As a Director of nonprofit, it is always encouraged to have a ready pitch. An elevator speech.
But recently at a staff gathering, I was reminded how many details of our work are important to share. At this meeting, I saw more than five dozen smart, dedicated, compassionate individuals. I saw that their daily work holds more hope and honor than can be contained in the short lift ride between floors of a building.
On any given work day, we are inundated with important details and unplanned distractions. How Turning Pointe pays attention to these says everything about who we are as an organization. After all, love is in the details. If you wish to know who Turning Pointe really is, join me now for a ride up (and maybe back down) in an imaginary elevator of a very tall building.
At Turning Pointe, we are problem solvers. We are Administrators. We are nurses reading temperatures and attitudes. We are bus drivers shuttling students into community settings. We are specialists with one more intervention to try and one more hour of research to do to create ideal programming for students. We are accountants – counting every penny and stretching every resource. We are recruiters and interviewers searching for the next teammate. We are teammates – a compassionate crew drawn to a common cause.
We are all teachers imparting new skills and coping strategies in each student or one another. And we are all students learning about our students, fields of expertise and the community’s needs. We are first responders to any crisis in any moment. We are chefs preparing breakfasts, lunches, dinners and smoothies. We are gardeners. Sowing seeds, cultivating plants and – like other gardeners – rarely taking enough time to enjoy the fruits of our harvest. Instead we are planning the next season.
We are fundraisers forging partnerships and opportunities to keep our lights on, raise up new classrooms and pilot new programs. We are advocates first and foremost, caring about outcomes and possibility for these students we truly adore. We are doers and fixers. We are mistake makers. Then we are fixers again. We are living proof that grit builds character. We are living proof that caring matters. We are living witnesses that miracles can happen. We are Turning Pointe.
Turning Pointe – an intersection of hope and innovation. The place where families find paths to greater peace. The place where volunteers enrich us with their sacrifice. The place where our days are filled with gratitude and grace.
