b'Methods for standing in the gaptheir own homes and the turmoil in their own T he first lesson I learned while survivinglives. There was little expectation of pay, due to the a mountain hurricane and serving ourlack of power and banks being closed, but none of community is that everything starts withit mattered. We knew where we were needed. mindset. It would have been easy for us to close.In addition to having a staff that wasnt afraid Most nonprofits in the area did for at least the firstto sharpen iron, many of our safety measures week, even those that did not sustain any form ofrelied on basic principles that had been diligently damage. It would have been easy to wait until theand thoroughly practiced for years. internet came on, or at least until cell phone serviceOne such practiced principle was the policy was restored, but our mindset has always been thatof daily program attendance and residential client we are not in the business of easy or convenient.curfews. The mission knew exactly who needed In fact, it took no more than three days forto be in which program, the time by which every-almost every single staff member to return to theone was to be safe at home, and where all men, ministry ready to serve, despite the damage towomen, and children could be located.How far will one go not only to find the broken ones but to hold open restorative doors for them?20 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025'