just a little bit of love is worth a moment of your time...
this is sammy's penguin impression.
it's been so long that maybe introductions are in order.
hi. i'm grant. it's nice to meet you.
seriously though.
i never thought i'd grow up and be one of those super busy people. i'm certainly not grown up, but im definitely super busy. i mean look at me. i haven't had a chance to update my LJ since i graduated. i never even replied to those of you who congratulated me on that one. i'm sorry, that was pretty rude.
so where do i start? well...let's see.
we moved in together.
yup. E (that's my gf) and i moved into a simple one bedroom apartment in baldwin hills (NOT baldwin park...baldwin HILLS...it's totally different. one is a suburb of LA, one is a neighborhood in LA).
cohabitation has been great. what more can i say? we live 5 minutes from her parents, 15 minute from mine. we cook dinner. we go grocery shopping. we have great neighbors. we come home to each other. i have a nicely stocked bar. we make each other sack lunches for work. we bought a coffee table. we have a budget. we spend quiet evenings watching TV or reading the newspaper and then we go to sleep before 11. i really love it. sometimes i think we're really 50 years old.
i have a new job.
i work for a brand new organization that is focused on revitalizing south LA. up until now they've organized neighborhood clean ups, run a huge graffiti removal operation, and done bulky item pick up. now they're adding a community organizing component and a housing component. the housing component (which is where i come in) is focused on building supportive housing for emancipated foster youth.
emancipation was good for slaves, but it's not so good for foster youth.
basically, when foster youth turn 18, they are "emancipated" from the system. that is, they are ineligible for the support of the foster care system (which is pretty crappy to begin with). unfortunately, there is a 60% rate of homelessness among these youth -- i mean c'mon now, who is really ready to be on their own at the age of 18. especially after being in an unstable situation for much of your life? also, there's a huge percentage of foster youth that originate in south LA or end up in south LA following their emancipation. AND, there are currently zero units of permanent supportive housing in south LA.
ok. what am i doing here, writing a grant proposal?
anyway, so i have this great job. i'm putting my degree to good use. i'm not getting rich, but i'm definitely not starving either. also, since it's such a small organization, i really get to do everything. BUT i also have the greatest mentor i could ask for, and i'm working really closely with one of my favorite nonprofits. so it's really the best of both worlds.
oh yea, and the clippers are whuppin some ass.
so, enough about me. how the hell are YOU?