Someone Said...

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2009

Who Said:

"The budget should be balanced.  The Treasury should be refilled.  Public Debt should be reduced.  The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled and assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest we become bankrupt.

People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

Was it: 

(a) Barack Obama

(b) Stephen Harper

(c) Cicero

Who said that poverty and homelessness make him feel:

Humility

Degraded

Worthless

Shame

Anger

Guilt

Hopeless

Anxious

Disgrace

Trepidation

Helpless

Stuck

Burdensome

Upset

Desperate

Alienated

Trapped

Alone

Onerous

Stigmatized

Isolated

Courage

Indignity

Misunderstood

Disgust

Labeled

Stressed

Controlled

Embarrassed

Judged

Belittled

Fearful

Humiliated

Blamed

Worried

Demeaned

Useless

Lost

Empty

Displaced

Resourceful

Dependent

Foolish

Denial

Defeated

Loathed

Weak

Stupid

Apathy

Defaced

Grouped

Demoralized

Wounded

Resilient

Durable

Vulnerable

Why!

Overwhelmed

Untrusting

Prideless

Unworthy

Disrespected

Forever?

Was it:

(a)  Mother Teresa

(b) Ron Hell

(c) Someone who's living it

If you're the first one to answer both questions correctly, a donation will be made in your name to your choice of a Thunder Bay Shelter or Food Bank.  Click on "Comments" at www.xowhat.blogspot.com

In the next few weeks, we'll be discussing

Asset Based Community Development.  

At it's core, it's about:

• generating authentic citizen communities of care...

You'll be introduced to the seminal work of John McKnight who said:

After 40 years of work in the urban neighborhoods of Canada

and the United States, McKnight paints

a scathing picture of

"how competent communities have been invaded, captured, and colonized by professionalized services" with devastating results.

Reciting a litany of lethal effects produced by service providers:

 families collapsing,

schools failing,

violence spreading,

prisons swelling

he charges them with eroding the very soul of community.

"The enemy is not poverty, sickness, and disease," McKnight writes.

"The enemy is a set of interests that need dependency, masked by service."

In your "community leadership" journey,

what do you say?

How does your style of leadership impact the community and those you lead?  What have you learned so far (with LTB) that can influence your leadership style in the future?

How are the GOALS you set at the Opening Retreat progressing?  Is it time to "reflect" and review your options?

....and there's so much more to come!