Using our image to improve our image and make us more effective makes a lot of sense to me. Disclaimers about endorsement can be entered, if necessary. While we're at it, where is the Employee of the Month, Regional EOTM, and National EOTY contest, huh?

What is measured, or what gets attention, improves.

Surveys show that the one thing employees- i.e. people- want more than anything else is APPRECIATION. It is also the thing they usually get least. Why? What you concentrate on grows. We have concentrated on need for the last 60 years, and what has grown - need. "What is reported improves"... because it's getting attention. Napoleon understood this. He said "men are ruled by toys", and created several new medals, including the Legion of Honor. His troops would risk their lives repeatedly for a little piece of metal and cloth... What do people get for doing an outstanding job, in our industry? *Ignored* Yep, that's right, the best a good employee, client, or program can hope for is very often to be ignored. We need to have yearly awards get-togethers in every state, perhaps at an event like the Coalition for housing- to recognize our heroes.

We need a Best Practices database. How about letting the people who know the most about them do the write-ups? It doesn’t get any easier than a resources Wiki that writes itself. If we had a Best Practices contest, web-based, with good questions so we get enough detail so people can copy, we have a very cheap way to spread good ideas. If we are going to use performance indicators to measure community health, this same website could be a way to collect that data. If Publisher’s Clearinghouse can collect a nationwide mailing list, with a promise of a chance at an award, why can’t we?

If you’re worried about abuse of nomination, it could come through a congressional office; or that could just be an option. It works for Military Academy nominations. Could be a great way to get Congress involved in making a place for everyone at the table.

I propose at least the following awards, on a statewide basis:

Neighborhood Coordinator of the Year + 2 runner ups, for each census tract
Property Manager of the Year
Best community project created on a shoestring.
Best community project created by a partnership
Best provider of services on a shoestring, through networking.
best computer center, in categories:
children's programs, senior programs, job-training, economic development
best economic development/entrepreneurship program
best turnaround of a troubled housing property
best tenant/management relations
best community garden
most productive partnership/coalition in the state
best place to live for elderly
best place to live for family
most prolific provider of good programs to neighborhood residents
best residents' association
best nonprofit services provider
best vendor
best creation of "teaching/learning" community of opportunity in neighborhood
best solution to a difficult problem
best-looking resident amenity
neighborhood with the highest percentage of tenants "giving back" to the community
best intergenerational program
best youth program
best community activity that demonstrated a healthy community
most productive Memorandum of Understanding
best solution to a drug-related activity program
completion by a resident of 2 year or 4 year degree
best homeless programs
best transitional housing program
best manual that supported community building efforts
most unexpected or unusual partner in a coalition [police doing computers for example]
Law Enforcement officer most committed to proactive community building in a community
Most effective CDC and CFDI
Most effective alcohol treatment activity
best substance abuse treatment program
best energy conservation program
most useful resource that supports community building
best program done in coalition with a school
most helpful person in an agency [you want to energize HUD? Let our clients vote for the most helpful HUD person. Now there’s a Web 2.0 tool that would have some effect.]
best Welfare to Work program
best program created by residents

whatever else we want to see more of

Now, the above awards are "Olympic Gold", the two runner-ups [which would be used only where the field of candidates would be large] are the silver and bronze. We also need a "Diamond" category, for really outstanding stuff above the gold, given only when earned, not yearly. What would this do for people's resumes? I have repeatedly seen outstanding neighborhood organizers totally ignored by their own management. Do you see a problem with this picture? I sure do. Cures start small.

During WW II, the 9 PM tolling of the Big Ben clock was used by England to unite the population in common purpose. During WW II, even alcoholics willingly worked long hours in factories, for the war, because the whole country was focused on a clear goal. Newsreels would talk of a soldier destroying a tank, and end "not bad for a baker's apprentice from the Bronx". We need to clearly focus on healing our communities, in the same way. Call it a war on ignorance. Napoleon created many new medals, and his troops risked their lives repeatedly for a $5 piece of ribbon and metal. Presidential medals, and letters, could be used in the same way to focus attention on people doing good things in communities; web-based nomination through congressional offices. What you focus on grows. Why not have 20 goals regarding community healing, from improved education, to more social activities, and start recognizing best practices in those 20 goals? Obama has image, why not use it- cheaply?

We need a Best Practices website, where anyone could nominate best practices, with enough good questions that we get enough detail so anyone could copy the Best practice. The HUD 1994, 1999, and 2000 BP contests did not bother collecting this data! The whole point of a BP contest is to spread out what works. We need at least 30-40 categories of BP, also. What you put your attention on grows. Good HUD clients can expect to be.... ignored. How smart is that? They should be getting a BP award, just like bad clients pick up risk flags. In fact, the risk flag system needs to be modified so that Positive risk flags can be entered, for all HUD participants.

