Tag: community

creativity

Wonder: The one reason I’m grateful for Donald Trump

Christa Avampato

Can we get real for a minute? Seriously, pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and let’s talk. How many times have you told yourself you can’t do something because of X reason? I want you to cut it out, and here’s why. The Donald, arguably the most unqualified person to ever run for any office, anywhere, whose ego is only matched by his bank account and his tangled mess of conflicts of interest, who is deteriorating foreign relations with his late-night Twitter obsession, who has had a perpetually bad hair day since the 70s, won the electoral college to be President of the United States of America.

And you, an intelligent, conscious, curious, compassionate, hard-working person who wants to make a difference can’t do something? Really? I promise you that you can do this, whatever this is.

I’m grateful to Donald Trump for exactly one reason: he showed us that we can do anything we set our minds to. So the next time the imposter syndrome sneaks into your psyche, please allow me to pop into your mind a split second later, knock the imposter elf to the ground, and tell you to get out there and do the work you’re meant to do. Your grace, talents, and passion are needed now more than ever. Please keep shining.

creativity

Wonder: Let your love be a resource for the world

Christa Avampato

“In one soul, your soul, there are resources for the world.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks to the disaster that is the DC metro, I walked 18 blocks in the pouring rain during rush hour yesterday. I was angry and feeling very sorry for myself when I walked by a man who was hungry and asked me for some change to get a slice of pizza. I gave myself a mental “snap out of it” and then I bought him some pizza. Wherever we are, there is good work to do. We don’t always see it. Sometimes we’re so caught up in our own inner dialogue that we miss the opportunity in front of us. I certainly was. The man thanked me for the pizza, and I thanked him for letting me help.

 

creativity

Wonder: Taking action with the International Rescue Committee and Planned Parenthood

Christa Avampato

I love how Hillary Clinton lived the words of her Methodist faith: “Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.” I took those words to heart this week as I signed up with the International Rescue Committee to assist families who are being re-settled from foreign countries into the areas around Washington, D.C. I also contacted Planned Parenthood about working with them at their office in D.C. that is only a few blocks from my home. It’s going to up to us to take care of each other and support one another through this administration. I’m going to do my part to show that there is goodness among all the muck.

creativity

Wonder: And there is the first crack in the economy post-election, right at my doorstep

Christa Avampato

The first economic casualty of this election found me yesterday. My favorite staff member in my apartment building told me that my landlord is outsourcing the staffing of the building in preparation for a recession that they think will hit in the coming months. The staff is being offered the chance to interview for the outsourced company, though there is no guarantee of a job and even if they do get a job, their pay will be cut and their housing subsidy will be taken away.

“Even if I get the job, they’re going to cut my pay by $3.50/hour,” he said to me. “And that’s going to hurt a lot. My last day could be November 30th if I don’t get this job. I was wondering if you could do me a favor, Christa. Would you write a recommendation letter for me that I could bring to the interview?”

My eyes teared up. This man has been a good friend to me, and really makes my building feel like home. He’s professional, kind, and caring. He loves his job and the people who live in my building. I’d pay double my rent to help him and the rest of the staff who do such a wonderful job helping all of us. I was prepared to take out my checkbook right there, and instead what he asked for was a letter. $3.50/hour is a lot to him; it makes the difference between being able to pay his bills and not being able to pay his bills. Let that sink in. He lives in D.C., a very expensive city, and makes less than $35,000/year before taxes, and that could drop to $27,000/year. That’s what he’s fighting for. That’s what he’d be grateful to get. This is the working poor. Right. Next. Door.

The President-elect, ensconced in his 3-story, 24K gold penthouse on Fifth Avenue, doesn’t care a lick about people like my friend. But you know what? I care. I can do something, and I will. I wrote my heart out in that reference letter for my friend. I’ll be writing a lot of letters in the coming days, weeks, and months. I’m not going to standby and watch our economy and our country go to hell in a hand-basket at the hands of an inexperienced madman and his cabinet of ignorants. Deplorable? Yes. Unstoppable? No.

creativity

Wonder: Breaking Bread Podcast with Food & Friends

Christa Avampato

If you’re election weary, here’s my uplifting podcast episode featuring Food & Friends, one of my favorite organizations in D.C. Please feel free to spread this good news far and wide! Food & Friends provides one million specialized nutritious meals a year in the greater D.C. area to individuals and families who are undergoing treatment for HIV / AIDS and cancer, and those who are in hospice care. It’s a mission I’m proud to support as a volunteer and as a donor. This year I’m spending Thanksgiving volunteering at Food & Friends to send out 600 prepared Thanksgiving dinners to help their clients celebrate this wonderful holiday. 

To learn more about Food & Friends and how you can support this incredible work, visit their website at foodandfriends.org.

creativity

Wonder: Taking action to get more kids into and through college at 826DC

Christa Avampato

Last night, I volunteered at 826DC to help teens with their college essays. It turned out that the essays were the least of their issues. The student I was helping turned to me at one point and said, “I’m so overwhelmed. I know I need to do this and I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t have anyone to help me.” She’s the first person in her family to go to college, she doesn’t have a guidance counselor who cares, and she feels a lot of pressure from her family to make this happen.

