http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter en-us Thu, 9 Sep 2010 13:31:18 GMT Caravel CMS RSS App http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199901.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
January 1999

I did it!
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For over a year, I've been saying I'm going to do this. Now, here you have it--the premier edition of the **Companion Resources Newsletter**!

Is this more junk mail? I hope not! I am sending this first edition of **Companion Resources Newsletter** to family, friends, and acquaintances because I think you might be interested in the fascinating interplay of technology and Christian community. After reading this newsletter, you will have various options at the end of it for continuing to receive this (hopefully monthly) letter or telling me to delete your address from my database.

A bit of background
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I started Companion Resources in 1997 in a time of personal transition. As a pastor for 16 years, I learned the value of communicating effectively and efficiently. In the past year, as I have made this temporary transition, I have given renewed thought to the tools that are increasingly important to make that communication possible in our modern world.

In the last few years, we have seen a remarkable coming together of two tools of communication, the telephone and the computer. Both tools have become very important for church, business, and personal use. In addition, the convergence of these tools through the Internet has produced a unparalleled avenue for persons with similar interests and missions from around the world to build networks of support and encouragement.

Companion Resources is a ministry and a business dedicated to finding low-cost ways for ministries, agencies, businesses, and persons with special needs to utilize modern technology to build these networks. Rather than becoming symbols of an impersonal culture, I believe telephones and computers can be tools for persons to reach out to each other. This enables a mutual helpfulness that can build up local communities, churches, and families.

This newsletter and other resources
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I intend to keep this newsletter free to anyone who wants it for as long as I can sustain this enterprise. Obviously, to be able to do this, I need to find some ways for this to bring in some income. Thus, I will be promoting various avenues whereby you may gain needed services, and support Companion Resources in exchange. The newsletter will highlight some of these, but you will find much more information at the Companion Resources web site.

Paul D. Leichty
Companion Resources
People using Technology building Community


Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:25:15 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199902.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 2 February 1999

Thanks to all of you who have subscribed to this budding newsletter. I look forward to your comments and suggestions. Write to me at infocompanionresources.org. For now, I hope you find something useful in this edition.

Why "Companion Resources"?
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We live in a world of need. The newspaper headlines nearly numb us with daily stories which tell of human need. In my years in urban ministry, I discovered a more personal face to that need. The ex-mental patient, the homeless mother and children, the drug addict, the agitated group home resident are just some of that starker examples of the many needs that are a part of the lives of all of us.

As a Christian, I am convinced that God has given the human community many resources to meet those needs. We are needy people precisely so that we will come to depend upon God and each other. In fact, we have been assured by Jesus that our real needs will be met if we ask.

I am convinced that the most important resource we have been given for meeting our needs is simply other people. Each person has unique gifts to give to others. Each person has something to give to the community as a whole. So it is in community where our needs can be met.

Sometimes, our needs are very general and there are naturally many persons around us who can meet those needs. At other times, we find ourselves with very specialized needs. At those times, we struggle to find persons who can share a common experience with us, who can understand enough to know what it is we need and who or how our needs can be met.

Communication is the key to getting in touch with other people and the gifts they represent. In our day, the technology of telephones and computers make it possible for us to build specialized communities of support and resourcing that were in former times very difficult if not impossible.

Computer technology gives us the ability to communicate and build broader and yet more specialized communities of mutual resourcing.

What is your need? What do you have to give? That is why this newsletter exists. It is my hope that through Companion Resources, I can help you unleash your potential to build communities of support and encouragement. I solicit your ideas to help make this possible. Feel free to suggest topics or share experiences in which your needs have been met through the resources of the community. Send your material to me at infocompanionresources.org.

A Bit of Our Family Journey
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It's hard to believe that nine years ago, I did not even know what fragile X syndrome was. Nancy and I had simply resigned ourselves to the fact that we would probably never know a specific cause for the disabilities of our son, Nathan.

Yet, beginning with a visit to a new pediatrician, all of that changed. Once a blood test confirmed that Nathan had fragile X syndrome, we started reading all that we could about it. We found precious little.

We were amazed at how little even the "experts" knew. Out of the entire school devoted to children with severe learning disabilities, the staff knew of not one other diagnosis of fragile X syndrome. We knew of no one else outside of our family who had this condition. As we sought out communities of support, we were put in touch with the staff at another private school and with a new program at a big city hospital. There, we learned more, but it was a fleeting experience. One or two conversations or visits and we had our booklet or our report and that was it. We were still alone to respond to our child with special needs.

After moving to Fort Wayne, we finally discovered another family affected by fragile X syndrome who were also searching for support. Eventually, we have found two other families and now we meet semi-regularly to form a support group. We have tried to reach out to others, but with very limited results.

However, through the use of a computer, we were put in touch with scores of families with similar needs and experiences through a fragile X mailing list. This list was an overwhelming source of inspiration, encouragement, and the latest information. Partially as a result of being on the list, we have now attended two International Fragile X Conferences. There we met many of the people who were conversing online as well as many other persons with stories of struggle and encouragement.

Now the online conversation is even larger, so large, in fact, that we do not even make an attempt anymore to absorb it all. It is enough to know that the explosion of both knowledge and human support is always there and accessible whenever we need it. And if we are in a position to make an encouraging contribution to someone else's journey, we do it.

