Although I try to keep this blog all about fundraising, this time I have to add a little bit of personal information.
Me and my family are moving to Los Angeles. This has been a big dream of ours, to be closer to the ocean and the chance to surf and sea kayak a couple of times a month versus once or twice a year. Plus, at 49, I am done with winter.
The big move happens next week, with my last day as Director of Development and Public Affairs at Urban Peak being July 2nd.
I will always feel incredibly humbled and intensely grateful to have had the chance to fundraise for Urban Peak and to support one of the most amazing program staffs I have ever seen. Ever. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on holidays, in heat, in frigid temperatures, in surroundings that most people would not even want to think about, the program staff at Urban Peak rocks it for youth with nothing, youth experiencing homelessness or on the verge of homelessness. Youth that most people would rather not even think about. Youth that in many cases have had their voices ripped from them.
There folks are my heroes. They are rock stars.
How was I so lucky to have had the opportunity to fundraise so they can do what they excel in? I have no clue. Yet I have been deeply touched. I will never be the same human being I was when I first began working here because of these people.
Youth homelessness is many times overlooked in the overall conversation around homelessness. This is one thing that has become super clear to me while at Urban Peak. The unfortunate reality is that without agencies like Urban Peak, young people who have been totally crapped on by society have very little chance of going beyond poverty, violence and hopelessness to move from a life on the streets to a life where they are housed, safe and living on their own without needing help from anyone. Like I have told many donors, if we can get into relationship with a youth living on the streets, that youth has a very big chance of not holding a sign asking for money when they are my age.
All of the successes with youth at Urban Peak happen because we have an incredibly passionate and compassionate group of people. They don't make a lot of money. They don't get recognized like sports stars. But they are the true agents of making this world a better place not only for the youth served by Urban Peak (2,385 last fiscal year) but for each one of us.
Please support your local agency that serves youth experiencing homelessness. If you are in the position to make a financial contribution to the agency you have just read about, please click year here.
And please stay tuned for the Los Angeles fundraising adventures!
Thank you for reading.
