WORD COUNT: 389 READ TIME:1:25 Hopefully you’ve read the previous posts where an attempt is made to shed light on the behind-the-scenes of F.I.A.T.M. (Family Is All That Matters). I assure you, this is no easy feat. The most challenging part is conveying the heart and intention behind everything that is done and said to make a positive impact in a community, one family at a time. The needs are great and varied. They are both complex and simple. They are both individual and collective in nature. While we admit we can’t be all things to all people we give it a valiant effort. We recognize that the make up of families have changed and evolved over the years. This, in and of itself, broadens the baseline of specific needs. It’s interesting how media formulates and pushes societal trends like, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), single parent homes, aging out foster care and group home youths and the impact abandonment has on children to name a few. At F.I.A.T.M. we’ve addressed and continue to implement viable solutions for the families we are honored to serve. In doing so, we hope that if you have a practical skillset that will benefit others that you feel comfortable reaching out to me at: jacqui@fiatmgroupinc.org to enter a lively conversation on how you can join us in helping one family at a time. Currently we are in a growth phase. We are in the process of exploring how to expand our reach. It’s exciting. The exciting part is seeing the growth and response from the community of our efforts. Witnessing the youth mindset being changed and adjusted is heartwarming. Experiencing the eyes of the children as we enter their school campus gives us chills. We continually receive positive feedback from administrators of the impact we’re making. This, of course, keeps us both inspired and motivated. That being shared, it’s frustrating at times. The frustration comes from seeing the myriad of needs and trying to creatively meet them. For the sake of full transparency, we need help. We need introductions to individuals and organizations that are outward focused and want to make a difference in our community. If you have a relationship with a generous individual or organization, feel comfortable connecting me to them via email at: jacqui@fiatmgroupinc.org. P.S. Here are the links to the previous posts: https://www.fiatmgroupinc.org/blog/fiatm-family-is-all-that-matters https://www.fiatmgroupinc.org/blog/fiatm-is https://www.fiatmgroupinc.org/blog/fiatm-all https://www.fiatmgroupinc.org/blog/fiatmthat https://www.fiatmgroupinc.org/blog/fiatm-matters Byline: Jacqui Dobens enjoys people watching at parks, malls and Disneyland!
0 Comments
Words: 290 Read Time: 1:03 We’ve made it! We are at the last word in the mission of F.I.A.T.M., Family Is All That Matters. We took a deep dive into what family is and isn’t. We poked a little fun at the word is. I encourage you to take a look at the posts about All and That. Today we are delving into Matters. Matters is defined as to be of importance. Sit with that for a moment. At F.I.A.T.M. we can rephrase it, for context, as Family Is All That Is Of Importance to us. I’ve been privy to conversations and discussions that didn’t fully meet the standard of expressing Family Is All That Matters. As a result, the idea or campaign was shot down. Sometimes when you are aspirational it can be very challenging. Receiving calls that part of the family is hurting is taken personally. In addition, hearing of unmet needs in the community keeps us up at night. This is why we need help and support. This is why we are becoming bolder and stronger with asking for help and support. This is why we are increasing and improving our messaging. All of our communication is designed to inform you of what we are doing, who we are doing it to, why we are doing it and how you can become involved in helping us help more families. With that in mind, I’m asking that the next time you are in a conversation and someone expresses wanting to help and support those that help and support others, you can now feel comfortable reaching out to me. My email address is jacqui@fiatmgroupinc.org. Byline: Jacqui Dobens is known for being directionally challenged, is obsessed with animal print clothing and enjoys hiking Words: 354