The computer is a tool in that process. Combined with other human contacts, with written newsletters, and with a growing awareness in the wider community, we are able to both find support for our own needs and to make a contribution to the encouragement of younger families. This is an example of "People using Technology building Community."

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To find out more about fragile X syndrome, visit the Companion Resources web site at http://www.companionresources.org/Learning/Fragile_X and explore the links there. Perhaps there is some special need that you would like more information about. Send me a note at infocompanionresources.org and let me know!
******

That's all for this edition! I welcome your comments, questions, and stories. Because this is a send only list, you will not be able to simply hit your "Reply" button, but will need to send your message to the following address:
infocompanionresources.org
Blessings on your journey!

Paul D. Leichty
Companion Resources
infocompanionresources.org
http://www.companionresources.org
People using Technology building Community



Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:27:46 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199903.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 3 March 1999

Spring is coming! It's a time when we think of new things. Just as new life is budding in the natural world, so Companion Resources is experiencing the budding signs of new growth.

First, I am doing some experimenting with the right place for my site. The CR web site is now at http://www.companionresources.org

Secondly, I hope you'll read about more *new* Companion Resources services below. Before that, however, I'd like to share some thoughts with you.

Deficiencies and Disabilities
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Some day I will tell you more about the Jesters. For now, suffice it to say that the Jesters are a drama troupe made up of young people, ages 5 and up, who are all challenged in some way. March is the month of their annual performance at the historic Embassy Theater in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Our usual pattern is to talk about persons having disabilities. Indeed, some tasks that are routine for most persons are difficult for each of these young people to do. But an evening watching the Jesters on stage reminds us that each of these persons has abilities as well, including some very unique abilities.

Our society has become very adept at focusing on a cure for disease and disabilities. We take pride in fixing things, in responding to needs, in addressing weakness, in focusing on the deficiencies. We have perhaps the most skilled corps of professionals the world has ever seen, each one an expert at addressing a narrow task. We have medical specialists for each part of our body, psychiatrists for our brain, psychologists for our emotions, and social workers to tell us how to get along with others. We have specialized lawyers and administrators and executives for each social problem, not to mention bureaucrats by the hundreds in city, state, and federal offices.

We all work under the assumption that the right professional can fix any problem. More often than not, we are disillusioned to discover that with all of this professional expertise, we cannot get to the root and solve some of our most basic issues as a society. Why is that? After a break, we will find out.

Assets and Abilities
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The Jesters did not put on a moving and entertaining performance by hiring a group of professionals to address their speech defects, their physical deformities and their learning disabilities. As a society, we will never build up our communities by focusing professional efforts on our weakest members.

Instead of looking to the professionals to diagnose and fix our deficiencies and disabilities, all of us in the community can focus on assets and abilities! As we use the gifts we have been given as a community, we bring out the gifts of others. Loving, patient, and persistent work by many people, each with both abilities and disabilities, gave us a show. And in our society as a whole, it is by tapping the assets of the community working together that we will find a way out of the deplorable conditions found both in our inner cities and our rural towns and villages.

Many years ago, through one simple lecture and one simple article, John McKnight showed me the key to overcoming many of the social problems that plague our society. It is a solution that defies the normal political divisions of conservative and liberal, or the constant squabbling over individual vs. corporate responsibility. As a result of the ideas of John McKnight and others, "Asset-Based Community Development" (ABCD) is catching on in many parts of our continent and the world.

Go take a look at the ABCD website by following the link on the Companion Resources home page or going directly to
         http://www.nwu.edu/IPR/abcd.html

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If you appreciate this newsletter, forward it to a friend and encourage them to subscribe. Visit my home page soon and let me know if I can serve you.
******

Paul D. Leichty
Companion Resources
People using Technology building Community

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:28:54 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199904.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 4 April 1999

"Community begins with a companion walking alongside."

Sometimes people comment about the name "Companion Resources." There are many different associations with the word "Companion." What does companionship have to do with community?

I'm convinced that we as individual human beings cannot actually _create_ community. Community is a gift that comes as we give of ourselves to God and to each other. However, we can be a friend or a companion. We can be a person who walks alongside of another on life's journey, one who shares the joys and struggles of life. If we give our lives to walk alongside even just one other person, we open ourselves up to the life-giving gift of community.

This is particularly the case when we become a companion or a friend to someone with whom most people find it difficult to form a relationship. Folks who are marginalized by society, who need special care and attention, who are lonely or confused, or who are even "anti-social" are often persons who most need a companion and a community. To create the climate in which these persons experience community requires a special effort on the part of others to reach out and be a friend.

I had to think of this even in the context of the horrible school violence this past week in Littleton, Colorado. Certainly the two young men who committed this horrible act needed others to reach out and be a friend. I'll say more about that below.

Is all companionship good? Is all community good?

From what the news media tell us, the two young men in Littleton, Colorado who killed 13 people and then themselves felt alienated from their school and community. Their response was to form a type of companionship with each other. They even sought out a community called the "Trenchcoat Mafia" that would give them a sense of power and control over their destiny.

However, this type of companionship merely reinforced their self-centered tendencies. It led to bitterness and a desire for revenge. Their "community" of choice was a community fueled by violent images, bent on the destruction of the larger community from which it was alienated.

