Autumn

There is a nip in the air; seems like autumn is here for sure. It is my favorite season, with one reservation... it ushers in winter! The reminder of seasons and inevitable change directs my thoughts to transformation in my own life... and how raising up Chloe's Place in this particular season of my life makes sense. I have enjoyed lots of seasons. A few of my favorites include: "Baby, Baby, Baby" (the parenting years), "Borders Expanded" (geography & faith), "Onerous Obligations" (engrossed in the lives of the poor & needy) and "They Call Me Gram" (self-explanatory). The seasons vary in time, intensity and comfort, but these (and others) have brought me to the season I currently enjoy. I think I will label it, "Not Because I Must;But Because I May".

If I had to divide my life's seasons differently, to coincide with the familiar lunar calendar, I think I would consider myself in the autumn of my life. Just think about it... long periods of growing and maturing, complete with pruning... and fertilizer! It is time now for me to bring to harvest what has been invested and what I have learned through the years. It is the time to glean from the rich experiences and sow in the lives of others.

I fully recognize there are not enough seasons of life to make all dreams come true or to bring healing to enough wounds. I am however, determined to give my best effort to breaking the cycle of poverty, abuse, and disparity for young single moms and their children.
My days are filled with dreams, projects and schedules all intentionally set to meet the goal of establishing Chloe's Place. Recent progress includes:
...Compiling a contact list of 300 family units
.. Finalizing plans for a monthly E-note
...Reviewing hundreds of real estate offerings (Knowing full well our Development
Director has the search in her capable hands)
...Receiving our first "Impact Partner" donation (one time donation of more than
$1,000.00)
...Meeting outstanding ministry leaders throughout our area and learning from them

Renewed and Ready!

This summer has passed more quickly than any I can remember! From the time of my last post I have enjoyed a couple months chocked full of family visits, a bit of travel and hopefully, some answers to health issues that will be resolved! I felt odd, not having back to back meetings, trainings to prepare and a tight schedule to maintain. Because major fatigue had taken a toll, I realized that a bit of R&R was in order. I am very thankful for the love of my family and time with them while I adjusted to changing gears!

This is, however a new day. I am feeling renewed and focused on the work at hand of getting Chloe's Place established. During my first week of full-time focus on Chloe's Place I have met some wonderful men & women who are excited about our work and are making great connections for us. I have meetings set up to learn from more area ministry leaders and to share our vision for Chloe's Place.

I have been reading books and attending classes that will be helpful as we create our volunteer training materials as well as some health and safety classes planned for the young women we will serve.

We do need to find a 'home' for Chloe's Place. We have been hesitant to do much promotion because without a 'Place' the self-sufficiency home might seem a mere 'concept', though we are way beyond the concept point! If you have been following this blog for any amount of time you are aware that we are establishing a self-sufficiency home for young single moms and their children. This residential program will provide save haven, educational support, Christian nurture, and life skill training for up to 6 moms and their little ones. The program is very structured and requires a 2-year commitment from the moms we will serve. We need a house with adequate space for the families and staff. We need office and classroom space, as well. It's kind of like a chicken and egg scenario. We hesitate to promote Chloe's Place because we do not have an established location ...but... how can we secure a house without expressing the need to the community!

We expect to find just the right place in NE Franklin County...Ohio (we are focused on the Westerville/Gahanna area but not locked in). We expect to work with zoning folks, community leaders and diverse churches and social service organizations as our plans unfold. We expect to share our expertise with others and to benefit from the work that has been established before our own.

If you are reading this and have an idea or connection that might benefit Chloe's Place, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or send me a personal email at connie@chloeinc.org If you know of a church or organization that is interested in being a part of this work...let me know! If you would like to meet with me or have me speak to your group about Chloe's Place...my calendar has a spot reserved!

Blessings and Peace!

A New Day

Friday was my last 'official' day at Nationwide Children's Hospital. On Wednesday I was touched by the well wishes and thoughtful interest expressed in the work of Chloe's Place by my colleagues in the Education Department. We enjoyed yummy cake and punch and said our good-byes. It has been a great learning experience to be apart of the Healthy Child Care Ohio network for nearly 4 years, as well. I have met some wonderful people and been stretched in new directions professionally.

I am now excited to have the opportunity to focus my full attention to getting Chloe's Place established!

This week also held the first 'big' disappointment in the work. I have been in conversation with
leaders of a local church who had interest in housing Chloe's Place. It seemed ideal, as far as location, association, and opportunities. I think the initial discussions began in June of 2008! Well, the decision was not what we wanted to hear... the location will not be available to us.

Disappointment is a strange emotion when one bank's their life on faith in God, who is the profound provider! I have full trust that we will acquire a great location and facility for our work. The people I conversed with regarding the potential collaboration have been excited, affirming and 'on board' with the vision. They were simply not able to get full support from those that would need to commit a large financial investment to restoration of buildings, etc. Why then was I so disappointed to have an unexpected bend in the road? I was disappointed that I was so disappointed! Later that day I read that disappointment is like cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies but never distroys. That statement renewed my resolve.