This interaction brought back all those feelings for me. I was incredibly fortunate to have a guidance counselor, Mr. Weary, who did so much to help me. I knew he was in my corner and he was rooting for me every step of the way. (When I didn’t get into Princeton, my first choice school, he called their admissions office and gave them a piece of his mind. That’s how invested he was!) He was a gift and I knew it.

Not everyone has a Mr. Weary so in that moment at 826DC, I decided that I needed to play that role for this student. We each took a deep breath, and we went through the online application step by step. It wasn’t difficult to explain the parts of the application; this student just needed someone, anyone, to be in this with her.

Then we got to the financial section and she got really nervous. She doesn’t want to take loans. To her, debt is a frightening prospect. And I get that, too. I started working at 14 to help my family, and then I put myself through college and grad school thanks to financial aid of every conceivable kind and a lot of part-time jobs in college. I know debt is scary though when it comes to college, it seems to be a part o every solution in which parents aren’t paying outright for college. I don’t know if I convinced her to reconsider this idea, but at least I could offer myself as an example of someone who was in her shoes and worked hard to get into and through school.

As I walked home, I thought about what I could do to help more students and parents, particularly ones who feel overwhelmed by all of it. And then I got myself caught in the train of thought that senior year is too late. Student need to have their eyes on the prize of college in late middle school and early high school. They need to learn about how to get in, how to stay in, how to graduate, and how to pay for all of it while keeping themselves healthy and sane during an insanely stressful time in their lives. Education, writing, yoga and meditation, finance, technology, and healthcare. I have all that professional experience, and I’ve been where those students are. And I know what it’s like to climb the mountain and then enjoy the view you never even dreamed was possible.

If you have ideas of how I could do more for students like the one I helped at 826DC, I’d love to hear them.

creativity

Wonder: In every career, you can strive to make the world a better place

Christa Avampato

“What I build can influence the way people behave in these spaces. For me, architecture is a social act.” ~David Adjaye, architect

In every career, we have the ability to build a better world. We can follow our deepest personal passions and serve others at the same time. For so long, I thought I had to choose between making myself happy and helping others. To now know that I don’t have to choose has given me a lot of freedom.

I’ve been watching a lot of videos and reading a lot of books this past week about David Adjaye, the architect who designed, among many other buildings, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He sees architecture as a form of justice, as a way to influence the behavior and mindset of a community. These may not be the end goals of architecture on the surface of the work, but they are the root of David’s work. It is a wonderful reminder to us that in every career there are ways to do well and do good.

creativity

Wonder: Blessing of the Animals at Washington National Cathedral

Christa Avampato

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. In God’s hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.” ~Job 12:7—10

Phineas and I went to the Blessing of the Animals at Washington National Cathedral on Sunday. It’s been on my list to visit (the Gothic architecture reminds me of Hogwarts) and this ceremony seemed like the perfect opportunity. With Phin’s penchant for chicken bones, he needs all the blessings he can get! At the end of the ceremony, two of the Reverends bent down to bless Phineas because they both love dachshunds. He wasn’t a big fan of the holy water (to be fair he’s not a fan of any water be it from the sky or in the bathtub!) but he appreciated the blessing. “Phineas, may your life with your human family be long and the treats be many. And may your life be an expression of pure joy and love.” Amen to that!

creativity

Wonder: NoMa rising in Washington, D.C.

Christa Avampato

20160917_101005My neighborhood is being torn down and built back up at lightning speed. Within 2 blocks of my apartment there are no less than 8 new high-rise buildings.The construction cycle is now a 24/7 operation as builders scramble to get these spaces dug out and enclosed before the winter hits. At one point there was so much construction on my block that some builders had to get night permits for demolition because they couldn’t fit anymore equipment on the street.

In 3 years, maybe even less, this neighborhood will be unrecognizable compared to today. The physical space will look different. There will be many more people and businesses to serve them. A new sense of community seems to be forming though it still has a long way to go.

People in my building are losing their minds, complaining to my management company about the noise. I lived in New York City for many years so for me this is a bit par for the course. But I’ve never seen it up close to this extent. I go out onto my small balcony and I can literally see buildings rising up out of the ground. It’s fascinating and magical. It oddly, surprisingly, feels like home to be in the midst of so much change and organized chaos. It gives me hope.

creativity

Wonder: Breaking Bread Podcast records its first traveling segment

Christa Avampato
screen-shot-2016-09-29-at-9-38-57-pm
Captured from the Food & Friends website

Today I’m heading over to Food & Friends, one of my favorite D.C. charities, to talk about the work they do, the role of collaboration in alleviating hunger, food equity, and nutrition as a key driver of improved health. This is the first traveling segment of the Breaking Bread Podcast and I’m so excited to highlight an organization that gives so much to our neighbors who need our care and support. Stay tuned!