On this Thanksgiving Day 2010 I find that there is so much more to be thankful for than past November 25ths. It’s a strange revelation actually because a quick inventory of “stuff” reveals much less. A housing market crash that makes my house worth half of what I bought it for. A flood that caused black mold (which my insurance didn’t cover) causing us to live out of a hotel for the past couple weeks. A car that we just paid off that broke down in the middle of the desert that put a big dent into our family reserves.
On the top of my list always is God’s Grace. For without His Grace, I would be an aimless wreck. It has led this sinner to a life divinely navigated through calm waters or hurricane winds, I right myself true north in His hands.
My health, my wife and best friend and my children who favor me always despite my imperfections. My job and the people who I share my passion with at work. The people that I get to know and build relationships with though my work gives me blessings so immense that at times I am brought to my knees with overwhelming gratitude. The love that is exchanged through the interactions of compassion and kindness overfills my cup. Indeed my cup runneth over.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Chris Megison
November 25, 2010
November 12, 2010
The ONEKind Foundation Walks to Solve Family Homelessness!
Imagine an organization started by kids who raise awareness and get others involved and motivated to help other kids recover from homelessness. Imagine that these kids move hundreds into action to walk for a cause and a solution to defeat family homelessness in your community. That organization is called ONEKind and this year they have chosen to support North County Solutions for Change. WOW!
I’ve seen a lot of very inspiring things over the course of my work at Solutions for Change but this is at the top of that list. RBV High School students Lauren and Jacqueline got up in front of all of the Solutions for Change parents tonight at and announced that this year for their 3rd Annual Walkathon on Saturday December 4th at the track at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista that they were walking for the families and kids of Solutions for Change. If you were in that room tonight you would have been really inspired. It was a special thing to be a part of!
There are a few different ways that you can join in and help:
1. Sponsor me for $7, $14, $21 or $70 bucks. Every $7 increment you give will pay for one LOCAL San Diego homeless child for one day off the street and in a home. It’s super easy…JUST CLICK TO DONATE SECURELY.
2. Join my team called Just Solve It Baby and Be a Walker Solver with me - Just click here, fill out the form and you are in! Come out and be part of the fun and we will walk together!
3. If you dont like me (there are a couple of you out there still :) or you want to start your own team so that you can lap my sorry ass (will be easy to do) then you can START YOUR OWN TEAM.
4. Ask others to help by FORWARDING THIS PAGE and asking your friends and family to join in by either donating, joining the team or both!
You can contact the ONEKind organizer Lauren King directly at lauren.king808@gmail.com in case you have any questions directly of her. These students are really excited about this. Let’s show them that their efforts are not landing on deaf ears. This only takes 3 MINUTES YET YOUR INVOLVEMENT WILL INSPIRE THEM TO BE THE CHANGE MAKERS OF TOMORROW.
Thank you!
I’ve seen a lot of very inspiring things over the course of my work at Solutions for Change but this is at the top of that list. RBV High School students Lauren and Jacqueline got up in front of all of the Solutions for Change parents tonight at and announced that this year for their 3rd Annual Walkathon on Saturday December 4th at the track at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista that they were walking for the families and kids of Solutions for Change. If you were in that room tonight you would have been really inspired. It was a special thing to be a part of!
There are a few different ways that you can join in and help:
1. Sponsor me for $7, $14, $21 or $70 bucks. Every $7 increment you give will pay for one LOCAL San Diego homeless child for one day off the street and in a home. It’s super easy…JUST CLICK TO DONATE SECURELY.
2. Join my team called Just Solve It Baby and Be a Walker Solver with me - Just click here, fill out the form and you are in! Come out and be part of the fun and we will walk together!
3. If you dont like me (there are a couple of you out there still :) or you want to start your own team so that you can lap my sorry ass (will be easy to do) then you can START YOUR OWN TEAM.
4. Ask others to help by FORWARDING THIS PAGE and asking your friends and family to join in by either donating, joining the team or both!
You can contact the ONEKind organizer Lauren King directly at lauren.king808@gmail.com in case you have any questions directly of her. These students are really excited about this. Let’s show them that their efforts are not landing on deaf ears. This only takes 3 MINUTES YET YOUR INVOLVEMENT WILL INSPIRE THEM TO BE THE CHANGE MAKERS OF TOMORROW.
Thank you!
November 11, 2010
TaylorMade Golf and 16" Guns
Was having lunch with Mark King, the CEO of TaylorMade-adidas Golf yesterday, when it hit me. I think it was right about the halfway point of munching down the yummy turkey sandwich that Britt had kindly brought up from the Taylor Made cafeteria.
The feeling reminded me of a moment in time while serving as a Marine, assigned to Battalion Landing Team 3/3 aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Fredrick. We were there to protect U.S. interests as part of a bloody civil war raging on in Beirut, Lebanon. On October 23, 1983 the sudden bombing of our U.S. barracks killed 241 Marine and Sailors had jarred us all into a surreal reality - we were fighting something much more devious and dangerous than we had thought. We were committed, and motivated and passionate to stand up to this threat. But despite all of the ability and talent and the resources we had, the burning desire and passion we all had could only do so much. We wanted so badly to do something. Some of us got to go ashore and fight back with our Marine counterparts but most of us were stuck floating off shore, watching all the action and feeling insignificant.
