100 + lunches), load them on a catering truck and deliver them to these sites.  But that wasn't the half of it.  Meeting me at those sites was a group of young people that had set up tarps and blankets and were playing with the kids, using all sorts of sports equipment, coloring books, bubbles and other assorted forms of entertainment.  The kids loved it and joined in enthusiastically, often joined by their parents.

Looking around one day I realized that feeding these kids wasn't the most important thing we were doing that summer.  We were also creating community among the families and kids that attended, a network of relationships that has continued into the school year.  (All of these sites were within a mile or two of our Family Resource Center at J. Frank Dobie Middle School.)  After the summer was over, I had a chance to meet with some of the parents that attended with their children to ask them their opinions about our service.  That was a humbling experience, especially as I asked them what we could do to improve that service (what were our mistakes).  They pointed out several until one of the parents innocently inquired why I didn't ask them what they needed or wanted.  And, more importantly, why I had not asked them to help.  I hadn't even thought of that.

That's often the case with many things we try to do in low-income neighborhoods.  We just assume what's best and appropriate for the people we're trying to serve without ever taking the time to ask for their input.  Later, we complain if participation in our program is low without ever "connecting the dots."  We treat our neighbors as clients that we're serving and regard ourselves as messiahs instead of neighbors.  You see, neighbors usually don't do for others what they can do for themselves and they usually ask, "What can I do to help you?" before they do.  Messiahs, armed with briefcases full of research, assume they already know.

Is it any surprise then that so many well-laid plans and programs come up short and fail to accomplish their lofty goals?  And the number one reason for that is quite simple - a lack of engagement, especially with parents.  Maybe it's because we talk instead of listen and, even when we do research, it usually doesn't include the opinions and experience of those we're determined to help.  We continue to make plans and write proposals requesting funding without spending the necessary time and effort to build relationships with those we're trying to serve.  The truth is, we can't lift people out of poverty.  We're not messiahs.  But we can become good neighbors that come alongside folks that are struggling to help empower and encourage them, connecting them to the resources and opportunities that will lift them out of poverty.  Because the greatest resource we can ever offer our neighbors is each other.  With trusting relationships, resources can be properly utilized.  Without those relationships, resources are invariably wasted.  Apply this principle to the charities you support and see if it doesn't hold true.

Try A Mango!

For all of us that are angered by the entire predatory lending industry (e.g. payday loan establishments) and for all those that are their victims, now there's a creative alternative.  Try a mango! It's the name of a new, innovative, but simplified method of banking that just opened in South Austin.  Check out the "no frills" approach to banking that keeps their fees to a minimum and encourages people to save their money for that inevitable "rainy day."  You can even do your banking on your mobile phone.  This is amazing.  Check it out!

What Would Jesus Do?

"At the end of the day, it is important to remember that while the institutional church is important to us, Jesus appeared to give it little thought.  Though the church eventually became the means by which the story and witness of Jesus spread, neither its genesis nor continuance seemed a priority to him.  Time after time, meeting human needs took center stage in his life and ministry.  Indeed, when Jesus did speak of institutional religion, he was often scathing, saying at one point that those who were religiously pure on the outside were inwardly deceitful and rapacious (Matthew 23:25).  This serves as a caution to those of us who have convinced ourselves that the goal of the church is institutional purity.  To be a follower of Jesus is to choose, at every ethical crossroads, to serve people above structures."

Philip Gulley, If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus

It's Getting Worse

Three years ago the government reported that there were over 36 million households in America that were "food insecure."  Now that number as increased to over 49 million households, increasing by a third in just three years.  It's clear that we're moving very quickly in the wrong direction and nearly everyone that deals with this problem on a daily basis believes it's just going to get worse in a bad economy like this one.  We all know that the majority of the major cuts in the next year won't be made in defense spending or eliminating tax cuts.  They will come in social programs that help those that are struggling in poverty.  We need to ask ourselves, what if this trend continues? What if it grows larger, as it surely will, especially when benefits are cut?

