The Massachusetts blog entry that never was…until now!
Playing some catch up here. Massachusetts ended with three stories of individuals who have a vision and have had this vision for as far back as they could remember and each of them has carried out their vision in their life’s work.
Shel Horowitz’s earliest memory of activism was when he was three years old. His parents were hosting a party in their home and people were placing their cigarette containers all over the house. Shel knew innately that there was something wrong here and went around collecting and disposing of the containers and the cigarettes.
Today he lives in Hadley, Massachusetts with his wife and kids. He is an author and works on books that he hopes will bring the business world forward from an ethical and “Green” perspective. One day while reading the newspaper he read an article lamenting how a nearby mountain was soon to be covered with million dollar homes obstructing the view and ruining the mountain for public use and sadly there was nothing anyone could do about it. The words “nothing anyone can do about it…” are not taken lightly by the likes of Shel Horowitz. He quickly prepared some fliers and called a public meeting in his home to “Save the Mountain.”
The night of the meeting came and Shel’s home was filled to bursting with neighbors wanting to “Save the Mountain.” It was an intense campaign giving voice to the people of Hadley and her surroundings and together they did indeed save the mountain.
From fighting his parents smoking to saving mountains, one thing is for certain, Shel is not afraid to battle for what he thinks is right for his family and his community.
There are certain people who you meet and know instantly that they have a warm heart and are the kind of person with whom you can be safe and loved. Kathleen Drew epitomizes that person. From the moment I met her I felt her warmth emanating from her smile. A very important trait when you know that Kathleen is the Volunteer Coordinator for the local Hospice.
I listened as Kathleen shared with joy and love the experiences she has had sharing time with people about to leave their journey on earth for the next journey and all I could think of was the pain after the person’s departure. I asked her how she and her volunteers cope with that and she corrected my thinking right away. Kathleen explained that when she and her volunteers receive information about a person entering the Hospice system they go in and begin an adventure. They begin by meeting the family and learning about the patient and then the real fun begins. Each Hospice volunteer is trained by Kathleen to gather the stories of the person’s life. These discovery sessions are often filled with joy as the volunteer listens and records intently the life experiences to share with the family.
Kathleen explained that this process is healing for the patient and healing for the family and when the family member passes to the next phase of their journey the family and the volunteer are left with the joy of remembering the life of he or she who passed as they spent their last days mired in memory.
Kathleen is a woman whose own spirit is renewed by the love and dignity she is able to give to those on their final earthly journey and she feels that in this role she is truly living out her passion for connecting people, family and history.
I am a goal oriented individual. I always have been. I set my sites and work towards that goal whatever it may be. I set high goals for myself (BECOME AN EMT having never taken a biology class, EARN AN MBA having never taken a college level business class, GET ELECTED youngest PRESIDENT of a 1400 member 95 year old organization in Denver….) each time raising the bar continually working to better myself and community. I think I set myself pretty tough goals… I have been put to shame!
Christa Drew, when asked what her goals were, humbly replied, “I would like to win the Nobel Peace Prize for my work helping others.” Now that’s a goal, and more importantly, this is a woman who is likely to achieve it.
In her life Christa (who you may have guessed is the daughter of Kathleen above) has sought out many unique opportunities to help other people, two of the areas we spoke about were her work with men in prison and her work with the hungry.
Men in prison often do work before they are released talking about the crimes they committed and working through why they committed them. For Christa it felt that there was a group that was missing from this conversation, those against whom the crime was committed. Christa and the organization she was working with at the time, felt that true healing could only begin if both the offender and the victim were at the table.
Christa began leading dialogues that for the first time allowed the victim to ask the offender: why? Why did you pick me? What was it about my house? And, for the first time, the victim could get honest answers. This process for the first time was offering healing to the victim and was allowing the offender to process the information in a way that they were also able to get closure on the offense. The belief is that this closure and understanding of self has better prepared the “offender” to exit prison and be prepared to start fresh, no longer “offender” simply “human.”
Christa also is a leader in the fight against hunger. She believes with her entire being that not being hungry is a basic human right and we should start battling hunger as a human rights violation in this country. She has worked diligently bringing people and resources together through the Worcester Food Policy organization who are addressing just this issue in one of Massachusetts poorest areas. They are looking at the whole system such as creating incentives for corner stores like 7-11 to carry more nutritive food at the same prices as the inexpensive “junk food” now carried and at teaching people the best and most delicious ways to prepare healthy low cost meals.
These are simply two peeks into the work Christa has begun dedicating herself to the basic human rights of health and dignity for the people in our country she calls her community.
Inspiration, Massachusetts style: on the ground, door to door, from the heart.