All Will Be Well...Someday...

Last Thursday I was given some devastating news. Due to a recent lack in funds from donors, CAP has been forced to close several programs. Unfortunately, one of those programs is mine. As of today, the Adult Learning Center at CAP has thirty days to close.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that CAP, along with pretty much every other non-profit, has been hit hard by the current economic recession. Back in December, CAP offered all of its employees a voluntary severance package. Eleven individuals chose to accept that offer, however, their vacancies were not enough to keep CAP from having to cut programs. Three programs have been cut - of the three, Adult Ed is the largest.

I understand the reasoning behind CAP's decision to cut our funding. The state of Kentucky is obligated to start a new program in our county - so even though there will be a time of transition, it is not as if our students will be completely abandoned. It is the period of transition, however, that worries me.

I am worried that if some of our students know they will have to wait months for a new center to open, or that they will have to drive thirty to forty minutes to go to another center, that they will just give up. And I hate the thought of that. Some of them are so close - all they need is a few more months and they could potentially earn their GED's.

As it stands right now, we at least convinced the GED examiner to give us an all-day testing session next Thursday for our county, so we are frantically scrambling to get any student who could possibly be ready for the GED tested. Right now we're hoping we'll have around ten (maybe even more), which would be awesome. And I even got permission from my manager today to go ahead and try to plan a graduation ceremony for all of our students who have earned their GED since July. I only need to get one more "go ahead" before I can officially set the date for it. It's not much, but at least it is something small that I can do.

Aside from my students I am also worried about my co-workers. With our program closing, they are without jobs in the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Some of my co-workers are older and due to health issues are limited in the kind of jobs they might be able to apply for. A few are younger, and while it might be easier for them to get jobs, they also have children at home.

Basically if you have a chance to spare a few prayers it would be greatly appreciated. Please pray for my students, for my co-workers, for CAP, and even for Paul and myself.

With Adult Ed closing, Paul and I will now be searching for new programs. We are frantically grasping at straws to see if there is any possible way that we could be allowed to keep tutoring some students one-on-one, at least part time. We're just not sure if the state will go for it... As far as another program goes, I am currently trying to put off that decision for a few weeks. Right now my goal is to make it through the end of next week - next Friday will be our last day open to students. So as of now, the only plan I have is to volunteer for all of WorkFest (CAP's alternative spring break program - 80 college kids come down each week for three weeks and work on housing projects). WorkFest takes almost the entire month of March, so I will at least be off the hook from making a decision about my future at CAP until April (hopefully).

Needless to say, the last few days have been hard. It didn't help that because of privacy laws (which I think are absolute crap), I was asked not to even mention anything to my housemates. So for four days I kept my mouth shut - even though I desperately wanted to talk to them about it and to tell them why I was grouchy and upset - only to find out yesterday that most of them had found out from various staff members in their departments (staff member who were also supposed to be quiet). Oh well. What's done is done, I guess.

I am trying to remain hopeful; to have the faith that God is completely in control of this situation and to believe that no one involved - regardless of whether they are staff, students, or volunteers - will be left out of God's care and comfort. One of my favorite quotes comes to mind. I may have shared it before, but since it is a good one I'll share it again. It comes from the medieval mystic Saint Julian of Norwich. In one of her revelations, or visions, she is told by Christ that "All will be well, and all manner of things will be made well." T.S. Eliot repeats these words in "Little Gidding," the fourth movement of his poem The Four Quartets. This is the hope that I am holding onto: that somehow all will be made well in this situation. I fully acknowledge that "well" might not look how I want it to look, but I have to believe that it is not only possible, but that it will happen.

Lord, hear my prayer.