To be loved and seen
by Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director – United Way of Charlotte County
Years ago, I was asked to do a reading from the Velveteen Rabbit at my roommate’s wedding. Ever since, I have been enamored by the words I read that day.
The rabbit asks the Skin Horse, “What is REAL?”
The Skin Horse replies, “Real isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really love you, then you become Real.”
The first column of the New Year has easily become my favorite, as it is the one where we cover the staff words for the year. Always a time of anticipation, the holiday party is our reveal for the words. My 2023 word is SEE.
How can I SEE the people in my life to REALLY love and care for them? How can I SEE the people we serve in our community and their needs more clearly?
Being a member of the “sandwich generation”, my mother-in-law who has early Alzheimer’s lives with us and our teenage daughter is in the middle of her tenth-grade year. As I have adjusted to this season of our life and the demands of being the executive director of a nonprofit organization, I am keenly aware there is a balance needed.
Whether it’s tending to the fear and anxiety of my mother-in-law or sharing in the joy of Leah’s aspirations and achievements, each hold such significance and are worthy of being really seen. Caring for my husband and my own self-care often can be set aside. This past year much of my focus has been on the balance of it all.
The UWCC team members have their own personal matters. It’s very important to me that we see each other as we do life together. Each one has held their commitment to our mission, oftentimes at a cost to some aspect of their life. None of that is lost on me. Their 2023 words say it all – embrace, commit, present, surrender, resilience, patience, focus, peace, joy.
Serving the community through the vehicle of UWCC continues to bring me great satisfaction. It’s the people I see, their joy, the heartache, what makes them real, not just the surface stuff. This summer, I had the joy of meeting with each of our board members for coffee or lunch. Seeing them each as an individual and their aspirations for this community made such a difference to me.
As we move into 2023, there is much to do and SEE to fruition.
Over the last several years, the UWCC focus has not changed from efficiently mobilizing resources to serve those in our community struggling to make ends meet.
The experience with my mother-in-law has brought great clarity to me and my heart aches for those in our community who are caregivers or who are managing life’s demands by themselves. We see you and we want to know how we can serve you. Appointments open for our VITA free tax assistance program in January. Powered by grace, this program is very special in that the volunteers who serve take the time to see each client as one person, responding to their individual needs.
The rabbit asks about becoming Real, “Does it happen all at once…or bit by bit?” The Skin Horse responds, “You become. It takes a long time…. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all…. once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
May we each know we are seen, known, loved and Real. Have you picked a word for 2023? Who in your life do you want to SEE -clearly this next year? Would you like to connect with UWCC this year and help us SEE those who need help? Do you need help?
Please call 941-627-3539, or email me at director@unitedwayccfl.org. If you would like to set up a tax appointment, please call 941-421-7100.
For more information about United Way of Charlotte County’s mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty, please contact Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org.