Companionships, communities, and whole societies can become demonic when they are fueled solely by self-centered interests. For any community to survive and have life, it must continually reach out beyond itself, reach out in the best interests of others. In the aftermath of the violence in Littleton, Colorado, many persons echoed the words of the President of the United States when he said (as reported by CNN), "We do know that we must do more to reach out to our children and teach them to express their anger and to resolve their conflicts with words, not weapons."

Yet, most sadly, it is at the very heart of this larger community, our North American society, where our children are learning that violence is the way to get what they want. Violence is glorified as entertainment to the extent that even a retired army officer, Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, says that our video games are actually training young people to kill the same way the army trains its personnel. (To read more go to http://www.christianity.net/ct/8T9/8T9030.html.)

Then also, as the president spoke, his orders to rain down bombs on Yugoslavia remained in effect. The deeds of our leader do not match the rhetoric. When words did not produce the desired result, the U.S. government used the most sophisticated weapons it could find. Instead of reaching out and building community by finding the solutions that will meet the needs of others, we as a society are doing the same thing that we deplore in both Kosovo and Littleton. In the end, although played out on a much larger scale of time and history, we are also committing suicide as a community.

Community never comes through the shortcut solutions of violence. Violence is by its very nature built on self-interest and is destructive of community. It is only through the struggle to reach out in the best interest of all people that community happens. That is a lesson we can apply to any aspect of our lives.

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If you would like to receive more information related to peace and Christian community, MennoLink offers the following discussion groups:

menno.org.peace
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Discussion and suggested Christian responses to situations of conflict in the world.

menno.org.cpt.news
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News from Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who try to be a presence for peace in hot spots around the world.

menno.org.cpt.d
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CPT's discussions and reports about actions related to ongoing world conflicts.

To join any of these groups,
see the instructions at http://www.mennolink.org/email
or send a message with a line like
subscribe menno.org.peace
to serverMennoLink.org.

All of these groups are sponsored by various organizations and can be received free of charge.

If you appreciate this newsletter, forward it to a friend and encourage him or her to subscribe. Don't forget to check out all the links and resources mentioned in this newsletter, plus much much more. Go to the Companion Resources home page at http://www.companionresources.org. If you don't have web access and want to know more, drop me a note, and I'll be glad to help you!

So long and don't forget...
"Community begins with a companion walking alongside."

Paul D. Leichty
Companion Resources
People using Technology building Community


Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:30:25 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199905.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 5 May 1999

Greetings once again from your connection between technology and community!

There are many changes happening at Companion Resources. Most of you know by now that we have a new web site on our own domain and a new e-mail address. I will tell you more about that later in this newsletter.

In my March 1999 newsletter, I promised that some day I would tell you more about the Jesters. That day has come...but actually, I'm going to let someone else tell you about the Jesters.

I am honored to present my daughter, Renita Leichty. Soon to graduate from North Side High School in Fort Wayne, she was on the editorial staff of the student newspaper for three years and a writer all four years. In the fall, she will be pursuing a career in journalism as a "Fellow" in the Center for Contemporary Media at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana.

In the darkened auditorium at the University of Saint Francis, aspiring young actors deliver their lines on the musical's opening night.

"What was that brown stuff, anyway?" queries a girl about her camp's food.

"It was peanut butter!" is the punchline, delivered by a slightly anxious young man, tall, thin, with unruly light hair and glasses that won't stay up. The audience laughs.

Shakespeare, it's not. Some of the lines are delivered in a mutter, too fast, too loud, or not at all. But that doesn't seem to matter. Because my brother is up there, proclaiming to the world that Camp Werdehekawee serves peanut butter in their spaghetti, and that's something I never thought would happen.

If you questioned the parents of these young thespians, they might say the same. "My child, on stage? Never would have thought it." Some are natural hams, others love to sing, some are shy or nervous. Together, they are the Jesters, a drama troupe made up of mentally or physically disabled individuals ages 6 to 30-something. And together, they are on stage, making us laugh, and in the end, making some of us cry.

Every year, Jim Didier and his co-workers have written an original musical (although they do occasionally get re-used) and fit the parts to the abilities of his charges.

Every year 30-some individuals gather on Saturday mornings from September to February to learn their parts. They sing, they play, they enjoy themselves.

Every year, it looks like things might not quite fit together, and Jim runs around frantically trying to fit everything together.

And in the end, it all fits. The end product may be rough around the edges, but it is still beautiful and whole.

At the end of every show, the entire cast of the Jesters sings a song called "If Just One Person". This song, which may or may not have originated in a Charlie Brown musical, ends with the heartfelt
and when all those people believe in you
deep enough and strong enough believe in you
long enough and hard enough
it stands to reason
you yourself could start to see what everybody sees in you
and maybe even you
could believe in you, too.

And for the last three years, at the end of the show, my mother sits beside me and the tears well up. Whatever the original intent of those lines, the song fits perfectly with what the Jesters have accomplished.

Every year they get a standing ovation, and every year, they deserve it.

**********

My thanks to Renita for giving us such a wonderful glimpse of what the Jesters means to our family. And you can be assured that the mother and sister of our family actor aren't the only ones in the family with tears in their eyes at each performance!

The Jesters is a unique experience of special people sharing their gifts with the community!

