[Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Signs of Hope

[Marge Philbrook]

>
>   Hi,
>

This is Ed Feldmanis borrowing Marge Philbrook's e-mail.  It has been a long
time since I have been dialogue  and really appreciate Marge letting me
borrow hers. I was told by Marge that at least some of you did not know
about what happened in this building, especially with the Community Service
Center, the International Conference Center and the Keystone Community. I
wanted to mention some things about the old dynamics and wanted to just
share my sense of the new.  Not that we know much about the new.

Of course, as a member of the Keystone Community, I was very saddened to see
all of the programs and professional employees terminated last year.  It was
a real shock since most of us knew the people who worked here in Chicago and
at least some of the people in Phoenix and Denver.  The Keystone Community
took a real blow too since at least 6 of the regular staff lived in the
community.

The community served as a backbone to the projects and programs here by
offering a continued income stream to the building.  The community would
respond to various emergencies of the staff and building so that the
programs could go on smoothly.  The community members also took turns at the
reception desk and help extend security in the building.  In turn there were
times when the building value was capitalized via a mortgage to help pay for
the broader mission of the ICA.

The building and the Conference Center program taken together was a hugely
successful service dynamic.  The building houses, at a fair but relatively
low cost, public agencies that were addressing the innocent suffering of
particularly the poor and homeless.  The building has a major health clinic,
drop-in services for women who need critical help to get through a day and
services to many ethnic groups.  There are about 25 agencies in this
building.

The unofficial stamp of approval includes the fact that there are three City
of Chicago offices in this building. The Conference Center initiated,
through its networking, the building of a service mentality dynamic with
college kids all over the nation.  Mostly through networking we were
successfully creating the beginnings of a new Human Servant Force.  The kind
of thing we talked so much about in the past.

We all have been saddened by the expressions of mourning coming from
schools, churches and other groups around the country: the services were so
unique at the conference center.  What is now missing for them is an
enabling launching pad that plunges kids into the urban and world realities
and offers a supportive setting for reflection.  This was a unique way to
shape the process of thinking for the participants. There is no other place
in the United States that did this kind of job.

Well, that is all in the past.  The situation today is what it is.  Now all
of us have to face a different future.   And even though there is not a
great understanding of how things took place, one wishes the ICA a bright
new future.  The past is approved and the future is open.

My own perception is that, that the new ICA efforts are made with a sense of
sincerity.  The future vision is not clear; what is hoped for not well
understood.  Carolyn, the ica board president and the interim director, Kirk
Harris, seem to be sincere in their efforts. Mr Harris is very new but seems
to be a nice person.  Personally, I am hoping they succeed.

It is my opinion that what the ICA leaders hope for and what is happening
are two different things.  A case in point is how people are received and
perceived in this building.  Having met both Carolyn and Kirk, I totally
believe that they think that there is an open door policy here.

The policy question got raised here, because there was a hallway door that
was not only closed but also locked.  The gatekeeper for this policy was
asked to remediate the problem, and with instructions from the top, the door
was unlocked.  The outside perception, by many people, was that the new
director was being locked away from all of the people who did business in
the building, stake holders and former staff.

>From what I can tell about Kirk and Carolyn, locking the director away, and
keeping everybody at arms length, and even allowing an impression that
people on the other side of the door were the enemy, was not their intent.
The door is still closed and the door keeper may have gotten new
instructions but there definately is an old spirit still pervades the
offices.  I am sure that this is not the Board's intention!

Today,  even though the bib leaders of the ICA think they have an open door
policy, a closed door policy actually exists.  Perhaps what the gatekeeper
reports and what actually happens are two different things.  The problem is
that the closed door image gets transmitted negatively here and around the
country.

ICA colleagues, the people who interact with the daily programs, and others
who have been trained or served by our professional staff here are usually
very sharp people. As they touch base with what is going on now,  it is my
observation and opinion, that they tend to register a coldness and an
unfriendliness from the offices here.  Some are savy enough to know that
this is not the intention. Sadly, what goes on is just exactly the opposite
of the kind of thing that they, the Board, intend.

I believe that the ICA Board has gone through a lot and now they want to
reach out in friendship and collegiality to build a new vision and
direction.  I sincerely believe that they cherish and want to nurture good
will.  As the Board reaches across the country in a fund raising effort, the
Board wants to transmit an image that is positive, hopeful with new
grounding breaking directions.  They certainly don't want to be thought of
as being mean. After all, this is a new day.

I don't think that the Board realizes the image problem they have here.





http://members.aol.com/dickemail/hopefulsigns.pdf
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