Support From the Stars

If you were waiting for a star to get involved before jumping in... Your time has come! Leaders Creating Change through Contribution just received this from Carter Oosterhouse's publicist:

May 26, 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to verify that national television personality CARTER OOSTERHOUSE (NBC's Today show, TLC's Trading Spaces, NBC's Three Wishes) is delighted to lend his name, likeness and time to Leaders Creating Change through Contribution (LC3). Carter is scheduled to personally be on hand for the rebuilding of Common Ground - a free medical clinic in the lower 9^th ward of New Orleans. Common Ground is a (501) Non-profit corporation 91-2114465.

Best,

Steve Rohr

Publicist for Carter Oosterhouse

www.carteroosterhouse.com

And a little picture to remind you (as if you needed reminding) what he looks like...

Cafe Press Fundraiser!

Wow! This group is amazing! One of the spouses that didn't even enroll into the Leadership Program created a fundraising opportunity!

Lorrie took it upon herself to use the wonderful logos created for our t-shirts to start up a site at CafePress.com that will continue to raise funds for the Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic far past our June 17th deadline. This is great! Make sure to jump on over to http://www.cafepress.com/noproject to take a peek at all the goodies!

Health Clinic Before Pictures!

Here is the house that has been donated for the Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic:

Enrolling...

Bart, one of our many leaders, is shown here enrolling his coworkers in our dream to build the Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic.

Massage Fundraiser!

Bernadette brought this fundraiser to the groups attention:

AWARENESS MASSAGE
Buy a massage or massage gift certificate between May 30 and of June 30, 2006 and the fee will be donated to support Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic.

90 minutes sessions cost $75 for first time clients, $95 thereafter.

BARBARA HELYNN HEARD, LMP
1527 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 323-5871

Hawaiian lomilomi massage helps heal physical, emotional and spiritual restrictions and pain, and supports awareness of connections between bodies and Spirit.

I am mindful of our bodies, minds and hearts as vessels for Light, Love and Spirit. My lomilomi sessions include prayer, massage and sometimes exploratory conversation. The massage is done with rhythmic strokes, compressions, stretching and energetic work, and proceeds light to deep, general to specific.

This work supports people experiencing both physical and emotional pain, including people experiencing loss or grief, people with circulatory, musculoskeletal or nervous system conditions, and people wanting stress release. I have clients living with depression, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's disease, fibromyalgia, back and neck pain, cancer and more.

My office is on Capitol Hill in Seattle. I will work in a client's residence when illness makes transportation difficult for them. I also provide onsite massage at workplaces or personal gatherings.

I have practiced massage for over 30 years. I earned my license in 1996 and have studied Hawaiian healing arts since then. I have also studied and can give basic Thai massage.

Growing Excitement and Urgency...

The following excerpt was pulled from the LC3 online bulletin board:

"I'm so excited I think I'm gonna burst - (drum roll, please, as the suspense is mounting).

But first let me give you a little background on my research. (Oh! isn't that a horrible tease???) I called and left messages and emails for many people with H4H. No one has called or emailed me back. The best I got was that we could help gut some houses. I personally don't think that truly aligns with our vision. Needless to say I have been disappointed with H4H.

So, I decided to search further afield. I found a non-profit organization called Common Grounds that is very similar to H4H but except locally run (New Orleans). I spoke to a wonderful woman there named Michelle.

Let me take a brief moment to keep holding you in suspense as I remind you of the goals we set during lunch: 1. That we wanted to physically help build something. 2. That we wanted to have a fund raiser to help the people there. 3. We wanted to help a family with their needs according to the project we got involved in. 4. We wanted to provide some medical assistance.

Well here it is (are you ready yet???) Common Grounds wants to help the lower 9th district build a free medical clinic. The 9th district was one of the areas that suffered extensive damage from the hurricanes and is in desperate need of medical services. Since the hurricanes there has been no medical care available in the district. People can't even get a shot. The clinic they want to build will help more than just one family, it will help thousands of families in the area.

Common Grounds already has a house dedicated to the clinic. The house needs sheetrocking, plumbing, wiring, a roof, flooring, etc. Common Grounds also needs doctors and nurses to help set up and coordinate the clinic. In other words, they don't have a clue about what goes into a clinic, so they need guidance to realize their dream.

