Happy springtime!

This past week I was visiting with family in my native Massachusetts. Although I was there for the first day of spring I had to shovel wet, slushy snow twice, so much for the beginning of spring! Even upon my return to California the weather is still more reminiscent of winter. But it is indeed spring and in spite of the forecast you can sense the desire to put off winter and prepare for yet one more beautiful southern California summer.

 

As I returned to Hillsides on Monday, I  found the campus quiet with the school on a week-long spring break, making my reentry a little less hectic. While our residents and students enjoyed a refreshing break, much activity continues on campus. With the move of some administrative offices off campus, vacated space on campus has been refurbished to accommodate additional work and treatment space for our clinical staff. The auditorium, a hub for a great deal of activity, is also being refurbished and equipped  to better serve as a gathering place and conference center for our residents and staff. The restored auditorium should be completed in time to host the Hillsides Education Center graduation in June and serve as a focal point for our Centennial Founder's Day celebration in September.

 

Off campus, Youth Moving On, our supportive housing and services for young adults program, is preparing a storefront on the corner of Los Robles and Orange Grove as a peer resource center to expand our outreach to this vulnerable population. In Baldwin Park, our new Family Resources Center has been up and running for the past few months serving as a center for an expanded array of services to children and families in that area.

 

However, as busy as things may be, we never lose sight of what it is that we are trying to accomplish for each and every individual that is served… to make a lasting impact on their lives.

 

There is a great story about a shoreline inundated with stranded starfish. As people gathered on the shore to view the spectacle, someone started to throw the starfish back into the ocean. One of the spectators approached the person tossing the starfish back into the ocean and asked what impact this effort would have given the magnitude of the problem. The person responded that for the one starfish returned to the ocean it made a big difference!

 

Confronted by the magnitude of the task--to restore hope to children and families that have been traumatized by hardship and tragedy—it can be overwhelming. But for the child that is cared for, the youth that is sheltered, the families that are supported, the task to restore hope makes a big difference.

 

So in spite of all the many things that are going on during this time of year, let’s harness the energy that comes with a vibrant spring and get around the hard, but worthwhile task of making a last impact on all we serve…one person at a time.

Field hockey

I try to get to Hillsides between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM each day, not because I am an early riser but mostly because the traffic is usually more manageable then and I  can find a parking space on campus at that hour! On this particular day I was arriving on campus after a morning meeting so the parking spaces were non-existent. However, I did manage to find one spot at the far end of the upper campus. The great thing about parking on that end of campus is that it provides a great walk to my office and an opportunity to meet and interact with staff and residents.

As I approached the playing field from where I had parked, I ran into a group of residents accompanied by a couple of staff members. One resident, who I had noticed over the last few days had been especially agitated, was on the swing set trying his best to soar as high as he could. As I examined this gravity defying exercise, the door of the gym opened and a young resident emerged excitingly carrying  a couple of hockey sticks and a ball. He immediately called out to the boy on the swing asking him to join him to play hockey. You could tell from the excitement in his voice that as happy as he was for a pick up game of hockey he was especially happy to see his buddy on the swing.

I can assure you that staff had attempted to engage the boy on the swing, but it was the enthusiastic invitation from his friend that freed him from compulsively trying  to reach new heights. When he heard the call to join him on the field, he leaped off the swing ran on to the field, greeted his friend and immediately started strategizing with him on how to organize the game. As I walked by, I was moved by the smiles on their faces and the wonderful rapport they clearly enjoyed.

Things are always very busy at Hillsides. For me and the staff, days more often than not are long and sometimes challenging. However when you see children freed from their worries and hurts enough to enjoy a moment of friendship and play, you can not help but be convinced that it is worth the great effort we make.

Great things are accomplished in simple and sometimes surprising ways. Our residents benefit as much from the relationships and friendships they have with another as they do from the great care they receive from staff.

I will admit that it can be daunting to address the funding and organizational challenges that are part and parcel of an institution like Hillsides. However, the smiles on the faces of these two boys gave me all the motivation I needed to make the necessary effort to see to it that they and all those we serve get the best possible care we can offer. GOAL!

Energy harnessed

He is a tall lanky kid who looks older than his actual age. In his eyes you can see he is being tentative, still not sure of whether he should trust anyone yet. Slowly the abrupt behavior and reluctance to be engaged lessens. He begins selectively to tell his story, happy to break the intensity with a ride on his skateboard. His social worker sits back and patiently waits for his return and the treatment process to advance, the pace set by him.

Treatment of youngsters who have been traumatized by disappointment and tragedy can be slow, but well worth the patience and perseverance required when the end result is a childhood restored. This is what Hillsides is all about--to serve as a resource for children and families that allows for hurt to be addressed and a pathway to a fuller life identified.

As we approached our centennial year, Hillsides began the process of examining how we communicate who we are, what we do, and how we make a difference. As much as things have changed in 100 years, some things remain constant-- the commitment to high quality care, innovation, and advocacy. And so the task was to select an icon, a symbol, a mark that would convey our role as caregivers who make a lasting impact on the lives of all we serve, like the young resident mentioned earlier.

Many different logos were considered, all of them taking into account what we wished to communicate. When we considered the pinwheel there was an immediate, unanimous agreement that this symbol would serve well to convey what we are all about.

A familiar object associated with the carefree nature of childhood, pinwheels are recognized across generations and within many different cultures. As a toy, it never-the-less teaches a child about the ability to harness the energy of the wind to create movement and momentum. In and of itself, it is simple but intricate. When engaged, the pinwheel comes to life and can be so satisfying. It is a transformational object that reflects life fully enjoyed. In some cultures, it is a symbol of how obstacles can be turned into opportunities. For us, it seemed clear that there was no better symbol to reflect who we are, what we do, and how we impact lives.

Like all logos, it is effective only to the extent that it truly captures the essence of who we are; an organization dedicated to creating lasting change. The impact we make is not achieved by a marketing and communications campaign. The impact we make is the result of the extraordinary care of so many, staff and volunteers alike, who are clearly driven by a mission to create lasting change in the lives of all we serve.