Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [173]
After opening with her usual welcome and prayer, Veronica, as moderator, introduced the panel and topic. She directed her first question to the Life Challenges Executive Director Bill Princeton.
“Bill, can you give us the current status of the Life Challenges Co-op?”
“I’d be glad to, Veronica. Welcome, everyone! I don’t need to tell any of you about the personal hardships we’re facing here in Mankato. Unemployment is nearing 30 percent; the retail community has faltered, with almost one out of four businesses closing their doors; gasoline prices are over twelve bucks a gallon, and heating fuel costs are outrageous.”
“That’s a pretty somber assessment, Bill,” said Veronica, wishing he would have been a little more upbeat. “What are some of the more positive things you are seeing?”
“It’s all relative, Veronica. Perhaps we have to look at what we are not seeing in Mankato to better understand our success. Several surrounding communities, for instance, have experienced rising crime rates, civil unrest, higher suicide rates, and a growing homeless population. We’ve not seen this in Mankato, and I attribute much of it to the Life Challenges Co-op and similar organizations now operating here.”
The audience applauded his answer in a show of gratitude and community pride.
“Can you be more specific, Bill?”
“I can cite many positives, but the greatest to me is the value of ‘we’ that all of us have learned. We have been able to pool and organize our resources to do what we couldn’t do on our own. In the process, we’ve learned to live with less, but we have what we need.”
“Thanks, Bill, we all appreciate so much what you do,” Veronica said with affection in her voice. She then turned to Virgil Tonnemaker, a thirty-eight-year-old teacher, and asked, “Virgil, what can you share with us tonight?”
“It’s been a real learning experience for me,” he replied. “I paid little attention to energy or the environment prior to the crisis last fall. Then, as energy prices skyrocketed, the co-op showed me how I could maintain a reasonable lifestyle and still use far less energy than I had before. Little things like weatherproofing my house, turning lights off, driving less; they all added up. Now I ask myself, why didn’t it register with me before that using energy wisely makes good economic sense? It’s also far friendlier to the environment.”
For the next thirty-five minutes the panel shared similar stories with an appreciative audience. Veronica then introduced the evening’s member testimony with, “I would now like to ask Helen Larkin to share with you her experiences over these past six months. Helen….”
“Thanks, Pastor Veronica. My name is Helen Larkin. I’m a forty-two-year-old divorcee with a twelve-year-old daughter, and I’m a lifelong resident of Mankato. Shortly after all the happenings last fall, I lost my job as a credit manager at the Le Plume department store. This was before the store closed down for good in December. I had saved very little and lost most of my 401(k) money in the market. With virtually no child-support money coming in, no savings, no job, and no prospects, I was at my rock-bottom low with little hope.
“I started coming here right after the co-op was formed and got active in it as both a recipient of its services and as a volunteer. It was a godsend for me, and it changed my life. Shortly after I joined up, the co-op came out and weatherized my two-bedroom house for