Dreams DO Come True

For a couple of months, I have toiled around with the idea of how I could help the community help themselves. It bothers me, working in public health, to have top down decision-making and so many hoops to jump through before a dollar can be spent, that at the end of the day, some communities never get what they really need. Several of the funded projects in our communities are not because we, the community members, had a voice in the matter, but rather because a voice from above (no, not God) determined “this is what they need.”

Out of this frustration, Ground-Breaker.com was created. Ground-Breaker.com is a community with the community at heart. The goal of Ground-Breaker.com is to allow community members the opportunity to INVEST back into their community. In turn, the Ground-Breaker (currently just me!) will go out and perform service to the community. This service is left up to the organizations, whether it be in-kind services or manual labor. I hope to be able to expand this to give community members the option of what area of service is completed (e.g. Education, Working with the homeless, Breast Cancer, etc.) and allow more people to act as Ground-Breakers.

To date, I have collected $155!!! I can’t say thank you enough to those who have donated. This is only the beginning

Forever Grateful,

J P

Will You Remember Me?

Yesterday, I decided to take advantage of the free admission to Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on Sundays and pay my respects to Black History Month. As I walked through the exhibits, I couldn’t help but focus in on the names of the individuals who stood up for what they believed in. But something else struck me, most of the people who were being remembered were either my age or younger. College students staged sit-in demonstrations, rode buses as a sign of their rights to freedom, and some even gave their lives for the cause.

When I got to the last exhibit hall, there sat a computer with the caption “What’s your story?” And while I could tell a million (and one) stories about my college days, I thought what will I do that people will remember me for? At 25, it was really challenging for me to come up with anything that would even compare to those stories that filled the museum’s walls. I want to leave a legacy behind, one that people not only look back and smile, but one that those listening or reading about my story, are urged to action. With a rekindled passion, I exited the museum, not just standing on the shoulders of those who came before me, but standing on my own two feet with their stories as the backdrop to start my own story.

Hello WORLD (social marketing conference)!

I went to the mailbox and there was a slim brown envelope. I couldn’t wait to get open it, so I tore it open right there in the car. Inside there was MY PASSPORT!!! Finally, I am ready to travel the world (well at least make it to Ireland).

On the first page it reads,

“The Secretary of State of the United State of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen… to pass without delay or hinderance.”

Those words reassure that I am not only granted the permission to travel world, but the opportunity to live out my dreams “without delay.” Sometimes  as a young professional, I feel  the “hinderance” of achieving success, whether it be naysayers, lack of income, or a shortage of jobs. But today, with passport in hand, I feel like the world has welcomed me into her arms and is inviting me to take charge and set my plan into action. While an insignificant event to some, having received my passport holds so much more value than the pieces of paper  it is printed on. First, Ireland. Then, who knows? Hello WORLD!

Forever Grateful,

J P

I finally have a passport

Forever Grateful,

J P

Late nights, BIG surprises

As I burned the midnight oil one night in October to finish some work I kept putting off, I thought to myself, “I wonder what God is doing in my life.” Probably be an ATYPICAL  friday night for most (as  it was well past 10 p.m.), I worked hard to complete what started as a simple task. After many rewrites and much debate about exactly what time it was in Ireland, I pressed submit for a chance to present at the World Social Marketing Conference to be held in Dublin, Ireland.

So, you could imagine my surprise (and praise party!!!) when I received a very modest email saying “Congratulations you have been selected to present at this year’s conference.” Who me?? A recent graduate with only a few months on the job under my belt? Someone who over a year ago didn’t even know what “social marketing” was?

And somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that this was going to be a chance of a lifetime.

The conference is scheduled for April 11 and 12 and I am so excited to attend (hopefully). Stay tuned for more details!

Forever Grateful,

J P

Finding my way

“Work done for personal gain dulls my spirit, work that produces something beyond myself excites me. Inviting God into my work opens the door for new creativity. Being in the right job, doing the kind of work where I give more than I receive brings a whole new light onto my strength as a man.“

Leonard LeSourd, Strong Men, Weak Men