[Note of 11 January 2007: Unfortunately, the pictures that were available have been taken down.]

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Companion Resources is certainly on the move! Perhaps you aren't aware of all of the resources that we now offer. Now it all starts at one easy to remember address:
http://www.cresources.org

Paul D. Leichty
Fort Wayne, Indiana
PDLeichtycresources.org

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Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
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Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:32:51 GMT Renita Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199906.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 6 June 1999

[Note of 11 January 2007: Unfortunately, some of the material mentioned in this newsletter has not been transferred to the new website. I regret the delay, but my time on this site is limited.]

Summer has arrived. With the coming of summer, many people get outside more, interact with their neighbors, and engage in more physical activities. Today, I want to talk about community and health. This also gives me a chance to highlight one of the newest of the free informational resources offered by Companion Resources, our health and medical site found at http://www.companionresources.org/Resources/Health

First, let me tell you about some of my expanding list of other services.

Health and Community

When we talk about health, most people think of personal individual health. Health care, health products, and health clubs are all big business these days. They all cater to the individual who cares about personal health.

Similarly, there are a wealth of quality web sites dealing with personal health on the World Wide Web. Medical information is available on almost any health condition or situation that one could imagine. As a case in point, I just went to Medline and did a search on our family's "favorite" topic, fragile X syndrome. Back in 1990 when our son was diagnosed, few physicians even knew anything about fragile X syndrome. The little information available was in obscure medical textbooks or periodicals. Today, I just "put my fingers" on 2040 articles. This is truly amazing!

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You too can find out about almost any health issue, ranging from diets to exercise plans and medicines to obscure illnesses. I have compiled a sample of some of the best that I have found at http://www.companionresources.org/Resources/Health
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Getting back to the subject of health, though, I must confess that my own growing interest in health comes via "the back door." While I am certainly concerned about my personal health and the health of my family, I am also concerned about the health of the community at large.

As a pastor, I have always been concerned with the spiritual health of a community of people, both the church I serve, and the larger community to which the church ministers. As an urban pastor, I soon learned to think about the connections between spiritual health and the environment of the city, the emotional health of those who live in the city, and the systems which try to control peoples' lives. Talking to recovering alcoholics and drug addicts also helped me discover some other important connections between spiritual, mental, and physical health.

However, the most important thing that I continue to discover is the importance of community and health. Many of us have read the appalling statistics on infant mortality in our largest cities. Even though the United States has the most sophisticated health care system in the world today, the infant mortality rate of some of our inner cities equals that of some of the poorest "third-world" nations. Personal health is definitely affected by the environment around us.

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Issues such as infant mortality, addictions, AIDS, etc., are generally looked at as "public health" issues. Public health is the most visible aspect of what I mean when I talk about community health. Visit the Companion Resources page on "Community Health" at http://www.companionresources.org/Resources/Health
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As someone concerned with the health of the community in which I lived and served, I became active in helping the community deal with its most pressing issues. However, for many years, I did not necessarily think of hunger, homelessness, and addictions as "health issues." Even the large numbers of persons on the street with mental illness didn't connect me as much to health as to an area of study I've come to know as "community development."

However, in working with one group of people on issues of community development and how the church could become involved, a nursing instructor joined the group. As she brought the insights of community health nursing to our group, I gained many new insights. Now I make even more connections between health issues for individuals, be those physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, and the health of the community as a whole.

Even more recently, I have been reminded again that more and more conditions that we have always labeled as "mental illness" have some very physical factors that cause them and can be treated very effectively in many situations with medication. At the same time, family care physicians are being trained more and more in both family systems and the spiritual aspects of health.

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To learn more about community development, go to the Companion Resources site at http://www.cresources.org/assets. And for resources in dealing with mental illness, see http://www.cresources.org/mental.
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As we can see, health involves the interaction of all of us in all aspects of our lives. In the earliest scriptures of the Bible, the Hebrew people learned the meaning of the rich word, "shalom." Often translated "peace," this word gathers together the wholeness and health that God desires for everyone.

Until next time, I wish all of you and your community "shalom."

Paul D. Leichty
PDLeichtycresources.org

****
Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
****



Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:34:17 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199907.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 7 July 1999

Greetings to all community-builders from Companion Resources!

I have tried to make this newsletter positive and upbeat as we talk about creative ways to build community. However, my own experience this past month has reminded me of the realism that community builders need to face in a world that is individualistic, materialistic, and driven by power and money. So I want to talk about that a bit today.

First, some exciting news on the storefront!

This story is about a for-profit business, a non-profit social service agency, and a church program institution. It is also a story about our family. It is about one of us who gained a job, one of us who lost a job, and one of us with more than enough of a job.

On the surface, the biggest blow was my son losing his job. It took Vocational Rehabilitation and the agency they contracted a year after graduation to find Nathan this job. In the middle of the year, it was cut from fifteen hours a week to nine. Nathan loved his job and from all indications was doing well. He had "graduated" from being coached to job retention status and just celebrated one year of working there.

I'll spare you the gory details. The bottom line was that current business practice dictates that employers expect their employees to be ever more productive and do more and more tasks. It's not enough anymore to do one or two things well. Multi-tasking is the name of the game.

