We are back in the garden and suddenly it is hiking, outdoor wheelchair rides, boating, swimming and grilling weather again. And it is beautiful with lush greenery and flowers!
While I love the rhythms of the seasons, I decided that I no longer enjoy looking at our deck trying to figure out how to get it safely through one more summer before we expand and change the deck configuration altogether. I had hoped we would have a firmer date for starting construction by now. But times are challenging financially for new non-profit projects. While we met our initial financial goals for moving forward, things have changed and we need to do more work on our financial stack..
Many years ago, I used this picture of a tree growing out of a rock with the words This is what it feels like to build the first TIIN! (TIIN is the acronym for our Therapeutic Interactive Intergenerational Neighborhood model) Back then we were threading the needle through rules and regulations that complicate bringing different types of housing and services together. We assumed that was going to be the hardest part of our journey. But it turns out that financing and fundraising for a pioneering approach to intentional intergenerational living is just as complicated. That being said, we are making progress. Yet, I feel like a child on a road trip asking over and over, “Are we there yet?” The answer is similar; we are closer, but we are not there yet. Many complicated and interesting conversations and strategies are being discussed. At one point I said to someone, “I used to think that if I had a degree in development or business maybe this would have gone faster, but I am beginning to think that maybe I would not have tried to do this if I had realized how many roadblocks I would have to overcome to move forward!” The person I was talking with said that innovation often has to come from people outside of the area they are innovating in–because the informed are so aware of the complications that they decide not to try. I can tell you that we are now just money away from moving forward. And I am very glad I tried!
When I talk with people about the complete vision, I hear responses like “That is really how everyone wants to live” and “This model helps in so many ways that it seems ludicrous it is so hard to complete the project.” I know more about why it has been so hard and I hope that even if I had known more about the difficulties before I started, that I would have tried anyway. Because what we have now and the lives that have been touched in the process are priceless. And, because the last hurdle is financing, it feels like we will get there as long as we don’t give up! Quitting is the only sure way to not reach a goal.
For those of you who read the April blog, I talked about an intergenerational project that we did with WESLI (Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute) and LGM (Leadership Greater Madison through the Madison Chamber). In our May LGM session, we did a presentation about this project. To me, the most important outcomes we heard from participants included young adults saying that they not only learned from the seniors but they also felt listened to and comforted by them. And the seniors said that while they found the visits interesting and fun they will remember them as warm and meaningful cultural exchanges and learning experiences. When I remember how nervous people were before these intergenerational experiences started and how quickly they began to learn and have fun together, I am glad we are as close as we are to building the next phase at Hope & A Future. Part of what we are fundraising for are the multipurpose intergenerational spaces that are needed in our community! The hardest part of setting up the LGM intergenerational experiences was finding places that were accessible to young and old with different transportation and accessibility needs. Intergenerational relationship building is the easy part. I believe that a big piece of the loneliness epidemic in our time is the lack of intergenerational spaces designed to engage young and old. I also believe that intergenerational creativity and problem solving will bring hope to the future for all of us.
I encourage you to share a glass of lemonade with someone who is not your age. If you do this with the intention of learning something from the other person, you may need more than one glass!