Michelle is willing to help with a fundraiser. She has done it before. We talked about a nationwide fundraiser. Debbie, I told her you would be calling or emailing her so both of you could work on that together. There is more information I have for you, but I'm just too excited about this possibility to hold off sending this to you all!

Now please, I request that we don't start bombarding her with emails or phone calls. She is a very busy woman. For now let Debbie and I be the contacts. If you have questions or want more information, contact Debbie or me and we will get what you want.

I am very anxious to hear what you all think about this possibility as our joint service project. I am requesting that those of you who need more information to make a decision contact me by Monday, 5/1. Then I request that each of you send me an e-mail by Wednesday 5/3 letting me know whether you can stand behind this project. If we have a consensus, we will undertake the project. Some of the next steps will be deciding who wants to physically go there, for how long, when, etc.

Your friend, Jim"

-Jim K.
04/28/06 @ 8:46 pm

Birth of the Blog

The following excerpt was pulled from the LC3 online bulletin board:

"Hi Everyone:

I am requesting you post a response to this topic if you are interested in documenting our legacy.

I think it would be really powerful for the community to see what leadership can accomplish. My vision involves either a video or group of stills that we can share with the medical clinic that in turn can share with the community. Leadership seems to be contagious...

I'm also requesting you to give any and all ideas you have for documenting this. Just because I spoke up first doesn't mean we need to do it all my way. I want this to be a collaborative project.

Thanks for everything!

experiencing and enjoying"

-kristina
04/29/06 @ 12:29 am

In The Beginning...

The following excerpt was pulled from the LC3 online bulletin board:

"Hello Everyone,

Jim called me about an hour ago and really got me enrolled. I have a bunch of ideas spinning in my head. I found a website for this project and there is a lot of useful information on it. I can see many possibilities for us.

Here it is:

http://cghc.org/

It looks like they know already what they need. WE don't have to start from the bottom."

-Andrea
04/30/06 @ 1:20 pm

Photo Fundraiser!

Jim E. has created his own blog selling wonderful framed photographs to help raise money for Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic. Please take a moment and head over to his blog at http://www.bassnotes-jim.blogspot.com/ and take a look. He really has a true gift.

Mural Fundraiser!

Donate $50 to Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic and a 4" glass tile will be made with your name hand printed in gold ink! The tile will become a part of a mural for the Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic Waiting Room. Here are some beautiful examples of what the tiles will look like:

Please inform your LC3 Leader what color you prefer and name to include on the tile (reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, pinks, whites, blacks, or multi colored). Please remember there is a maximum of 4" to write your name. ie: first and last name.; name of business; xxxxx Family.

Thank your for your generosity!

A Leader's Perspective

The following excerpts were pulled from the LC3 online bulletin board:

"My experience of myself, not just about this particular chapter that is the Leadership Program, but what I have experienced since I got involved with the seminars, staffing and the schools since 2002 is that BEING in it makes my energy level rise and my desire to serve greater and clearly improves my attitude. It runs over into my participation with people here...at work, at home and just generally in the world."

-Paul
05-16-2006 @ 9:19 AM



"Hi Portland LP Pals,
Flying high with possibilities today! I wanted to let each and everyone of you know that you have impacted me. Thanks for a weekend that felt... REAL. I needed it and am inspired. I am honored to be in relationship with this group.
Peace"

-Janet
04/24/06 @ 5:27 pm

Providing Much Needed Services to Lower 9th Ward

Terrell, one of our leaders, brought this article in the Washington Post to our groups attention:

A City's Changing Face

By Blaine Harden

NEW ORLEANS -- Block by block, this city is springing back to life. Block by block, it is receding into the past tense. After fleeing the storm, black residents, especially poor ones from the Lower Ninth Ward and the city's public housing projects, were much more likely than whites to end up.........

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/16/AR2006051601595.html?referrer=emailarticle


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Creating Our Legacy

On April 22nd, thirty plus strangers met in Vancouver, WA to become leaders... What they learned was that great leaders are servants... They created a purpose to creatively inspire change and contribute to others... That purpose became a dream to assist Common Ground... This is our story...