Mission Impossible

One of the Big Questions that has come up at HOPE Gardens this summer is a relatively simple, but incredibly important one-- what is the garden's mission?

I remember learning in middle school English classes about thesis statements. Before this lesson, all written assignments were "reports," not essays or papers. These reports, usually book reports, we were basically instructed to regurgitate information about what we had read or learned, only in a more brief, condensed form. But thesis statements changed everything. All of a sudden, I couldn't just throw out ideas onto the page with reckless abandon. They had to be cohesive; every sentence I wrote had to be relevant, such that I could trace a clear line back, to my thesis.

Well, something I've come to learn about organizations, all of them really but particularly ones trying to advance social justice in the world, is that they also must have a thesis. This usually takes the form of a mission statement. I didn't realize how completely essential that was until I became involved in HOPE Gardens. As an organization, I feel we do a lot of great and important things. But we also try to be everything for everybody, and it's just not possible. By trying to be a transitional employment program, educational space for sustainable agriculture, homeless outreach program, and successful business, we've really only accomplished the undesirable goal of being stressed out and spread too thin. A mission statement streamlines an organization, forcing it to spend its energies and resources solely on those projects which directly contribute to the overall purpose.

I think we all realize we need a strong, clearly-defined mission statement, though it's hard to pare down when all of the options and potential directions are so exciting. But I look forward to having that conversation as the fall semester resumes; I know we'll have a lot to talk about!