For many of us, that is good news. We don't like assembly lines. We like to do a variety of things. However, for persons with disabilities, it can mean being asked to do tasks which they are not trained for or not skilled in along with the tasks which they do well. When they are unable to meet the employer's standards for the new tasks, they lose their whole job. It seems that more and more, for the employer, it is simply not "efficient" and "productive" to carve out a niche for a person with disabilities.

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For more information about Nathan and his specific disability called fragile X syndrome, see the following links on the Companion Resources web site.
Fragile X - http://www.companionresources.org/Learning/Fragile_X
Nathan's Graduation - [Unfortunately, currently unavailable]

*********

Unfortunately, the push for productivity and the expendibility of individual employees extends into the social service field as well. It has been an eye-opener for our family to understand what is needed to manage a residential facility for adolescents with severe disabilities. So much is expected of both a residential manager (which is what my wife is) and the employees she supervises, that it is rare for anyone to stay on the job any length of time at all. An outside bureaucrat expressed surprise that my wife was still there, and she hasn't even reached the end of her second year!

It seems to be expected that employees are a dime a dozen and the system will use them up, wear them out, and let them fend for themselves once their physical or mental health gets so bad they can't take it anymore. Meanwhile, the folks being served have to cope with a dizzying array of new helpers in and out of their home environment.

Of course, if you ask, the bottom line is money. Government funds cover only so much and the top administrators spend much of their time angling for more money with ever more elaborate fund-raising activities. So while taking away even the limited opportunities for persons with disabilities to earn their own way, we lay on business people a subtle guilt trip so that they will fund the United Way and other community charity efforts. However, the shortfall still comes off the backs of overworked and underpaid direct care workers, managers who have to continually cover the work when understaffed, and/or a lower standard of care for those who are most needy.

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To learn more about the whole field of disabilities, visit the Companion Resources disabilities page at http://www.companionresources.org/Learning/Disabilities
*********

One would like to think that the church would be different. However, as middle-class Christians, like their counterparts in the rest of society, get richer, we also become more isolated from the concerns of those who are getting poorer.

Even our mutual aid societies, originally organized to help us as a community care for those who need it most, have now become centers for managing wealth. Granted, by means of these systems, many dollars still go to worthwhile causes. But as staff positions are added for foundations and mutual funds and public relations, funds are cut for advocacy programs for families who truly need a community of support around them as they wrestle with long-term disabilities, including mental illness.

One of the results is that I have a job. At least you might call it a job. To accomplish goals that hard-pressed already part-time staff don't have time for, I am hired as an independent contractor. For the institution, it is cost-effective; for me, it is marginal at best. But I do the work because it is important work. It is the work of building community, the work of being a companion, the work of bringing resources to aid those that most need it.

That's also what Companion Resources is all about. To try to make it work, I make feeble attempts to sell the goodies of technology--computers, software, web services, long distance phone services, etc. My attempts are feeble, because although I do believe these can be the tools for building community, the reality is that they are powerful tools that can also destroy community. So, as I wait for the wheels of the system to slowy creak into action to try to find my son another job, to take some of the workload off of my beleaguered wife, and to hire someone for our church institutions (maybe me) at a salaried level, I wonder whether I've also sold out to the same individualistic, materialistic, dehumanizing system. I pray for God's mercy and direction.

Blessings to all of you in your work of building community in the month to come!

Paul D. Leichty
PDLeichtycresources.org

****
Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
****



Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:36:03 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199908.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 8 August 1999

Greetings to all companions on the journey!

I want to thank those of you who responded in a personal way to my last column and to report that my son, Nathan, is on his way to another job very similar to the one he had. In another few weeks we will know more about how this is working out. We are grateful for these developments.

This month, I want to feature the subject of Gentle Teaching. I've struggled a bit to know where to put this subject on the Companion Resources web site since it relates to disabilities, mental illness, and health issues faced by the elderly (and probably more categories that that!). So I've decided to create a separate page for it at
http://www.companionresources.org/Companionship/Gentleness
with links to this page from the disabilities and the mental illness sections of Companion Resources.

One of the most remarkable movements I have encountered in my journey with persons with disabilities and mental illness is called Gentle Teaching. Gentle Teaching began with a book by that title by John J. McGee with the sub-title "A Nonaversive Approach for Helping Persons With Mental Retardation."

In 1991, McGee, along with Frank J. Menolascino wrote a second and more definitive book entitled Beyond Gentle Teaching: A Nonaversive Approach to Helping Those in Need. In this book, McGee radicalized his notion of Gentle Teaching to essentially encompass a completely non-violent approach to helping other people, no matter what their situation. Since that time, he has also clarified his goals of working toward companionship, interdependence, and community.

McGee's concepts and training workshops have led him to work in institutional and group home settings for persons with disabilities and mental illness, as well as persons in the criminal justice system. He stresses helping persons feel safe and loved rather than trying to modify behavior.

There are some excellent resources on the web to help persons understand and apply the concepts of Gentle Teaching. If you don't have time to check them out now, please visit the Companion Resources site at some other time to find this listing.

Gentle Teaching International
http://www.gentleteaching.com/
This is the official home of Gentle Teaching International. There are a wealth of resources here, including articles, stories, a list of persons and institutions for networking, music and video clips, and a bibliography. One of the most remarkable resources is John McGee's latest book, *Mending Broken Hearts*, published on the web in MS Word format, which summarizes the latest thinking on Gentle Teaching and is available free for the downloading! I have just started reading it and find it very accessible, but challenging. If you go to just one site, this should be it!

