It was odd how it came to me... the importance of opportunity to an individuals journey.
I started working with the homeless in 2015. I was blessed to help start a faith-based rescue mission. The focus then was recovery based in the foundational teachings of Christ. The problem was, how much can you study the bible in one day and see all the mistakes you have made and yet progress past the problems and trauma.
These guys needed something (anything) to do. Study recovery in the morning and then get to work. In my opinion, everybody else is going to work, why not these guys in recovery? So we did! We blessed everyone around us, yards, trash, downtown... volunteered anywhere and to anyone who would let us.
And the miracle happened. The guys who studied in the mornings, began to open up in the work. They let us in (and Christ also, for us followers) and the change began.
Fast forward a bit more, we needed to create a sustainable places for men and women to work and live in their journey out of the mess of their lives. So we figured CREATING AN OPPORTUNITY to work would be meaningful. Recycling came. What a great opportunity. Its work, it's social work, it's good for the environment, it's earn a revenue. But best of all, it is an opportunity. Its amazing to me that a group of men will work happy because they have THE OPPORTUNITY to work.
Fast forward a little more, we are having success in our work: recovery, recycling, thrift, downtown cleaning, and success in our homes: room and boards full! Now what? I need to find or create more housing. Boy, what a can of worms this is! It is HARD TO FIND affordable housing. And the pathway to build more - TERRIBLE. So I did what I love to do - research the why behind the what and create solutions.
Hard-tech innovations. In housing. Did you know housing has had very little tech shift in the last 40 years? Meanwhile, major tech shifts abound: phones, cars, computers, food delivery, everything delivery. And the OPPORTUNITY is massive. So I took it on. I am now a hard tech innovator also. My team and I are creating housing faster and better than anyone I know. We just arent that fast yet - still innovating. Still refining our early successes. But more and more opportunities present themselves daily. And more for everyone around us too.
So how are they linked? Hard tech needs serious innovation to create, enhance and imagine new opportunites for men and women. Since I love them both I AM AN OPPORTUNITY CREATOR and HARD TECH INNOVATOR. How can you and I ADVANCE LIFE today?
