This was a big week for the Center for a Vital Community. On Tuesday, we graduated our seventh class of community leaders through the CiViC Leadership Project, the CVC’s flagship program. We also celebrated one of our trainers who has been with this program since its inception eighteen years ago. Incredibly, over 170 women and [...]
The term ‘legacy’ is intimidating. Defined as the long-lasting impact of a person’s life, it’s usually used to describe political figures, sports legends, and millionaires. The average Joe and Josephine probably don’t walk around wondering what their legacy will be. Maybe they should. In the last few months, Sheridan has lost several people who embodied [...]
Welcome back to my column, dear reader! You know that I’ve been covering end of life if you've read my latest submissions. It’s been a tough time. I have good news – this column is happier! This will be a complete send-up of my thought processes and subsequent actions (or lack thereof). If you’ve ever [...]
Brace yourself, readers! For a change, I will utilize this column for its original purpose – to promote the Center for a Vital Community’s work in our community. Crazy, eh? No personal blog post today, folks. Instead, I’m here to explain why the CVC has been called the Chamber of Commerce for Nonprofits. When you [...]
I was just in Peoria, IL, right after my niece’s extraordinary wedding because my dad had another major stroke in mid-September. He’s currently in a fantastic rehab/skilled nursing facility and doing a lot of physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I don’t know if he will ever leave, but at least they’re doing everything they can [...]
As a practice, I try to craft my Community Perspectives columns focusing on the CVC's work. After all, we are the Center for a Vital COMMUNITY, and this is our (my) perspective. Often, my personal stories, insights, and experiences enhance this focus. Once in a while, I go completely off community topic, and the Press' [...]
My first involvement of being involved with a nonprofit was somewhat unconventional. About a year after I moved to Sheridan, my brother was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Scared and wanting to do something proactive, I met another Sheridanite who had fought and was beating the same disease. His family and a few other passionate friends [...]
Ah, personality quizzes. In bygone days, one took these in magazines. My favorite story about magazine quizzes was when a friend and I went to our newly married friends’ house for Thanksgiving. While they were preparing for dinner in the kitchen, Mark and I idly picked up a Cosmopolitan lying nearby and paged through it. [...]
The first summer I worked at the CVC, I contemplated the prospect of CampFIRE (it was then called CiViC Leadership Camp. See the need for re-branding?). The program consists of five days at a remote camp in the Bighorn Mountains with 30 or so thirteen-year-olds. If that prospect doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of [...]
A picture is worth a thousand words. I’ve always credited Kodak for that, but perhaps I should dig deeper for attribution. Regardless, I have found that so much meaning is instantly conveyed by images, as opposed to mere words. And you know how seriously I take my words. The CVC hosted our first Essential Photovoice [...]
