Week 5: Supporting Those who are Building Thriving Communities
What does an exceptional community look like? Should everyone have the opportunity to live in a thriving community? We don’t live in a utopia where everyone has benefited from community equally. I grew up in a great community: good schools, a good church, an excellent neighborhood, and a great group of friends. I am still friends with some of them today, and they are close. I know that isn’t the same for all. I think that community from an early age benefited my life as an adult. The community I still have with a squad of Marines is unmatched, and even though we don’t see each other often, when we do, we are right back to it.
Nothing we do in community association management is life-changing. Let’s be honest about that. None of us are finding a cure or solution to the world’s biggest problems. I want to think that my issues are sometimes the biggest of the day, but we live in a more complex society than the dog poop left in someone’s front yard that needs a community email (absolutely no sarcasm there). However, I have the privilege of knowing people whose jobs are life-changing and working daily to better their world.
Goodman Management Group partners with the Robinson Theatre Community Arts Center in the Churchill neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. They are life-changing. They have a vision for creating a thriving community where there is a deep need for it. You need to check it out for yourself here: https://www.robinsontheatre.org.
The added bonus to our financial and volunteer support is that our connection with The Robinson stems back to the community I grew up in. The Executive Director of The Robinson is a close lifelong friend of mine, and I wouldn’t have that connection without the community I grew up in. Thirty-plus years of friendship and community have opened a door for Goodman Management Group to find a way to give back to an organization that is changing lives. Our business plans aren’t even remotely connected, but our connection with The Robinson and their vision is vital to what we do at GMG.
I hope you’ll take some time to read about The Robinson. It is exciting to be a part of creating a thriving community with these folks.