I have thought long and hard about what I am going to post and I will admit up front that this issue hits very close to home for me personally. I'm going to try and remove my personal feelings from my comments but I believe people have the right to know that things are not always what they "appear".
I'll also admit that I know very little about how non profits operate, how they are structured or much about the day to day operations. What I have learned is there is generally a "board" of individuals from the Community that the non profit serves, that serve in an advisory capacity on how money is allocated in the community, who to help, etc. There may even be a CEO and an administrator. A well run non profit does not discriminate based on race, religion or sexual orientation. I sorta think of them as a "church" without the sermons serving their Community and helping people who for whatever reason find themselves in a precarious situation and are unable (through no fault of their own) to help themselves. I also understand that non profits are simply unable to help everyone because of budgets constraints, lack of funding, lack of resources or whatever the case might be.
What I think is inherently wrong is for a 501 c 3 non profit to purport themselves as a Community outreach program helping the less fortunate in the Community when by their very nature they are not structured in such a way that allows for an advisory board to oversee how community resources are spent or how grants awarded to the agency produce results that benefit the Community. I also think its inherently wrong for 1 person to be the CEO, the Administrator and the Director and have an alleged "board" of 2 people, who just happen to be close personal friends of yours. When one person is the final say in all aspects of the non profit the result is one person playing "God" and making decisions that negatively impact the Community which they allege to serve because in reality people are not being served unless 1 person says so.
With that said...there are some wonderful non profits in Walton County who have struggled for years in our community to do great things to help people with very limited resources. They don't get the fancy, big money grants but they do treat people with dignity and respect and do the very best they can to help everyone who walks through their doors.
To talk down to people (especially the elderly) makes you look like a monster, particularly when those people have come to you with their hearts literally in their hands looking for a "hand up, not a hand out". People are talking about how you purport yourself, your nasty attitude and how you have treated others. It is going to come full circle on you and believe me when I tell you that had certain individuals known what they didn't now know then (about the structure of your organization) trust me when I tell you that you would not have been posing for photo ops with a huge check in your hand and in all likelihood would NOT have received that grant.. They are going to carefully monitor your business operations over the next year and I sincerely hope that you are going to actually be the type of organization you profess to be and really help people.
The very least you could do is start being honest with people, actually answer your phone (staffed by volunteers) in your office while you sit in that same office on your cell phone on facebook. It would also be refreshing if you would actually call the clients back that you purport to help and let them know that you have no intention of helping them instead of making them wait on a phone call that never comes or tell them that if they are not happy with your services (especially when they have never benefited from them) you would be happy to pull their application and they can go elsewhere for help.
You may have fooled people into believing that you have single-handedly created this awesome community outreach program but the proof is in the pudding. You are not what you profess to be and the next time you talk about what a "Christian" you are, you might actually want to take your bible to Church with you and ask yourself WWJD?
Bottom line...watch how you treat people. Karma is a funny thing.
I'll also admit that I know very little about how non profits operate, how they are structured or much about the day to day operations. What I have learned is there is generally a "board" of individuals from the Community that the non profit serves, that serve in an advisory capacity on how money is allocated in the community, who to help, etc. There may even be a CEO and an administrator. A well run non profit does not discriminate based on race, religion or sexual orientation. I sorta think of them as a "church" without the sermons serving their Community and helping people who for whatever reason find themselves in a precarious situation and are unable (through no fault of their own) to help themselves. I also understand that non profits are simply unable to help everyone because of budgets constraints, lack of funding, lack of resources or whatever the case might be.
What I think is inherently wrong is for a 501 c 3 non profit to purport themselves as a Community outreach program helping the less fortunate in the Community when by their very nature they are not structured in such a way that allows for an advisory board to oversee how community resources are spent or how grants awarded to the agency produce results that benefit the Community. I also think its inherently wrong for 1 person to be the CEO, the Administrator and the Director and have an alleged "board" of 2 people, who just happen to be close personal friends of yours. When one person is the final say in all aspects of the non profit the result is one person playing "God" and making decisions that negatively impact the Community which they allege to serve because in reality people are not being served unless 1 person says so.
With that said...there are some wonderful non profits in Walton County who have struggled for years in our community to do great things to help people with very limited resources. They don't get the fancy, big money grants but they do treat people with dignity and respect and do the very best they can to help everyone who walks through their doors.
To talk down to people (especially the elderly) makes you look like a monster, particularly when those people have come to you with their hearts literally in their hands looking for a "hand up, not a hand out". People are talking about how you purport yourself, your nasty attitude and how you have treated others. It is going to come full circle on you and believe me when I tell you that had certain individuals known what they didn't now know then (about the structure of your organization) trust me when I tell you that you would not have been posing for photo ops with a huge check in your hand and in all likelihood would NOT have received that grant.. They are going to carefully monitor your business operations over the next year and I sincerely hope that you are going to actually be the type of organization you profess to be and really help people.
The very least you could do is start being honest with people, actually answer your phone (staffed by volunteers) in your office while you sit in that same office on your cell phone on facebook. It would also be refreshing if you would actually call the clients back that you purport to help and let them know that you have no intention of helping them instead of making them wait on a phone call that never comes or tell them that if they are not happy with your services (especially when they have never benefited from them) you would be happy to pull their application and they can go elsewhere for help.
You may have fooled people into believing that you have single-handedly created this awesome community outreach program but the proof is in the pudding. You are not what you profess to be and the next time you talk about what a "Christian" you are, you might actually want to take your bible to Church with you and ask yourself WWJD?
Bottom line...watch how you treat people. Karma is a funny thing.
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