A few weeks ago, I sat down with a middle school principal to learn about the needs he was seeing in his community. I was happy to be able to share some of the resources I had come across along the way. His response: "I had no idea any of this existed in our community."
I hear a version of that response all the time. There is more already happening in our community than any one person could track alone, that is the challenge and the opportunity together. I know the feeling firsthand. I spent years inside a nonprofit and did not know much of what existed either.
That is the gap I try to close. I learn alongside the leaders, teachers, and neighbors I meet, one conversation at a time, then connect what I find to whoever needs it next.
The Community Resource Guide is one way that happens. The Community Leaders Series is another, a space built so people from schools, nonprofits, government, law enforcement, and business can meet the people doing work adjacent to theirs.
If you have ever looked around your own community, seen a need, and wondered where to even start, look for the people already willing to share what they know. There are more of them than you think.