Extended Family has a tradition we repeat at the beginning of each year of asking each board and staff member, “What is your One Big Thing you want to see us accomplish this year?” One of our board members, Retired Chief Deputy District Attorney Bob Johnston, answered, “Just change one life, because it’s never just one life.”
We invited Mr. Johnston to expound on his statement at a recent staff meeting, “If you save one life, you save the world.” He talked about the work we are doing to make Extended Family programs available to every person who needs them, no matter where they are, “As we work to expand, we need to stay grounded and remember that it’s about each individual getting the help they need.” One of our values, “Children Matter,” reminds us to focus on the children in front of us during every group we lead. We carry that value over into the work we do with all family members dealing with the effects of the incarceration of a loved one. Above all else, we want to leave each person we serve knowing “You Matter.”
Mr. Johnston reminded us, “A system can’t love; a person can love.” We can create the most amazing programs the world has ever seen, but those programs alone will never be successful if we are not delivering them from a place of love and compassion for our fellow human beings. He continued, “One life that you change will continue to grow and expand beyond the nation when the nation has crumbled.” We often use the illustration of “touching the water.” When you touch water, you see the immediate effect of the ripples, but you don’t see how far the ripples go, or the ripples created underneath the surface. The same is true for the impact a changed person can have on the world.
Mr. Johnston completed his remarks with this advice, “Show kindness and strike a blow against the ugliness in the world.” Perhaps we encourage positive change in the people we serve, perhaps not. Either way, showing kindness only makes the world more beautiful.
We appreciate so much our board members for their support and insight. For more information about Extended Family programs, please visit www.extendedfamilyhelp.org.
