Feelin’ the Love Pie!

Hi everyone and Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Even though I have a few things that I can share today I am going to table those and put in a plug for Madison over at Funky Cards and her fabulous I Feel the Love Project that she just announced.  This particular project is a very near and dear to my heart.  When I headed over to her blog today, I about fell out of my chair on how shocked I was on who the project was for.  Talk about six degrees of seperation and chills going down my spine.

The project is for a non-profit organization that I worked as a Human Resources Specialist for almost 5 years!!!  The organization is called Casa Pacifica and it is a shelter, residential treatment group home and non-public school for abused, neglected and emotionally disturbed children and youth from the ages of 0-18. I literally live 4 miles away from the campus! Never thought my crafty ventures would lead me right back to my backyard and professional resume!

During my time at Casa Pacifica, I grew not only as an employee in skill set, but as a person. It was a challenging place to work and it is not for the faint of heart.  The front line staff, clinicians, teachers and all those that were face-to-face with the kids every minute of every day were just astounding human beings. Being a support to them beyond just managing their employment needs  was just an honor.

Working on a shelter and group home campus, the kids were a part of your everyday life. They were what gets you out of a cozy warm bed in the winter and work those extra long hours that come with the territory of working in this field and for a non-profit.  I got to see the aftermath of heartbreaking stories, amazing personal victories, and most of all unconditional love given to these kids in the most raw and real way.

Casa Pacifica gave me  a lot to glean from.  Wonderful lifelong friendships, excellent work experience and some excellent tools to being a parent.  They rely on structure to bring normalcy to these precious children that come from some of the most extreme situations one can imagine.  I took note on how receptive and secure the children became after a few weeks of having structure and consistency to count on.  When I became a parent I thought back to that and thought if those kids thrived using that type of tool, then what can that tool do for a child born into security and constant unconditional love?  It has successfully worked for the hubs and I so far. 🙂

I would love to have anyone that follows me participate in this Feel the Love Project sweet Madison is organizing.  Click HERE to get all the details.  The cool thing is, I will be able to actually get feedback from the inside on this project and  report back on how your time and effort touched the kiddos! 

Thanks for sharing a piece of “feeling the love” pie with me!