Read Time: 1:17 Let’s begin by recapping the crux of what we have been studying thus far. We are looking at what F.I.A.T.M. is. What does it mean? What is behind the thoughts of Family Is All That Matters? We’ve learned that Family is not just genetically based. Family is more of an ideology. It’s people that choose to be together because of what knits us together. Is. We had a little fun with the word is. I’ll let you go back and see for yourself. The word is is an action word. F.I.A.T.M. is definitely about taking action. We have decided not to sit back complaining about what is not right in our communities. Instead, we are taking action on meeting the needs of our youth and families. We offer a variety of ways to attract youth so that we can positively impact them. That. That is an identifier. This makes the word that very powerful. Did you catch the wordplay I did there? For the context of this discussion one can deduce that the identifier is the purpose. Stay with me. If, or because that is the case what is the purpose of F.I.A.T.M.? Simple: Unifying Communities One Family At A Time. Look at that statement. Our sole purpose or mission if you like is to unify communities one family at a time. Not 100 families at a time. One family at a time. This means that we take the time and energy to get to know those with whom we feel entrusted to serve. We continue to expand our services and offerings for the sole purpose of unifying communities one family at a time. We show up at local sports facilities for the sole purpose of unifying communities one family at a time. We mentor, tutor, educate and inspire our youth for the sole purpose of unifying communities one family at a time. If you’d like to help us fulfil our purpose feel comfortable reaching out to me: jacqui@fiatmgroupinc.org. Byline: Jacqui Dobens enjoys sharing her skills and talents with others, laughing at herself and making up phrases that she calls Jacqui-isms. Words: 581
Read Time: 2:03 This week we are looking into the word,ALL. Feel comfortable reviewing the previous two posts where we are taking a deep dive into the foundation of F.I.A.T.M., Family Is All That Matters. As a brief recap, we discussed the word family. Last week we talked about the word is. Yes, we did. As I shared earlier I absolutely LOVE words. It thrills me to discover and remind myself of the meaning and applications of words. I find that we as a society progress and regress simultaneously in the area of communicating thoughts with words. This is the impetus of why we are taking our time with the nexus of F.I.A.T.M.. Hopefully you are discovering that what you name something is important. With thoughtful consideration you’ll notice how synergistic the individual and collective meanings of Family Is All That Matters is with its mission. All is a very unique and flexible word in that it is an adjective, a noun, adverb and a pronoun. A few definitions of all according to dictionary.com is: the whole of, the whole number of, the greatest possible, whatever, one’s whole interest, entirely; completely. All is a very impressive word that bridges the two words on either side (Family Is) (That Matters)! It’s the connector. Bedrock. Foundation. One of the tricks I use in understanding words is including the definition in the sentence or phrase. In this case, Family Is All (the whole number of, the greatest possible, completely, whatever, one’s whole interest) That Matters. Look at the way it takes on a whole new meaning. Rest in knowing that when decisions are being made the filter of yay or nay are sifted through our messaging: Is This Best For Our F.I.A.T.M. Family? If it passes the litmus test, you guessed it, it passes. If it’s not, it’s on the chopping block. Taking a cummulative view of the whole number served drives every decision. There are many obvious reasons why this matters (see what I did there?). First and foremost is the consistency that having a standard for arriving at decisions creates stability. Stability is important when you decide to participate in the lives of others, especially the youth. They need to know that we will be there for them. Many of which have rarely experienced that feeling of security. Secondly, our partners and sponsors need to know that we do what we say! It reinforces that they made the right decision investing in the youth via F.I.A.T.M.. It simply makes them feel good. Lastly, which may sound a little selfish, we as an organization want to feel good about ourselves. We desire to continue raising the bar on what we do, why we do what we do and how we do it. So, the next time you’re in a conversation and the person you’re communicating with expresses that they want to give back to the community, feel comfortable giving them my email address: Jacqui@FIATMGroupInc.org. I’d love to discuss with them ways to get involved. Next week, you guessed it we’ll be discussing the word that. Until next week, stay blessed!!! Jacqui Dobens Byline: Jacqui Dobens has many monikers. Her favorite by far is, Loud Fun Machine. Her loud and infectious laughter gives others around her permission to lighten up and have FUN! |
Archives
August 2022
Categories |