A kid out of a project made it to Brown, and graduated; the books about was titled The Substance of Things Unseen. Marianne Williamson notes that this is possible- why is it made so difficult? Tony Robbins is well known. T Harv Eker, Les Brown, Dr. Richard Bartlett, Paul Bauer, Joe Vitale, and many others make their living with transforming ideas. Why not challenge this industry to develop a model, or models, for our residents? I would love to see this in a context of a Therapeutic Community, a max 150 person community in each city which brings people into self-sufficiency, but it would have to be. What a marvellous proof of their methods this would be. I believe the better ones would welcome the challenge. They would need support, of course.

Cornel Lewis's book about the War on the Family notes that when he was a lad, whatever society's problems, there was a protective layer of community and family to protect children, and even provide refuge for adults. His book notes that this is largely gone now. In my state, foster homes get something like $500/month, to do what families do without cost to the state, much better. Which is more cost effective?

Gosh, let's look at these goals:
What are the best ways to improve educational and early childhood development outcomes for those living in HUD-assisted housing?
- How can we improve health outcomes for those living in HUD-assisted and HUD regulated housing?
- What will help increase economic security and self-sufficiency for those living in HUD-assisted housing?
- How can we provide housing and social stability for the homeless and those at risk of being homeless?
EVERY SINGLE GOAL is impacted by the absence, or presence, of supportive family and community. My state has a family reunification program. Why? Because it is the most cost-effective approach to dealing with every goal cited above, and also at least 50 ills that children face growing up. Is HUD cooperating with the Asset-Based Community Development folks, on a website to reconnect the community, using ABCD ideas? When I was a lad, if a 13 year old boy mouthed off, particularly to a woman, an older male, possibly with military experience, would pick him up by the lapels, put him against a wall, look him right in the eye, and say in a low voice, "Don't ever do that again".
Problem solved, in most cases. At what cost to the taxpayer? None. Now this is child abuse, I guess. So we let the child grow up with such bad habits, and pay police officers $100/hour [yep, with their support chain, at least that] to arrest them, and then put them in prison at $40,000 per year, where they can be abused and traumatized systematically. I'm not saying the old days were perfect, however, we have gone downhill since the 1950's, in many areas. There are few examples in history of families and communities as fragmented as they are in this country. Those that existed were generally of societies about to collapse.

The major obstacle to creating affordable housing is building codes. In Japan, railroad stations have cubicles where, for a fee, people who miss their trains can sleep. They are lockable. The major complaint homeless people have is that shelters aren't safe- well, an open bunk system isn't safe. Even hostels do better than that. Why should single people be limited to expensive efficiency apartments, if they would be happier with something smaller? I knew a guy in college- in Michigan- who rented a locker at the gym, for about $20/month. He had a study carrel, for another $20/month. He slept outside, in a sleeping bag, and was delighted with the arrangement. Also, doing this would open up a number of efficiencies, overnight. Cities with codes that don't allow this should be penalized on CDBG and other HUD funds, on a sliding scale. There are plenty of places in NY City that functioned as de facto homeless housing; and with slight modifications, could do so again. In the old days, a church would give someone a place to sleep, in exchange for light janitorial work. They still do this in Europe. No, this wouldn't work for everyone, but it still works in Europe. All they need is a small locker to keep clothes and bedding in. If every church in the country did this, the homeless problem would be a lot smaller, and this would also help homeless people get back on their feet. There are many similar options.

This means changing management attitudes. And management attitudes are due to the way HQ mistreats managers. Attitude is everything. The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on every part of my life. Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, money, circumstances, failures, successes, than what other people think, say, or do. It is more important that appearance, giftedness, or skill. It makes or breaks companies, churches, communities, and schools. What's really cool is that WE HAVE A CHOICE EVERY DAY about our attitude for that day. We cannot change the past, nor the inevitable, nor that people will act in a certain way. All we can do is use what we do control: our ATTITUDE. Life is 10% of what happens to me, and 90% of how I react to it. We are in charge of our attitude. ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING. There are only 2 activities we can engage in: taking small slices off the "beast", and celebrating small victories. Everything else is gunning the car's engine in Neutral; lots of noise, but you don't get anywhere.
"When you plant lettuce, if it doesn't grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look into why it isn't doing well. It may need more fertilizer, water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends, or our family, we blame the other person. If you know how to take care of them, they will grow well like a lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change. One day in Paris, I gave a lecture about not blaming the lettuce. After the talk, I was walking and overheard an 8 year old girl telling her mother, "Mommy, remember to water me. I'm your lettuce." I was so pleased that she had understood my point completely. Then I heard her mother reply, "Yes, my daughter, and I am your lettuce also. So please don't forget to water me, too." Mother and daughter practicing together. It was very beautiful."
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Consider the long spoon story. The man goes with the angel to see hell. He goes into a room, where people have six foot long spoons. There is a big pot of wonderful soup in the center, but no-one can eat, so they are fighting with the spoons, and angry. The angel takes him to another room, and says, "This is heaven". The door opens, and in the room, people have the same spoons- and they are feeding each other. So it is in our lives. Or consider the starfish story. A man on a beach saw a native throwing starfish washed up after a storm back into the sea. He said, "You can't possibly make a difference! Look at the thousands of starfish on this beach!" The native threw a starfish into the sea, smiled, and said, "Well, it made a difference to that one!"