Better for Us soft launch

I am not quite "there" yet to launch the content for the new (and will be free) blogtobook, aka b2b, yet, but wanted to set up a new blog tonight before the sun sets and my brain begins to slow into its evening pace.

The title of this new blog (and ebook), Better for Us, is short and, hopefully to the point.  My posts (starting 11/2 through the end of November) will share much (but not all) I will have in the ebook about community development practices I have learned since starting my career in 1971, in Tucson.

At that time, I had recently graduated from Northern Illinois University, transplanted myself in Tucson (in August where I knew no one), and "discovered" my life's passion while working at the Jewish Community Center's Socialization Program for Seniors.  I didn't know it at the time, but Tucson's Model Cities Program--part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty--would become one of the most successful Model Cities programs in Tucson. 

Successful doesn't mean these programs eliminated poverty.  Tucson continues to struggle with that issue and related challenges.  But many of the Model Cities programs continued to be part of our local social service infrastructure even after the federal funding for them was over. 

So, while I took time to complete a master's degree (in Adult Education at my undergrad college, Northern Illinois University) and later, a doctorate (in education and rhetoric from the University of Arizona), and became a mom, I continued my career, generating part-time (mostly) and full-time (occasionally) employment from local and national foundations, University of Arizona, Pima Community College, the City of Tucson, Arizona Rural Development Council, and the private sector. 

It hasn't always been an easy career path, sometimes painful, actually, but, essentially I still believe, as I did in 1971 that:

Creating a happier, healthier and more prosperous community for all is "better for us."

So I hope you will read my posts, share them, add your comments (please I need your feedback for the ebook to be helpful to others) and I hope what I have learned will help you, too, create a better community.

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