By Cindy Walter
If you happen to study our church’s calendar, you may notice occasional reservations for the library for the board of the half Helen Foundation. hHF is a start-up non-profit founded by Chelsea Elliott, a young social entrepreneur. hHF is committed to improving school-age childrens’ vision and hearing through innovative, cost-effective screening and dedicated advocacy. hH works with families and schools to provide crucial vision and hearing screenings for free, in turn improving children’s academic success and social and emotional development. I joined the board a few years ago because I was ready to devote more of my time, energy, and attention to a worthy cause. The profit motive that drives so much of the decisions of the multi-national corporation I work for is very effective at providing jobs and paychecks to many thousands of people, and computers and products that are essential to society. We really need jobs and paychecks, and computers! However, after thirty-plus years of daily immersion in the profit motive, I enjoy devoting more time following the “love motive”!
I love knowing that our church opens its doors to many community groups, including hHF. By providing this welcoming space, we are strengthening the fabric of God’s kingdom. Alan Graham opens his book Welcome Homeless with these words; “Together, human lives are woven into a fabric made stronger and more useful than its individual parts. …. When the threads of each individual life come together, they become a thing that derives its strength and resilience from the structured collection of its parts.”
Isn’t it wonderful that the Love Motive of First United Methodist Church, half Helen Foundation and many other organizations in downtown Austin are being interwoven, and supporting and strengthening the work of all of us?!