This week I will meet with our Development Director and we will get to work on a new plan for the location of Chloe's Place. I am excited to to see where we will be and how the plan will unfold.

A Necessary Step

I am ready to take a Big Step! For the past several years I have served as a Child Care Health Consultant in the Healthy Child Care Ohio program at Nationwide Children's Hospital. It has been a wonderful opportunity! I am very thankful for friendships made, skills acquired and insights gained. For the past few months I have sensed that I need to put all my time and effort toward Chloe's Place. I'll be making that transition mid-June.

I did not make the decision lightly or without careful planning. My husband supports this step of faith, I know that is a blessing in itself. We are trusting that we will be able to raise adequate support for Chloe's Place by the end of the year enabling us to have salaried staff. At that time I will have an income again.

Today I ran into a dear friend from my 'community health nurse' days. I was so encouraged by her response to my brief description of Chloe's Place! She interacts with young single moms daily in her work ... she knows the impact we will be able to make.

I'm always very excited to get the opportunity to share our vision for Chloe's Place and the progress we are making toward our goal. Today I had the opportunity to speak briefly to 35 women at my home church as part of the WM Spring Luncheon. My assigned topic was actually "My Spiritual Journey in Ministry", but certainly the calling and vision to this ministry is part of that.

I had a small display table with some brochures, business cards and a simple power point looping for interested persons to see. I was encouraged by the kind words of affirmation and the interest expressed in Chloe's Place by several of the women in attendance. It was meaningful for me to have my home church be the first to have a formal preview of Chloe's Place.

I look forward to scheduling frequent information sharing brunches or luncheons in the near future. I hesitate only because it seems premature until we have our house and office space nailed down. In the mean time there is plenty to do!

And the Work Goes On

My excitement for the ministry potential for Chloe's Place continues to grow!
I have been keeping quite busy lately with behind the scenes projects. In my last blog I mentioned I had completed the first draft of the Policy Manual. Since that time I have been working on the Program Manual. The contents were largely donated by Hope House of Colorado, but still every page (300+) needed to be reviewed and adapted to fit our program. Some pages required simply inserting our name, but other pages need bigger changes due to differences in our programs, such as ages of clients served. My friend Renee had offered to scan the pages and convert them to a Word document, but once I started keying in the information I was hooked! I loved reading each page and making it our own. The program is so detailed and specific it was a great exercise for me to really learn it by that 'hands on' process.That manual is now complete!
Another big project that is in the works is our CHLOE,Inc website. It has been woefully neglected over the past number of months. It not only needs updated but re-designed to accommodate the full spectrum of information about Chloe's Place. When the 're-construction" is complete potential clients and volunteers will be able to download information and applications, donors will be able to support us on-line, links to resources will be updated, and new developments will be reported in a timely manner. All of the changes in the basic design have been submitted, so hopefully we will have the expansion and changes made before too long. (www.chloeinc.org) It may take a bit longer to get the interactive pieces in place. I will need to find a volunteer to help me with the items that require technical skill.
Tonight I attended the Opening...Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of a new Free Clinic; a ministry of Victory Ministries, in Columbus. What an exciting moment to see their work unveiled as people waited for the ribbon to be cut, so they could be served by the medical team that was in place! I look at 'ministries' through a different lens than I did before I plunged into CHLOE, then Chloe's Place. Victory Ministries is definitely a fine organization that honors God and serves people with
uncommon love and grace. I hope we will have the opportunity to learn from them.

Progress Report

Establishing a new program having the depth and breadth of Chloe's Place takes a long time!
We have been researching, planning and networking for the past 15 months. There have been times of exciting progress and other times that require patient waiting. During the 'waiting' times, I actually remain quite busy.
Lately I have been working on Policies for Chloe's Place. We have the incredible advantage of having permission to adapt the Hope House of Colorado policies. Beyond that I have studied various regulations specific to Ohio residential programs and reviewed health and safety specific policies. Yesterday I completed the first draft of Chloe's Place Policy Manual. It is about 30 pages long and will be expanded a bit.
Today I have enjoyed spending most of the afternoon and evening designing a PowerPoint presentation that will be used to introduce groups to our work. I am happy with how it looks, now I just have script it, so other members of our leadership team can present it.
Last night I enjoyed an evening celebrating the work being done at The Women's Clinic of Columbus. The event was well attended, I hope they raised funds to meet the goals they had set. I met with TWC Executive Director a few weeks ago. TWC is all about helping women through the difficult transition of accepting an unplanned pregnancy. They offer free pregnancy test and ultrasounds. Peer coaches help their clients explore their options and walk them through the process. Part of the program included an introduction of several young women and their newborns who were helped by TWC in the past few months. My heart was touched by their stories. I was elated to think that we will soon have the capacity to help young women that need help toward self-sufficiency after their babies are born!