The Answer is Right in Front of Me!

Like all nonprofit leaders in this day and time, the new norm is that we must do even more with less. We can no longer expect to return to the way it was before. That day will never come, which means if we are to survive, we must continue to be willing to learn new ways of working to accomplish our goals.  To that end, I always encourage my staff to take advantage of training and self development opportunities so that NAM and ultimately the clients we serve will benefit from our new found knowledge and insights.

This summer I took a class with Margaret Wheatley, a well known author on leadership and organizational development. The class was about being Comfortable with Uncertainty and we began the class with these questions: What is the core belief around which you do your work? What if you discovered your core belief was false?

For most, fear ensues and gets in the way of doing our work in a meaningful way. So we must find a way to overcome the fear. Wheatley goes on to say that leading during chaotic times calls for building meaningful relationships and holding meaningful dialog to develop clarity around how to respond and overcome the fear that is holding us back.

In 1983, the community was faced with an economic meltdown and uncertain times similar to what we are experiencing now. People were losing their jobs, their homes and they were faced with great uncertainty. The clergy in northwest Houston began to dialog around what they were seeing and eventually decided that while they had no control over the economy, they had control over their own response to what was happening. So they set their theological differences aside and decided to pool their resources so they could help more people. That was the year they decided to found Northwest Assistance Ministries.

Since 1983, we have been and continue to be, the community's response during chaotic times. We are Neighbors Helping Neighbors meet basic human needs. So while we have no control over what goes on in Washington  or in the world at large, we can find peace and comfort in knowing that together we can make a difference in each other's lives. A difference for the better.

  

What’s GROI?

When asked “What thing about humanity surprises you the most?”, the Dalai Lama answered: “Man…because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present – the result being that he does not live in the present or the future. He lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

We all have a higher purpose. In every age, people have sought the meaning of life, that’s the journey for each one of us, to figure out why we are here. We often hear, what’s the bottom line, the return on investment (ROI)? I wonder about what has been invested in every individual. We all have God given skills, abilities, unique talents and opportunities to use them, so what’s God’s return on investment (GROI) in each one of us? What were we shaped for? In his Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren talks about how we were made for service, to serve God and neighbor.

Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM) has long been a conduit for service. After all, our mission is to strive to meet basic human needs through Neighbors helping Neighbors. NAM is not just a place, it is an army of service-minded people – approximately 85 staff members, more than 2,000 volunteers, and countless benefactors who want to be part of something greater than themselves.

Twenty-eight years ago, NAM was founded by ten congregations that put aside their theological differences to work together for the common good. That spirit of cooperation can still be seen today among the people of different backgrounds and faiths that team up to help the most vulnerable in our community. Walk through NAM’s Food Pantry, Assistance Program or visit with Meals on Wheels drivers and you will see that our volunteers not only respect each other’s differences, they celebrate them.

NAM is like a tapestry that is only as strong as its individual threads. Fortunately, our threads are the people that work so hard and are using their God given talents to serve. These threads are the hard-working staff members, the dedicated volunteers, and the generous donors who want to make a difference.

We all have gifts of time, talent, or treasure that we are meant to share. This is our blessing and our purpose in life. Do we live anxiously, or do we live in the present moment? If we take a moment to look around, we will see how blessed we are and how many opportunities exist to share our blessings. Our service to others is the legacy we leave on this earth. Start your legacy today. Share. Volunteer. Give.


The need can be overwhelming, but we are making a difference. The legacy of kindness and generosity is passed on to all who enter NAM’s doors seeking relief, searching for hope. As Mother Teresa once said; “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”