Update - Stewardship Project

   May 27, 2011 

     As of today we have $1,168 in the bank and an additional $175 in pledges outstanding and other pledges not yet committed. So get those pledges in as soon as you can.


      Thank you all so much.  Now we have to get down to the nitty gritty of organization – continually going toward our goals and future additions to this project – tool lending, contractor list to call with questions and to get services from fellow members at a discount, neighbors helping neighbors do small home projects, etc.  But first, getting the structure in place – strong and capable of being built upon.

      We have Enfield Home Depot and I have received the intro package so I can now contact the store. This promises to be quite a big deal.  Liz Adamsky, volunteer fundraiser, and I will work on the organization of this project.  This internet site - the Stewardship Project Blog - is now in place so that you can check in with us to note our progress.  I'll send out a monthly newsletter to all those on our email mailing list.  If you wish to be taken off the list or added, contact us at mary.healingarts@gmail.

I want each of you to be compiling a “wish list”  for you, your family and neighbors needs.  Don’t be shy.  List anything and everything that you might find at Home Depot, Pottery Barn and Quest.  You never know what we might get in. (as many of you know from the past 20 years of local donations) Spread the word.  With this list in hand when we receive the goods we can distribute them more quickly and easily.  That is the working plan.  We will post inventory on the web site, but if there is a specific need and item that get’s picked up, I can call you and get you over here to pick up.  

Include on this list:
Name,
Address,
Phone number, email.
List of needs
List of how you can volunteer –your talents!

Feel free to pass on this to all you know.
maryella1@earthlink.net

or

mary.healingarts@gmail.com

subject:  Stewardship Project

Vermont – We have received generous contributions from all of you up there.  Thank you.  Yvonne Laseter has donated a 30 foot camper to hold "stuff."  We plan on working up a schedule of when the camper can be where.  Having worked with kids for over 30 years, she is in charge of local kiddos painting and decorating the camper.  Pictures WILL be taken.  More on that later.  If anyone has space, trucks strong backs, don’t hesitate to volunteer for pick up and sorting.  Trucks that can draw the camper.

Connecticut – Wayne aka “Moochie” has donated space in Stafford Springs to hold items.  He’s a wonder he is.  If anyone has space, trucks, strong backs, don’t hesitate to volunteer for pick up and sorting.

The Stewardship Project is has been going on for 20 years, in a small way.  Almost every week when I arrive in Connecticut there are goods in front of my door.  I know a lot of people in the surrounding area who give and take.  It’s been a great success.  Now we can step it up a notch, but always taking it slow – planning and organizing so it does not get ahead of us.  We all know that we can make a difference by reaching out a hand to help one another.  Other than the cost of the annual fee, gas to pick up and when needed, labor, we are hoping to keep financial issues to a minimum.  I have always been convinced that good can be done by actions and words.  It’s worked so far.  And all contributions go to the running of the project.

Healing Arts Institute, Inc.
Stewardship Project
95 West Stafford Road
Stafford Springs, CT 06076
860-684-3184

Use it up – wear it out – do without

....And We're Off

Welcome to our internet site!

The Stewardship Project

Wellness Without Borders
Sponsored by 
Healing Arts Institute, Inc.

Thursday May 26, 2011

About Us - Who We Are - What We Have done - Where We Are Going

Healing Arts Institute, Inc.

Exchanging Living Ideas

 

95 West Stafford Road; Rt. 190

Stafford Springs, CT  06076

CT (860) 684-3184

VT (802) 368-2571

maryella1@earthlink.net  

     Healing Arts Institute, Inc. was incorporated in 1987, as a 501(3)c, non-profit corporation, in response to a community need for access to alternative health care, education and information.  With few exceptions, Healing Arts Institute has chosen to rely solely on the generosity of the practitioners involved in our community programs and the members of the population we serve.  We have elected, as our goal, to operate with little or no money, preferring to rely on the power of individuals to make a difference and promote the Institutes’ goals.  Our time and energy is focused on the actual “work” in the neighborhoods. Our objective is to be the non-profit that operates on minimal administrative funding.  

     At our clinics, practitioners donate all or part of their time to clients who would otherwise not have access to needed, alternative health modalities.  Although small in number and scope, the Institute is a hundred per cent focused on making a difference, one that cannot be measured in dollars.  Rather, it succeeds because those involved present a sincere community spirit that is the driving force behind our achievements.  

     Healing Arts Institute further defines "health" as Wellness Without Borders and includes our the community's health as a whole.  The Institute sponsors a goods exchange program where we oversee a recycling program to promote this concept.  In this program, we do not pay for goods and the recipient does not buy the goods.  Much of the fiscal expenses are absorbed by the Healing Arts practitioners, as part of their contribution to the Institute’s goal.  We do not question the recipient’s need or fiscal “qualification,” which can demoralize an already disheartened population. As all our programs are based on trust, we believe that when someone asks for help, help is needed.  Over the past years this trust has never been abused and our standing in the community is respected.  One cannot put a dollar value on a framework based on confidence and conviction.  As a result, this minimalist approach has afforded us the ability to focus on our goals in a realistic manner, with little or no overhead and administrative cost.

     This course of action, though limited in it’s scale, does not limit our capacity to improve community involvement.  We use our time to “achieve” our goals.  As a result, Healing Arts Institute has become known for its ability to network – connecting clients with appropriate practitioners, without charge.  We have become the organization to call when there is a health need, an educational resource need, goods need or a need for a place to leave goods to be recycled, knowing that they will go to a local neighbor and be used.

     There are several steps that we have laid down in the design of our building matrix for the goods exchange program.  The latest stage has been joining the "Good360" program.<http://www.good36.com>  Good360 is a non profit directory of retail stores who register with them.  Good360 then offers this list of stores to non profits who qualify to receive the goods from that store for one year.  For an annual fee Healing Arts Institute, Inc. can be "adopted" by that retail store, receiving items that are season, returns, damaged but serviceable and so on.  We purchased HomeDepot in Enfield, CT as well as the Pottery Barn in South Windsor.  Through the generosity of our friends and neighbors, we raised both fees - $600 and $250 respectively.  In mid June, we will meet with each store and work out the particulars.  This is truly a big jump for us, going from whatever people drop by on our doorstep to picking up building items and machines from Home Depot and household items from the Pottery Barn.  It required that we get storage space, which we did.  The community we serve is in southern Vermont and in northern Connecticut.  Both areas are gathering volunteers to promote and execute the program.  In the coming weeks and months, we will work out the kinks and streamline the process for a smooth run.  

What we need from you:

1. Your needs list - a "wish" list" if you like
2. You spread the word to your neighbors 
3. Let us know what You can do for the program 
4. When you can, send a donation to continue to pay for the expenses only of this program.  Like gas   for the vehicles that pick up the merchandise.