A Not-so-Happy Friday

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.

...And I don't want to live without you anymore.
Can't you see I'm in misery?
And you know for sure
I would live and die for you
And I'd know just what to do when you call you, Baby

Ted Nugent; Damned Yankees~~~High Enough

As an addendum~~~a special thank you is extended to some very special, close, and sincere friends whom have been very supportive of me, over these last couple of weeks.


So I find myself, at this point in my adult life, doing something that I had never ever undertaken before, in my wildest dreams! I had always worked in the private-sector of the economy, and I would always be doing something that had to do with the minutae and genre of company business. In the process, I had never done anything having to do with out-reach and community service.

So in coming together with AmeriCorps Buffalo, and getting assigned to the non-governmental organization(NGO) of The Belle Center, I had found myself right in the middle of the underprivileged, disadvantaged, and marginalized Hispanic community of the Lower West Side. Through a series of in-house meetings and discussions, I find myself placed in an operation called the Portal Program. It is a program that is in its infancy stages, at the The Belle Center. I'm brought into the picture, to give it some legs, so-to-speak(and there is certainly a 'play' on those words).

The Portal Program's objective is to get 17-24 year-old young adults, ready for the "work world." Am I in over-my-head?? Maybe. But like EVERYTHING else I step into,
I find the energy to overcome, and win~~~everyday. At anytime, such a task is daunting. But in light of the current socio-economic circumstances that our culture and society finds itself in, the challenge to fulfill the program objectives, is escalated. The idea is to impart soft skills; life skills exposure, and set-up participation structures that can develop hard-and-fast work-world skill-sets. The results would be getting the necessary tools-in-the-tool-belt, so-to-speak, to get these young adults groomed for work-world-readiness, and life-style self-sustainability.

Where do I start???

To begin with, something inside of ME, was going through a metamorphosis. I saw myself as the knight in shining-armor, on that trusted Steed; the Flag-ship of this Mission, if you will. I felt driven to undertake the objectives of this program~~~and run with it. There certainly was a real need for this; to encourage the Trades and the Vocations as a viable career opportunity. And then, how to get the young adult ushered into such a program and having them getting their feet wet through the hands-on exposure.

Through the contacts, through the public relations work, through The Vocational Trade Fair, and through the TRAVELING-ROAD-SHOW where the Portal Program Director and myself visited building-trades entry-level apprenticeship training facilities, partnerships were FORGED. These visitations took place in Rochester, NY, Ithaca, NY, and a state-of-the-art facility in Richfield, Ohio.

In cutting this path, this AmeriCorps Buffalo volunteer at The Belle Center Portal Program, put his heart, soul, mind, inspiration, and very being into every single aspect of THIS CALLING. I found that I had always conducted myself with a conviction that this is Substantive, this is Righteous, and this had developed a momentum where the Program was actually starting to bear some fruit!!!

And then I walk into the Portal Program this week of October 16, and find out I'm getting my last volunteer stipend. I'm informed that due to funds-depletion and politics, a program that has become so integrated into the community it serves~~~is now discontinued. In effect Lou Marconi, you, and all those in the community you have been reaching out to, are no longer important; no longer relevant.

That hurts.


--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise