Inspiring Good
The Community Foundation of Elkhart County seeks to inspire good in Elkhart County, Indiana.
This podcast, hosted by Kevin Deary and Marshall King, will talk to nonprofit leaders and others in the county, where generous donors support a strong network of nonprofits.
This community produces many recreational vehicles in the United States and is also where Alka-Seltzer was invented and many band instruments were made. The Community Foundation has assets of nearly $500 million and works to inspire generosity.
This podcast is a look at how nonprofits operate in this unique place and improve the community.
Inspiring Good
Naomi Leary on Meeting Others’ Needs with Dignity and Respect
Community Care and Collaboration: A Conversation with Naomi Leary
In this episode of the Inspiring Good Podcast, hosts Marshall King and Kevin Dearie talk with Naomi Leary, Executive Director of The Window in Goshen, Indiana. Naomi shares her experiences and challenges in her first six months as Executive Director, highlighting The Window's mission to provide food, clothing, and care to those in need. She discusses various partnerships, the significance of dignity in service, and the unseen administrative efforts that keep the nonprofit running. The conversation also explores the importance of community support, financial donations, and future goals for the organization. Naomi's stories of impactful transformations provide an inspiring look into the vital work being done at The Window.
01:00 The Mission and Services of The Window
03:28 Partnerships and Collaborations
04:25 A Day in the Life at The Window
05:51 Volunteers: The Heart of The Window
07:46 Faith-Based Origins and Community Impact
14:10 Addressing Food Insecurity and Homelessness
18:15 Challenges and Learning as Executive Director
19:03 Navigating Nonprofit Regulations
20:00 The Importance of Fundraising
21:29 Community Collaboration and Partnerships
26:32 Building a Supportive Board
31:48 Open House and Community Engagement
This show is a production of the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. It is powered by equipment from Sweetwater and recorded in The Riverbend building in Elkhart's River District. Editing is done by the award-winning communication students at Goshen College, home of one of the best college radio stations in the nation. Listen to Globe Radio at 91.1 FM. Learn more about the Community Foundation of Elkhart County at inspiringgood.org You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Music is provided by Sensational Sounds. Thanks for listening. We hope you are inspired and inspire good and your community.
Kevin Deary: Which is a great example of people's talent they could bring. Time is really important. If you’re going to be a board member, please make it to the board meetings. Come to the special events. Also, please give. Everyone has a different level of giving, but whatever your capacity is, give what you can. That goes right along with time, talent, and treasure.
Naomi Leary: Yeah.
Kevin Deary: For you, things like counselors, educators, social workers, bankers, manufacturers — we have a lot of manufacturing people here. You are in the business of renovation and repair of humankind. And some of the damage that was done was not of their own doing. Sometimes it was. But you’re in the business of renovation and repair. And grace. And you and your team practice that every day.
If you’re a board member and you want to be part of that, then giving your time, talent, and treasure to something that helps people get back on the regular road — which is where many of them want to be. They don’t want to be where they are. They want to get better. So thank you for doing this work.
Naomi Leary: Thank you. One of the best parts of being a board member is you get to see what goes on behind the scenes. Maybe you have a passion for the mission, but it’s just a nonprofit you haven’t really been able to give time to for whatever reason. A board member coming to those meetings provides such a needed foundation for the nonprofit. It’s this place where you’re both where it starts and where it ends. And providing that for a nonprofit leader has been my most appreciated experience with the board. They provide this place to be grounded and also to plan for the future.
Marshall King: Naomi, Kevin named it, but the spirit with which you do your work is a lot of fun to watch. Laughter comes easily for you. And you just bring this graciousness that from the moment I met you as a parent, I was delighted to see that you are doing this work in this place that I love.
Naomi Leary: One of the things that I really value is these community connections. I don’t want The Window to be some black box that you see but never go into. On April 30th, we’re hosting an open house. We want church groups, downtown businesses, and community members to come by. We’re doing an open house so that people can come in the evening and afternoon and experience what we have.
We’re going to have some Katie’s Kitchen-made appetizers for people to enjoy. We’re hoping to have collaborators there as well so they can hear about the different services we connect people to. We want that to be a time for the community to come in, learn about The Window, and see how we can all do the work we’re doing together.
Marshall King: Great, thanks for being with us today. Our closing question is always, what gives you hope?
Naomi Leary: Absolutely. The people around me give me hope. Both the people we serve and the people who do the serving. Change sometimes is a long process, and it’s not always linear. So it’s not that I see positive change in every person every day, but over time I do. Over time, I see people who work hard at being better than they were the day before, who work hard at trying to take new steps in their own growth. And that is just why I’m there. It’s why we try to help people be in a place where they can do that.