Hand Up, Not a Hand Out

There are a number of different “Hand Up Not A Hand Out” programs that you can subscribe to.  The Downtown Sacramento project is focused on reducing panhandling in downtown Sacramento by encouraging compassionate folks to donate to a trusted provider who will support the hungry and the homeless.  The Stand Down Program in San Diego works with homeless veterans which focuses on giving veterans a safe haven until they can reconnect with the world.  The federal Lifeline program is there to help families stay in touch, especially in these challenging economic times.  All of these programs are filling existing needs.  They are intervening in the lives of people who need support and a hand-up.

Entrusted Legacy takes a look at this challenge from a different vantage point:  prevention rather than intervening once something has gone awry.  Entrusted Legacy is interested in proactively supporting the development of role models and mentors so youth can make the connections needed to build resiliency and grit.  The work being done around the importance of non-cognitive skills (Paul Tough—How Children Succeed) confirms our belief that these two essentials supports the full development of young people and that the best place to develop those non-cognitive skills is with a caring role model and mentor.  

Entrusted Legacy has partnered with Consult 4 Kids to provide a comprehensive staff development program tailored for their needs.  Entrust Your Legacy with us.  Invest today in the future of all of our children and youth.  Find out more about Entrusted Legacy on our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org   Help us to support those who work with other people’s children every day be an outstanding role model or mentor.  

Many Hands Make Hard Work Light

What do hands, synergy and recycling have in common?  How do these three distinct things connect. 

When I was young, my mother used to tell my sister and me, “many hands make hard work light.”  We knew that those weren’t her words originally, I’m not sure how, but we got the message.  She expected us to work together and help each other out whether that was folding clothes, weeding the garden or doing the nightly dishes.  Many times she joined her hands with ours to make the work lighter for all of us. 

Steven Covey would share that we need to work together to synergize and not only make hard work lighter but change the face of the hard work altogether.  He believed that by working together, working to understand one another we created a space for something better that any one of us could have thought of on our own.  He labeled this notion as Habit #6. 

I would also like you to consider the whole notion of recycling.  Fifty years ago people may have saved things but it was not because they were interested in recycling but rather because many of them had lived through the Great Depression and learned that is was best to throw away nothing.  However their children (the Baby Boomers) learned that the world was disposable.  Evidence of this can be found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which stretches for hundreds of miles and have formed a nebulous, floating junk yard.  However, as our consciousness was raised, recycling hit most everyone’s radar and it is challenging to throw anything away that we think might recycle.  You find “blue cans” regularly, even in cities that require you to pay for the privilege of recycling.  The notion of many hands applies to this as does the notion of synergizing to accomplish something you couldn’t do on your own. 

Now it seems to me that out-of-school time should want to be the “next recycling” effort.  Imagine what would happen if everyone understood that afterschool programs are as essential as recycling.    What if everyone understood how important role models and mentors are for the youth who spend time in the afterschool programs?  What if everyone understood that if everyone does a little, what we end up with is a lot? 

Please join us in making a difference. Contact us at www.entrustedlegacy.org or at support@entrustedlegacy.org