Gentle Teaching (Foundation for Gentle Teaching in the Netherlands)
http://www.gentleteaching.nl/
This is the home page of a non-violent approach for helping children and adults with special needs. It is maintained by the Foundation for Gentle Teaching in the Netherlands, but as far as I can tell, is entirely in English. It includes sections entitled as follows:
Basic Values
Quality of Life
Sensory Integration (an important topic!)
Defining the quality of life-profile
Psychology of Interdependence
Personal Teaching Plan.

Short summary of Gentle Teaching
http://my.tbaytel.net/avenueii/philosophy.htm
If you want simply a summary statement on Gentle Teaching, then I would commend this one to you. It is from Avenue II Community Program Services, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

Gentleness Network
http://www.morcinc.com/gentleness.htm
The beginnings of a network sponsored by Macomb-Oakland Regional Center (MORC), Inc. which is a human services agency serving "men, women and children with differing abilities" in the Detroit metropolitan area. Includes an online edition of the newsletter "Gentle Focus."

While we are focusing on this topic, let me highlight two sites that are related, but perhaps more focused on teaching peace and non-violence in families, schools, etc. This is a follow-up to my April newsletter in which I responded to the school shootings in Littleton, Colorado and the war in Kosovo.

Teaching Peace
http://www.teachingpeace.org/
A Not For Profit Agency dedicated to fostering attitudes, skills, and opportunities for living peacefully with self, others, and the earth.

Peace & Justice Committee of the Mennonite Church
http://www.mennolink.org/peace/
Contains a number of resources for families and churches on living a lifestyle of peace.

Gentle Teaching comes out of an environment that is not overtly religious. Yet, for persons like myself who believe that God's way of peace is shown in Jesus Christ, there is an obvious ultimate source of inspiration for these ideas. It was therefore interesting for me to read the opening words of John McGee's online book. I'll close with these words, which he attributes to Luke, but which Luke (the gospel writer in the New Testament of the Bible) attributes to Jesus:

"Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those
who curse you . . . When a man hits you on the cheek, offer
him the other cheek too . . . Treat others as you would like
them to treat you . . . Give and gifts will be given to you .
. . " (Luke)
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Blessings to all of you in being gentle companions to others in the month to come!

Paul D. Leichty
PDLeichtycresources.org

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Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
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Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:37:09 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199909.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 9 September 1999

Greetings once again to community builders around the world!

Often we define community by the characteristics that are the same in each individual within that community. We talk about the black community or the Jewish community, the artistic community or the church community. By talking about communities like this, we assume a certain homogeneity, that all individuals within that community are pretty much the same in most ways.

What we sometimes forget is that even within those communities, there are significant differences. How do we deal with differences? The answer to that question is the real test of community.

This month, I want to talk about a group of people who are "different" in any community where they are. These people have some form of what is commonly known as autism. They are not only signficantly different than most people; they are also significantly different from each other. How do we understand people who are different? That is the real test of community.

"Oops...Wrong Planet!" That is how one mother describes what it is like to live and interact with a child with autism. Autism is a very complex condition in which the brain does not process information in the usual way. Therefore, people with autism experience the world in a completely different way. Because, in their perception of reality, they live in a "different world," their actions to respond and cope with that world seem very "different" to the rest of us.

People with autism are very different than each other as well. Sometimes they are very intelligent. Many people have seen the movie "Rain Man" which portrays a "savant", an autistic person who has amazing abilities, often having to do with numbers and mathematics. Other times autism co-exists with mental retardation and it's hard to separate the conditions.

Autism is viewed today by researchers as a "spectrum disorder" meaning that there are a wide range of conditions which have some similar symptoms but with greater or lesser severity. Sometimes these conditions get labeled as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). The problem is that it has become fairly easy for physicians and educators today to slap the label PDD-NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) on any similar condition that they don't understand. That can often be frustrating to parents trying to understand their child.

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I have discovered a number of helpful sites on autism on the World Wide Web. They are listed on a new Companion Resources site at http://www.companionresources.org/Learning/Autism

I would particularly call your attention to an amazing site by the mother I referred to earlier at called "Oops...Wrong Planet! Syndrome: Autism Spectrum Disorders" (http://www.isn.net/~jypsy/) Janet Norman-Bain's site illustrates to me the power of a creative usage of the web space provided along with her Internet account. On her site, she lists over 400 Autism and Autism related links from A to Z as well as what she calls "Accounts of life on the Spectrum," stories that will encourage and inspire you. Many of the other links that I discovered, I owe to this site. However, be forewarned! It is very difficult to keep up with this many links, so some of them are dead-ends. Just use that "Back" button on your browser and try again! You will be well-rewarded!
****

The true test of community is how we incorporate those who are different into that community. Since autism so much affects the ability to communicate, it is up to those of us who can communicate well to make the effort to understand the "different planet" in which these friends live and to be companions who invite them into full participation in our communities.

From time to time, we can get some help through the mind of a person who who is able to communicate ways that are unusual for a person with autism. I commend to you an intriguing essay by Brad Rand entitled "How To Understand People Who Are Different" and located at http://www.autism-pdd.net/brad.htm on the web. Brad explains in very simple terms how it is to live in a "different world" and what people who are "not different" can do to understand and interact with persons who are "different."

