Summary

"Community Care Tips: A Panel Discussion"
Tipping Points and Youth-Oriented Programs
Mary Dollison, Motivate Our Minds (MOMs)
Cathy Weatherspoon, Kid's Hope, USA
Donnie Garrett, Police Athletic League (PAL)

30 August 2005
3:30 p.m.--5:00 p.m., Student Center--Forum Room

"Give people hope!"  "Get [others] to go through that door!"    "We're family."   - Officer Donnie Garrett, Muncie Police Department & Director of the P.A.L. club

"It's a good epidemic!"  "…seeing a need and feeling passionate about it!"  "You were designed to do great things!"   - Cathy Weatherspoon, Former director of KIDS HOPE, USA

"…armed with the conviction…"  "Bring different worlds together!"  "Give them a beacon of hope!"   - Mary Dollison, Co-founder, M.O.M.'s

"Strive to build the future youth by youth!"   - Yvonne Doyle, Director, M.O.M.'s

"The ultimate tipping point is that we need each other and need to find the context in which to address those needs."   - Abel Alves, Associate Professor, Department of History

            A Tony Robbins motivational seminar?  No.  A religious tent revival?  No.  A representation of everyday people doing extraordinary things?  Absolutely!   

            Everyday people – we are everyday people.  We get up every day.  We attend to tasks, fulfill responsibilities, nourish ourselves, tend to the needs of ourselves and others, rest, and get up another day to do the same thing.  And – believe it or not, that is extraordinary! 

            The message from the guest speakers at this Freshman Connection panel discussion on an extremely rainy (with remnants of Hurricane Katrina) Tuesday afternoon was clear – that the moment we notice, consider, and act on the needs of others, we have engaged in something extraordinary.  We have begun to tip something that will forever be changed. 

            A quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson states that, "the human mind, once stretched, can never return to its original state."     Speakers at the panel discussion shared their experiences with stretching their minds and themselves to reach out to fulfill a specific need of others with whom they share the same communities, the same places they call home.  As a result, the minds and lives of each speaker were changed forever.

            As adults, all three of our panelists found themselves in positions to reach out to children who had been labeled, "at risk" within their communities and academic arenas.  Because each panelist had once been at the receiving end of someone who had reached out to them, each acted on opportunities to reciprocate and reach out to other children and families who had needs that the panelists were able to meet.  They experienced "tipping points" in their own lives and witnessed "tipping points" in the lives of the organizations with which they had become involved. 

            Yes, the panelists shared emotional stories of community outreach and involvement, and wonderful success stories related to the changes and growth of the people they reached out to help.  However, the amazing thing about each individual was that each one hesitated to take credit for any of it!  They are like each one of us – ordinary, everyday people helping other ordinary, everyday people!  This is why Dr. Alves provided a perfect closing to our panel discussion event when he stated: "The ultimate tipping point is that we need each other and need to find the context in which to address those needs."