What should be our response?  First, we need to recognize that the answer isn't just spending more money, but a better plan, a more economical and comprehensive plan.  We need a plan that marshals both human and monetary resources to combat hunger.  We need a plan that cuts out much of the bureaucratic and ineffective administration of these programs and eliminates fraud.  We need a plan that offers greater incentives to the private sector to collaborate with the government to feed hungry children.

Second, the sacrifice must start from the top down instead from the bottom up.  It's like that simple admonition that many of us have heard and not enough of us practice - live simply so that others can simply live.  Even the richest people in America, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, recognize the biblical wisdom that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  Whether that generosity is the willingness to pay more taxes, as Warren Buffett has embraced and endorsed, or to work with the government and other organizations to address this growing problem, this demands an "all hands on deck" approach.

Finally, the most effective way to solve this problem is to develop relationships with those we are trying to help.  We cannot lift people out of poverty.  We must offer them opportunities to help themselves.  It is true that many reasons for poverty are self-inflicted wounds, bad habits that frustrate financial prosperity.  The problem is that simply pointing that out is the single most ineffective response.  What is required is a relationship with those we're trying to help.  In fact, my limited experience suggests that resources, without relationships, are invariably wasted and often make matters worse (more on that later).  It may well be that this is the greatest source of waste in all of our efforts to help and it will continue until we change our strategy.

When we look at programs, like the summer food service program (SFSP), that serves lunches to kids from low-income families, and wonder why the participation rate in Texas is below 10%, perhaps we should try something different.  How about asking some of those families?  Perhaps the program, as presently structured, no longer serves the need or there are too many barriers to participation or there aren't enough incentives for the private sector to help.  Maybe instead of trying to be messiahs, we need to simply be neighbors and ask for their help.  The truth is, it's all of that and more, but when the conversation is limited to bureaucrats and administrators we will continue to wonder what's wrong with very little hope of ever discovering what it is.  (When I sit in those meetings I'm continually reminded of the philosopher George Santayana's definition of a fanatic as someone that redoubles their effort when they have forgotten their aim.)

The gap is growing wider and things are growing steadily worse.  It's insane to keep doing things the way we always have, but expect different results.  There are solutions to these problems, but it will demand engagement with a much broader group of people, including those we claim to care about and serve.  Millions of hungry children are waiting for us to act.

Showing Up

When I first began as the Executive Director of Urban Connection Austin, it was a pretty modest start.  Like a missionary in a foreign culture, I spent all of my time just showing up and listening to individuals and groups.  Against all of my impatience to just "do something," my boss, Larry James of City Square (formerly Central Dallas Ministries), kept assuring me that there are no bad meetings and to just keep showing up.  I started in the 78758 zip code where we live and specifically in the Northgate neighborhood that most folks had written off as too far gone to reclaim.  I talked to apartment residents, local ministers, Parent Support Specialists, and principals, just to name a few.  With each one I asked, "How can I help?" and nearly everyone gave me something to do, from distributing flyers to carrying groceries and taking people to the clinic.

Then I got an invitation to join a distinguished group of natural community organizers and create a Family Resource Center at J. Frank Dobie Middle School in the 78753 zip code (north of the St. John's neighborhood and east of the one where I had been working).  Soon I had the opportunity to call meetings as well as attend them.  And little by little I've seen the value of just showing up.  It seems like every day that I encounter someone I met at those early meetings and with each one another part of the big picture seems to fall into place.

I thought of that today when I got a call from someone at a city-wide educational organization about some plans they're working on in the neighborhood where I began - the 78758 zip code.  He said I was recommended by one of those Parent Support Specialists I had encountered and offered my help.  I must admit I was a little surprised by the recommendation because I really don't think I did much for her. But she remembered me and recommended me.  That's all that counts.  That's the nature of such grassroots community development - one person meeting with another person and then another and another until the sheer force of such numbers begins to "move the needle." Who knows what collaborations will result from such meetings?  I'm glad I showed up.