The measure of maturity of a community is its ability to reach out and incorporate those who are different. God bless you as you go about that task this coming month!

Paul D. Leichty
Fort Wayne, Indiana
PDLeichtycresources.org

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Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
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Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:38:22 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199910.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 10 October 1999

Greetings from Companion Resources! Today, I want to highlight a hidden illness and a useful resource for dealing with it. First, though, a word from our sponsor...

Pride and triumph turn to tragedy... a young man graduates near the top of his high school class and goes off to a top university in another state. For awhile he seems to be doing well, but then signs of trouble emerge. Finally, late one evening, a call from a college official informs the parents that their son has been hospitalized with a serious illness. They quickly travel to the university town and arrange for their son to be transferred to a hospital close to their home. It is a painful period in their family's life. However, the real pain is just beginning.

If the son's illness was cancer or a disease of the heart, liver, lungs, or thyroid system, for example, it would be difficult enough. Most likely, the family would seek support from family and friends and particularly from their faith community. Prayers would go up for healing.

However, this particular illness is a *mental* illness. The events leading up to the hospitalization are bizarre and embarrassing. The parents are afraid to let anyone know. What will people think if they hear what happened? How could they raise a son who would do such things? What are they going to tell people at church who ask about the son and why he is no longer in college? These are just some of the questions that swirl around in the minds of the parents.

It is easy to see why mental illness becomes a hidden illness. The scenario above is often just the beginning of a seemingly endless cycle of hospitalization, improvement, set-back, and hospitalization again. Parents struggle with all of the popular myths of what they have done to "cause" this problem. Siblings are affected by an atmosphere of tension and pain as the affected person re-joins the family to gain some stability. Friends grieve the loss of their once-popular fun-loving friend. And the person most affected simply struggles to cope with the disease that plays tricks at the center of who he is--in his brain.

At the very core, the distinctions often made between physical illness and mental illness break down. Illness and disease can affect any of the vital organs of our body. Mental illness affects the brain and the brain is as much a part of our physical body as the heart or the lungs. Yet when disease affects the mind, we attach a stigma to it. We become afraid. Walls of isolation are built and community breaks down.

****
The cycle of strange behavior, fear, isolation, and loss of companions and community can be reversed. However, it will be up to the family and the community as a whole to take the first steps. A wonderful new resource on the Internet that may help the community take those first steps is called "Pathways to Promise: Ministry and Mental Illness" and is found at http://www.pathways2promise.org/

As its home page states, "Pathways to Promise is an interfaith technical assistance and resource center which offers liturgical and educational materials, program models, and networking information to promote a caring ministry with people with mental illness and their families." Major sections of *Pathways to Promise* include Pastoral Crisis Intervention, Helping the Family, and Resources. The information given is practical and the site is attractive and easy to use. The Resources section contains links to dozens of other sites and organizations to help persons find just the right resource for their situation.
****

Unfortunately, mental illness still has plenty of stigma attached to it. However, just as there are many promising new treatments and medications in the medical field, there are also resources for rebuilding the lives and relationships that are affected by mental illness. Earlier this month, Mental Illness Awareness Week was celebrated. Building companionship with persons and families affected by mental illness starts with the attitude and awareness of each of us in the community. The chances are great that you or someone you know is affected in some way by chronic mental illness. I encourage you to learn and grow in compassion and companionship.

My thanks go to Crystal Horning, a former board member of Pathways to Promise who alerted me to this excellent site. Crystal is the mental illness consultant for Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA), a fraternal benefits organization. MMA's own web site can be found at http://www.mma-online.org/.

Please keep in touch and pass this newsletter on to a friend. If you are receiving this newsletter as a sample or from a friend, you can subscribe free of charge to receive this newsletter monthly. See the subscription information on the Companion Resources home page at http://www.cresources.org or send an e-mail to CompanionResources-subscribelistbot.com.

Blessings to all!

Paul D. Leichty
Fort Wayne, Indiana
PDLeichtycresources.org

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Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
****



Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:39:35 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199911.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 11 November 1999

Greetings, community builders! As we approach Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for persons like you who work to build community in your homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and cities around the world. This month I want to tell you about a movement of community-builders among Christians in the United States that is now spreading to other parts of the world. But first, a message to address some of your holiday shopping needs.

Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) is as much a movement as an organization in the American Christian community. Earlier this month CCDA celebrated its 10th anniversary at its annuaul conference, returning to the place of its birth in Chicago. I had the privilege of attending this conference and it was a wonderful experience.

CCDA was founded through the vision of many persons; however, two have particularly stood out as founding leaders.

* John Perkins was a veteran African-American pastor who had been working at issues of racial reconciliation and indigenous leadership development in Mississippi and California when CCDA started.

* Wayne Gordon was a white teacher and coach who started living and working in one of the most economically depressed African-American neighborhoods of Chicago in the late 1970's. Out of his work grew a community church and a wonderful array of community projects.

Both men persevered through intense conflict and struggle to lead neighborhood churches to put their assets into building community. They soon came to articulate conditions under which persons with power could effectively help to rebuild economically depressed communities. More about that in a moment.

