This morning I attended a benefit breakfast for , a local nonprofit helping our poor and recent immigrant populations access education, housing and community services. A tremendous local asset doing inspiring work in King County.
Just as inspiring was the keynote speaker, , CEO of , a national group working to to our most disenfranchised citizens.
Mr. Ramsey told a story of a group of 30 young men in Eastern Oregon he had just met. He called them the discarded boys – high school students who, because of poor performance and behavioral issues, had been kicked out of every school in their county. They had been discarded by their community.
But these kids aren’t stupid or malicious. They’re victims of circumstance – growing up in rotting trailers, never having had any sort of higher expectation – high school graduation, much less college – placed on them. Ever. They grew up with an expectation of failure, not success. Growing up hearing NO instead of YES.
One Economy opened what we call a ““, a separate space where these young men could come together without the judgments of those who had all along told them NO. Where they could share their frustrations, their challenges and their aspirations. Where they could begin to hear YES – yes I am worthy, yes I am smart, yes I can contribute.
Mr. Ramsey told a story of lives transformed. Sure, not all of them are going to make it. But many will graduate and many will go on to community college. They’ll become contributing members of their communities – not a drain on resources. And they’ll pass along to others who are used to hearing no – YES, yes you can.
Who have you said yes to lately?
~Dennis