#369: SPOTLIGHT: Richard Uniacke
Question for Richard:
Can you recall a moment in the past month in your work that something in it was going so so amazingly well in a deep, rich, wonderful way that you wished you could immediately and adequately and fully explain and share it with your mom or dad (be they living or having already passed) such that they might know your joy?
Richard's Response:
This question really hit home for me. I've been in roles which had me serving others for my entire adult life, and while I've been influenced in this way by so many in my family, the most significant "helper" in my life was always my dad. He died 10 years ago and I'd have loved to share with him the results of the past week.
So many things are coming together in my work. This past Tuesday, the City of Newark announced a 57.6% reduction in unsheltered homelessness year-over-year - and that is our work. Positioning us to do the work in specific ways, driving for systemic connections to be made easier for our most vulnerable neighbors, generating resources to make it all possible - that's the job. Results like this one, being published by the largest City in NJ, and being included in the press release was a score as well. On top of that, we were included in the reports by both CBS and NBC news. As a theater kid at heart who still loves to perform, having it all come together like this is basically the trifecta. It was a terrific week - one of those that makes it feel like things really are coming together in a way that will create both objective impact borne out by data and systemic change. A rising tide that raises all ships.
Our aim is to create a system in which experiences of homelessness are rare, brief, and non-recurring. Right now, it feels like we're headed in that direction and that we're making a substantive impact on that progress. That's what I'm trying to do in my work and would have loved to sit down with my Dad and walk him through the events that unfolded, the chess moves I'd made, and the pieces that came together to make all of this happen. To share with him the times when I felt on top of the world because all the struggles have been worth it.
I miss him. Ours was a complicated relationship, as fathers and sons can be, but his very nature - his sense of duty - likely made it more challenging. My dad was a career FBI agent whose work was usually too secret to discuss. It's got to be challenging not to be able to celebrate your work with your family. He also volunteered as an EMT in our home town. Long before all of that, he was also a Green Beret in Vietnam, whose Silver Star commendation I read at his funeral. He was a helper and I really believe that he'd have been very proud of the work I do and would have celebrated the successes of the past week.
I had been thinking about him this past week, as I often do, and when this prompt came in it was really sort of perfect. It's almost as much painful as it is glorious to have days like this. There was so much joy - and on Friday, I bought a bottle of bubbly to celebrate with my wife. I would have loved to pour him a glass.
Amanda’s thought…
I suspect Rich would love all direct responses from you. I find it incredibly encouraging when I hear from any of you after I share my thoughts. It is powerful for me. I assume many others have a similar experience. So here is Rich's email… pip
Rich, this one brought tears to my eyes as it was so incredibly bittersweet. Huge congratulations on all you've been accomplishing. I've known you for a few years now and I've always admired how the dedication and love you have for your work is so evident in how you speak, in the words you write, and in the joy and passion that is displayed in your expressions, and I don't think that's just because you're a theater kid (though that was a fun fact by the way!). Thank you for sharing Rich, and for all the critical work that is being done at Bridges Outreach.
- AP