Immigration Reform Now

Yesterday, I spent much of my day helping a young man file papers to enroll his 13 year-old nephew in school.  We're still working on it today.  This young man's brother and sister-in-law, the parents of his nephew, were swiftly arrested and deported a few weeks ago, leaving their son to fend for himself.  Fortunately, the boy had family here in Austin that could assume responsibility for him - his 20 year-old uncle.  It seems hard to believe that the agents who arrested this couple didn't make provisions for this boy.  I would have found it hard to believe except I've see and heard similar stories before.

I say all of this because I'm sure the agents acted well within the law.  What they did was perfectly legal, but was it morally right?  These are the kinds of issues that we must all face as a nation.  This problem is not going away and our present approach has failed miserably.  Yesterday was a reminder both of our failure and our promise.  Failure, because this young boy's parents were deported without any regard for their young son. Promise, because there were people like me and others that are willing to help this family care for their abandoned son.  A perfect snapshot of our immigration dilemma.

Immigration reform is just one of many major problems that Congress and our President must address in the months and years to come.  But face it they must.  Failure to do so will only accelerate the suffering in the Hispanic community and continue to block the economic boom it can create if we can move past our legalistic perspective and do what is true to our history (we are a nation of immigrants) and benefits all.

P. S.  If you want to get a better perspective on the human effects of our present immigration system, check out the movie, The Visitor.  Then tell me what you think.

Checks and Balances or Just Gridlock?

I don't know how you're feeling about last night's election results, but it's definitely a change.   Just as it was two years ago.  Let's pray that the next two years aren't like the last two.  Let's hope that the division of power in Congress next year will force both sides to work together for positive change.  That certainly seems to have been the intent of the founders of our Constitution.  Checks and balance among the three branches of government that would provoke vigorous debate and eventual compromises for the greater good of the country.

Perhaps one of the saving graces is that all three groups - Republicans, Democrats and the members of the Tea Party experienced some losses that, hopefully, will produce a certain measure of humility and a deeper sense of purpose.  That all of them will realize just how tenuous our future is if we continue believing that the enemy is each other.  As the apostle Paul reminds us, our struggle is not against flesh and blood (each other), but against powers and principalities and the spiritual forces of evil.  Powers and principalities of our own construction and control and spiritual forces of evil that can reside in any human institution, even an American one.

A large portion of the populace can't afford the luxuries of political theater.  They can't afford to travel cross-country to rallies.  They can hardly afford to drive across town to work.  They don't have the disposable income to make large campaign contributions. They struggle to contribute to their own survival.  One of the strengths of any democracy is empowering those that have no power or voice.  Now that the results are in, it's time for all of us to come together and work through our differences.  The challenges of the future are great and the potential for gridlock is even greater.  Finding common ground and working for the greater good will be the greatest challenges of all. God help us all.

Stand Up and Be Counted

It's tough to take the time to vote today (unless you were disciplined enough to vote early).  Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, it's tough to make the effort to vote when the media is constantly telling us the result is already determined.  If you're like me, you're ready for all the political mania to end so our leaders can stop slinging mud and start working together to address a crisis that's not going away any time soon. Pundits have talked about "voter fatigue," or the discouragement that will keep people from exercising their constitutional right to vote.  That may be so.  VOTE ANYWAY.

Vote because, despite all the weariness from this volatile political season, your vote counts.  In a culture often driven by the other "golden rule" - those that have the gold make the rules, voting is one of the few places where the field is anywhere close to being level.  And in low-income neighborhoods, it is one of the very few political options.  I learned long ago in Chicago, that when you called a politician's office the likelihood that your call would be returned or your voice heard was based on the voting record in your district.  That's why we need to do a better job of registering voters and getting out the vote in those neighborhoods.  I'm certainly committed to doing that in the years to come.

Meanwhile, don't let the fatigue from all the nonsense deter you from exercising your right to vote.  Stand up and be counted...VOTE.

