It’s easy to feel inspired to create meaningful change in a moment, but it’s much harder to sustain motivation through the triumphs and pitfalls of the process of creating impact. At SHARE, we attempt (and succeed) at a lot of change-making, with future plans to keep at it.
Of course, our work comes with a lot of tangible rewards- does anything beat a sincere thank you from providing something as simple as a shower to someone without consistent access to one? We are closely tied to the mission of why we do the work, fund the work, talk about the work, advocate for the work, recruit for the work, and consistently write monthly newsletters and blog posts to our community about the work…long story short, we think this is important.
However, like anything, it does come with its own set of setbacks and frustrations. On those days, it’s our “why” that sustains us. Our “why” is the reason we do what we do, and we need to know it if we’re going to stay on mission.
It’s lovely to think that there’s one concrete, unifying moment to define all moments that keeps us returning to the work over and over again, but the truth is it’s often a lot of little why’s. It might have begun with a moment of excitement or inspiration where we responded to a call to action (like this one here), but the work is filled with a lot of little moments that sustain our mission and renew our commitment.
It’s the volunteers who keep showing up, the shower guests we have built rapport with, the somewhat dark humor that develops with anyone who works with people for too long, or the breakthroughs that happen when you’re on the verge of quitting.
SHARE community is not just about our why, it’s also about yours. I don’t know what your personal “why” is. I don’t know why you’re a monthly subscriber, or a donor, or a volunteer, or simply a friend, but I do know that I’m thankful that you have decided to partner with us in doing this work. Your support becomes part of our why, and when we have our why, we continue on in this mission of Sharing Hope, Abundance, Resources, and Encouragement with the community.
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