Then one day the Battleship USS New Jersey, sitting close to our starboard side, unleashed a massive projectile from her 16 inch guns. This was, we later learned, the first time that a 16 inch gun was fired anywhere in the world since 1969. We stood there in awe of her power. It felt like the whole sea jumped back 50 feet. One by one she fired off 11 of those projectiles and every time she fired one off I felt this incredible relief, this deep knowing that someone, that something on our side was delivering the message that I wanted to deliver, that all of my fellow Marines standing there with me needed to deliver, but couldn't.
That is the same feeling I got yesterday as I listened to Mark King, the CEO of a global company, talk to me about how he and the employee's of TaylorMade Golf are going to help equip us with the "big guns" so that we will be able to turn up the heat even more and stand up in a bigger and bolder way to this threat on our children and our families.
I thought 2010 was a banner year for us in terms of our impact around changing attitudes and rebuilding lives....but it isn’t anything compared to what 2011 will bring. The partnership with TaylorMade-adidas Golf fires off a redemptive and a glorious warning shot across the battlefield of homelessness here in San Diego and beyond. Indeed this is a very good thing.
I also heard Mark acknowledge yesterday that the threats on our children and on our communities are too big for one battleship, even with those massive 16 inch guns. We need more big guns. More boots on the ground. More investors willing to equip solutions driven organizations like ours with the resources needed to defeat family homelessness. Mark said in the documentary taping yesterday that Solutions for Change has the vision, the model and the plan that people in every community in America want and need. Mark concluded with these words: “This is what people have been searching for, to be part of a purpose driven movement that solves the problem. I hear people around me expressing a sense of relief that this is finally the right battle plan with the right attitudes and the right generals. All that is needed now are more people to get involved who want to solve this thing."
The feeling reminded me of a moment in time while serving as a Marine, assigned to Battalion Landing Team 3/3 aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Fredrick. We were there to protect U.S. interests as part of a bloody civil war raging on in Beirut, Lebanon. On October 23, 1983 the sudden bombing of our U.S. barracks killed 241 Marine and Sailors had jarred us all into a surreal reality - we were fighting something much more devious and dangerous than we had thought. We were committed, and motivated and passionate to stand up to this threat. But despite all of the ability and talent and the resources we had, the burning desire and passion we all had could only do so much. We wanted so badly to do something. Some of us got to go ashore and fight back with our Marine counterparts but most of us were stuck floating off shore, watching all the action and feeling insignificant.
Then one day the Battleship USS New Jersey, sitting close to our starboard side, unleashed a massive projectile from her 16 inch guns. This was, we later learned, the first time that a 16 inch gun was fired anywhere in the world since 1969. We stood there in awe of her power. It felt like the whole sea jumped back 50 feet. One by one she fired off 11 of those projectiles and every time she fired one off I felt this incredible relief, this deep knowing that someone, that something on our side was delivering the message that I wanted to deliver, that all of my fellow Marines standing there with me needed to deliver, but couldn't.
That is the same feeling I got yesterday as I listened to Mark King, the CEO of a global company, talk to me about how he and the employee's of TaylorMade Golf are going to help equip us with the "big guns" so that we will be able to turn up the heat even more and stand up in a bigger and bolder way to this threat on our children and our families.
I thought 2010 was a banner year for us in terms of our impact around changing attitudes and rebuilding lives....but it isn’t anything compared to what 2011 will bring. The partnership with TaylorMade-adidas Golf fires off a redemptive and a glorious warning shot across the battlefield of homelessness here in San Diego and beyond. Indeed this is a very good thing.
I also heard Mark acknowledge yesterday that the threats on our children and on our communities are too big for one battleship, even with those massive 16 inch guns. We need more big guns. More boots on the ground. More investors willing to equip solutions driven organizations like ours with the resources needed to defeat family homelessness. Mark said in the documentary taping yesterday that Solutions for Change has the vision, the model and the plan that people in every community in America want and need. Mark concluded with these words: “This is what people have been searching for, to be part of a purpose driven movement that solves the problem. I hear people around me expressing a sense of relief that this is finally the right battle plan with the right attitudes and the right generals. All that is needed now are more people to get involved who want to solve this thing."
November 3, 2010
San Diego's Winter Shelter Merry-Go-Round
Will San Diego ever get unstuck from the containment trap that it has crafted around itself? Containing the impacts of homelessness and managing its symptoms using shelters and other temporary services hasn't worked, can't work...will never work. Spin it, shake it, bake it any way you want but until you abandon the old battle plan all you'll have is a spiffy system of controlling and managing the impacts of homelessness. You'll never break free. Hint #1: Government can't fix hurting people or rebuild broken lives. Hint #2: Move your community capital around a vision of defeating the impacts of homelessness...stop being wimpy. Stop meeting and planning and meeting and planning and meeting and....Just solve it baby.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