Living for the City

For almost three years now I've been working as the founder and Executive Director of Urban Connection Austin.  After 33 years in professional church ministry, my career was abruptly ended and I began looking for a new and more effective way to serve in Austin. And I found it, with the support of a good friend and mentor, Larry James, CEO of Central Dallas Ministries (now City Square). Together with his staff, we embarked on a journey to replicate the values, service, and success of CDM in Austin, just as they had done with Urban Connection - San Antonio ten years earlier.

You might think that launching this blog after only two years in this job seems a bit presumptuous, but the reality is that I've worked in some form of community development for several decades, beginning in Detroit (where I was born and raised), then for 12 years in Chicago, 8 years in San Antonio, and over 10 years in Austin. (As you can see, I'm clearly a "city kid.") During that time I served as the Chair of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission of South Cook County, Vice President of the board of the Family Services and Mental Health Center of the South Suburbs (Chicago), Vice President of the board of San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries, and one of the founding pastors of Micah 6 in Austin.  During that time I've had the privilege of serving with and for some pretty amazing people, but especially these last two years in Austin.

I've called this blog, "Living for the City" after a popular song Stevie Wonder (a fellow Detroit native) wrote about those that struggle to live "just enough for the city." It is as relevant today as it was then.  I have another blog that I started over two years ago ago called Urban Connection Austin which we will continue, posting events and activities on at least a weekly basis.  However, this blog will be more personal, reflecting on the lessons I've learned and continue to learn "living for the city."  Along the way, I hope to share stories of people, created in the image of God, that are struggling, sometimes succeeding and often not, to survive in an economic system that punishes the poor.  And I will share the changes in my own perspective that are often the result of unearthing my prejudices and presumptions about my new neighbors.  Please join me on this journey, learning from my mistakes and, hopefully, being inspired to make a connection with those that are often forgotten or purposely ignored in our society.  I would certainly enjoy your company and appreciate your comments.

Pray for the City

"Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I've carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, so will you."  

(Jeremiah 29:7)

This has always impressed me as a rather amazing request of God's people.  To ask those that have been forcibly removed from their surroundings and culture and dropped into a completely foreign, and often hostile, culture to pray for the peace and prosperity of that culture without changing or controlling it seems counter intuitive. But that's precisely God's request.  And the prayer is unconditional.  God asked them to pray for the city's prosperity and peace because they would share in it.  In other words, they were to desire for their neighbors what they desired for themselves.  


It makes me wonder what it would be like if more Christians prayed for others as people rather than as prospects.  What if we shared God's love with people the way the sower in Jesus' story indiscriminately cast his seed (Matthew 13)?  It seems to me that conversion as the goal has a way of short-circuiting relationships to move directly to the "return on investment" - conversion.  Which may explain why most organizations that serve people in need have such strict prohibitions against proselytizing (conversion).  It may also explain why the New Testament, although it talks a lot about conversions doesn't make it our primary responsibility (we are witnesses - Acts 1:8).  When conversion is the only goal, motivation can too easily become manipulation and, as a result, relationships (people) suffer.  People soon figure out that they are just prospects and feel cheated. Sincere Christians often discover the same thing and feel cheap.


God's love is most effective when it is shared indiscriminately and lavishly.  God is teaching us to love people, not to conquer them.  And if we believe that God offers us the best way to live, that should be obvious to all that seek a better way of life without deploying a clever strategy to convert them.  Jesus' strategy was his way of life and it was quite simple - love everyone and speak the truth, or as the apostle Paul once said, "speak the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15).  That all begins when we pray for the peace and prosperity of others.  And when we get specific (naming names), we will learn to genuinely care for those around us.  Before you know it, we will find ourselves loving them and acting for their good.  That's when you know it's truly God's kingdom (agenda) and power (Holy Spirit) and glory. As someone wisely observed, "Before you can speak about God to others, you need to speak to God about them."  Try it this week and let me know what you discover.