Surprising Connections

One of the best things about my job is discovering connections that people have, or want to have, with Joel's Place.  For example, here are some interactions that I had this week:

• I was at Joel's Place after hours this past weekend when there was a knock on the door.  I opened the door to find a very nice lady who was looking for a different building.  We got to talking and she asked if she could donate food and art supplies to Joel's Place since she was looking after an elderly woman in this neighborhood and drove past us regularly.  She may even put on a couple of art classes for the kids this winter.
• One of the dads from my son's youth group came by Joel's Place and asked me about our stove.  Odd question, but ok.  He then told me he helped buy, transport and install it and he may even know where we could locate some spare parts.

The most fun recent story comes from earlier in the fall.  We sent out a general mailing to dozens of individuals and businesses who had past interactions with Joel's Place to update them on where we are at and what we are up to.  When we talked with Design Alaska, this interesting connection emerged. We traditionally put on a concert or two each month for local bands to be able to have some fun and get some experience performing.  It turns out that Design Alaska has a passion for encouraging young musicians and creating opportunities for them to develop their skills and mature as bands.  We were both thrilled to figure out that if we worked together we could offer a significantly better experience for the young bands we are looking to serve.  So Design Alaska will be sponsoring our Red Room Concert Series this year.  Their sponsorship will allow us to book more acts, advertise the shows better and also increase our ability to help the bands develop their business and promotion skills.  Overall, this partnership should be a tremendous investment into this segment of young people in our community.

If you have a connection with the youth of the Interior that you would like to share, I welcome your ideas and brainstorms.  The passions, skills and abilities that we don't use in our everyday lives can be dismissed or forgotten but they don't go away.  Joel's Place is an exceptional place to try new things...or try old things if it has been a while.  I have a friend who is teaching saxophone lessons to a teenager here after years and years of not touching the thing.  Kids are eager to learn new things.  They are eager to be able to show off new skills.  Mostly they are eager to have adults who say that they are worth their time and investment.  A saxophone lesson is more than just teaching scales and enduring shrill honks.  It is an unspoken affirmation, a time when my attention is solely focused on you, a small section of our week when a young person is challenged to believe in themselves because we believe in them.

And I do.  I do believe in the kids of Joel's Place.  They are young and wild and fearless and quick to learn and eager to dare and ready to teach those who come after them.  Is there anything you would be willing to share with them?

Think about it.