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Christian Community Development Association has a developing and informative web site at www.ccda.org. I encourage you to visit it. Included there are names of member organizations and Urban Perspectives newsletter by long-time urban worker, Bob Lupton.
*******

John Perkins has most clearly articulated the vision of community development from a Christian perspective. He says that in order for persons with power and resources to effectively work in poor communities, there must be a partnership effort as equals. He talks about the basic 3 R's of Christian Community Development:

1. Relocation: A person must live in the community and be affected by the same issues that the rest of the community is affected by in order to have the privilege of speaking to those issues. "Solutions" imposed from the outside will not work.

2. Reconciliation: Personal relasionships are the most important aspect of building community. Where there is a history of racism, as there is in America, that issue must be addressed before black persons and and white persons can work together as equals.

3. Redistribution: Communities are poor because those in power have caused resources to flow out of that community. There must be a conscious intent for people, time, talents, energy, and money to flow back into the community.

There is no waiting for a handout in these community development activities. People in the community are the ones to gather their assets and begin to make a difference with what God has given them. One of the most important aspects is leadership development. This has led many CCDA organizations to stress working with children and youth in order to nurture new leaders.

One of the most interesting aspects of the CCDA conference is the sense of community created in the conference itself. Workshops and seminars do not consist of the experts telling others what to do, but simply association members sharing their experiences of what has worked in their communities. There is plenty of encouragement for others to take the basic principles and contextualize them in their own settings.

As we are on the threshold of a new millennium, faith-based organizations are being given incentives by the U.S. government to take more initiative in their communities. For those Christians who take a holistic approach that includes community building as an activity of God, this represents a historic opportunity. The movement is also spreading to other countries as well.

I'm thankful to the pioneers of CCDA and hope that many more churches, ministries, and other faith-based organizations will see their mission including community building. Blessings to all of you in this season!

Paul D. Leichty
Fort Wayne, Indiana
PDLeichtycresources.org

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Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
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Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:40:33 GMT Paul D. Leichty http://www.companionresources.org/.cWeb/Home/Newsletter:CB2=cr199912.rtf@CB7 **Companion Resources Newsletter**
edited by Paul D. Leichty
Volume 1, No. 12 December 1999

Christmas blessings from Companion Resources!

"'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free..." For some years, especially during the season leading up to Christmas, I have thought about what it means to live simply in this complex world. I still have more questions than answers, and I don't live out all of the answers I do have. Perhaps, though, a few reflections might be of mutual encouragement as we seek to be companions rather than consumers during this season.

It is hard to resist the consumer mentality of "the Christmas season" fostered by the business world. (I use quotes because "the Christmas season" for the business world is really the Advent season for Christians. The Christmas season is December 25 to January 6th.) I've found it true again this year even though I have less to spend and more reasons to do creative and meaningful gifts. Perhaps you have your own variations to the following dilemmas:

1. In November, I thought I would put more effort into marketing my computer business as an Independent Technology Consultant for handtech.com during "the Christmas season." However, there were special family considerations and other projects to which I was already committed. Do I put in more hours or find at least a little time to catch a breath?

2. The annual Christmas letter is a yearly ritual of mine. It is one way to keep in touch with family and friends at least yearly. It symbolizes a personal touch, an alternative to a commercial card (even though I like getting a variety of Christmas cards). This year, "The Leichty Letter" went more smoothly than ever. It feels like I have it down to a science. I even saved money by creating an e-mail and web version as an alternative to sending paper. For several years, I've sent letters without envelopes. Is all of this simpler than a card? More personal? More caring? What about all of those personalized messages I used to write, but have largely given up in recent years?

3. Christmas decorations around the house have always been a mixed blessing. A number of years ago, our family decided that the Christmas tree ritual was too costly, time-consuming, and stressful. We were developing more tensions than good feelings with each other getting the Christmas tree. So we bought an artificial one. Simpler? Perhaps. It looks pretty and realistic, but it's not "real." This year, it seemed harder than usual to get even the artificial tree up with lights and icicles on it. Most of the decorations are staying in their boxes this year. Have we lost our "Christmas spirit" in the midst of our exhausting schedules? Or are we making life simpler?

4. And then there is the annual question about gifts. Yes, we want to let family and friends know of our love and care. I also believe that to give to persons in need is really more like giving a birthday present to Jesus. Yet, it takes effort on both accounts to buy wisely and give wisely. Jesus is present in both the poor of the world and in those who touch our lives most closely. Is it a cop-out to say, "I'm giving my gift in your name to this charitable organization this year?" How do we keep Christmas simpler and more attuned to its real meaning?

As you can tell, I have more questions than answers on simplicity in the Christmas season. I do know that in the new year, I want to renew my commitment that my work and my leisure contribute toward building relationships with those that most need my love and companionship. I know that means spending time by myself, with God, and with others. Only a balanced life will ultimately contribute toward building community.

This issue marks the end of the first year of the Companion Resources Newsletter. We have many more topics of interest to explore in the year to come. I want to wish you a Happy New Year and the hope for much more community building in the year 2000! Blessings to all!

Paul D. Leichty
Fort Wayne, Indiana
PDLeichtycresources.org

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Companion Resources
"People Using Technology Building Community"
http://www.cresources.org
infocresources.org
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Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:42:24 GMT Paul D. Leichty