Friday, August 30, 2013

Not Losing a Moment!

You may have seen the news that we have a new location established for us to be able to get back to having our monthly Community Partner luncheons and hopefully have more of a presence in the city.  I have got to be part of coming up with the design concept for this new location.  It's been really exciting to think about how to portray our mission and create a sense of what we're about through our decor and design.

As I've thought about it, the idea of needing to be grounded to the earth came to mind.  I pondered on that for awhile, trying to figure out what it is about that idea that makes me think - yeah, that's what City Connections is about.  Then one day it hit me: it is from dust we came and to dust we will return; our life here is temporary and as God says in His word, like a breath to Him.  I want to be reminded of that every day, so that every day I am focused on serving and furthering the Kingdom in whatever way possible; I do not want to miss any opportunity for how God wants to use me, life is too fleeting!

And that, that is what we are about at City Connections; we make ourselves available every day to be used in furthering the Kingdom here in Little Rock.  Won't you come serve with us, don't let this moment pass you by!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Finding a place in the city



Since starting City Connections, I have pursued the goal of creating a “financial engine” that would enable us to “earn our way” and not be solely dependent on charitable donations. To that end, we’re actively in pursuit these days of business owners and managers who (1) are accustomed to outsourcing some of their job functions to contractors or temporary staffers that gives them a more flexible work force; and (2) who are socially-conscious of needs in our city and who are inclined to think creatively about outsourcing to a non-profit organization like City Connections.

We’ve built a wonderful relationship with Gold Star Couriers to do just this, and are working on a possible venture with Children’s Hospital as well.  We have some wonderful relationships with a variety of community partners who have individuals available and motivated to come and give their best in work. 

If you are a decision maker, or know of one, to whom this is appealing, we’d love to have a conversation with you about such and we’ll be glad to provide you some references from the organization with whom we have piloted this unique endeavor so you can get their feedback and recommendation.

We also see a growing need for non-profit organizations to partner with real estate developers in utilizing space available for Kingdom work.  If you are one of the real estate developers in our city who has some vacant office space, let me encourage you to consider reaching out to us and letting us know about your willingness to bargain with some of our non-profit community partners looking for space. This represents good stewardship and provides you a wonderful way to use your “gift of giving” to help meet a critical need facing several of our non-profit community partners at this time.
 
I’d be amidst to not reference that many of our community partners have real estate needs other than office space, so if you have other spaces that fit one of the following, we’d also love to hear from you:

·         Warehouse / distribution space;
·         Retail space;
·         Residential houses;
·         Large meeting space;
·         Pre-school or after-school space; 
·         Entrepreneurial space for multiple enterprises;
·         Etc.   

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

City Connections Collaborative Event



To All of our Community Partners:

This past weekend, I had the good fortune to observe and participate in a “Strategic Planning Session” for the State-Wide C.A.L.L. Board of Directors facilitated by my colleague, Mike Ferguson. While I was grateful to have been invited to be a participant and offer input for their board . . . I must tell you an even greater benefit was the opportunity to see my colleague at work in his element! Mike’s life and professional experiences have brought him to this kingdom work and even this week, it’s been rewarding to hear him speak of the joy and fulfillment he is experiencing these days in this work with City Connections!  

As I sat in the room this past Saturday, it was a joy to look around and see the C.A.L.L. group so engaged and energized by the discussion and we’re confident action steps will be developed in short-order as a result of the valuable  “group-think” from the day! But all of that had been carefully orchestrated . . . beginning with the prayers that had been offered for the day, the individual participants, the agenda, and the desired outcomes  . . . a design team which had labored over the details; the sequence and flow of information; the grouping of participants on very specific and critical organizational priorities; creating the right atmosphere for all of this to happen; etc.   

But beyond the day’s experience for our friends with the C.A.L.L., I couldn’t help but think about how valuable this would be for many of our other non-profit community partners . . . and for many of our church partners. Having spent most of my career on a ministerial staff, I couldn’t help but think about the value of a church leadership team dedicating the time to go through a similar process and allow for an outside, neutral, and trusted partner to come alongside of them in this way and facilitate a forward-looking, open and honest, strategic, prayerful, and action-oriented discussion.

I’ve said all of that to say that if you are a leader in a non-profit organization or a church community and you’ve already been thinking about your leadership team needing to have such an experience, Mike or I would welcome having a conversation with you about how we could come alongside of you and help in this way!

Fraternally,

Jeff Spry