Carol Vecchio's blog

The other day I heard a story on the radio as I was driving to work that really made me think. It was about Gabrielle Giffords, the Congresswoman from Arizona who continues to recover from a gunshot wound to her head. Her husband, Mark Kelly, was being interviewed about her ongoing struggle to speak. The injury has caused a great deal of disruption in her ability to use language. He said,  [Read More]

You may (or may not) have noticed, but Centerpoint has developed a new “tagline” or mission statement. As we were preparing our materials for the Social Innovation Fast Pitch application, we realized one of the most challenging things over the years for us has been how we describe what we do.   [Read More]

There are so many things afoot at Centerpoint these days. (I always wanted to find a way to use the word afoot!)  :-)   [Read More]

I just ran across this quote in an article about letting go. It seemed to fit with my prior blog so I thought I’d share it!

“When we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work. And when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.”     –Wendell Berry, Poet

“Happiness requires an ability to tolerate uncertainty.” ~from Sixty True Things by Gordon Livingston, M.D.

Lately I’ve been noticing lots of people who seem a bit irritated about things. “Summer in Seattle only lasted about two days this year,” “It already feels like fall,” or, as my husband just said to me, “What happened to all the figs? We didn’t get a single one this summer!”  [Read More]

About five years ago my husband Dennis and I put in a patio in our backyard. It was part of our get rid of all the grass project. We are very proud of it since we designed it and it’s made mostly of recycled bricks and stones that we collected ourselves. It’s on the large side: about 25 feet long by 13 feet wide. For those reading this who live in Seattle, you know what happens over time to bricks.

I had planned on writing on a regular basis about all that’s happening around Centerpoint and our big transitions. But I notice that my last blog entry was over a month ago. Just another thing to learn about big changes…they are a bit scary to even write about sometimes. Also, they keep you really, really busy!   [Read More]

Change is exciting—at least it is for me right now! If you’ve come within twenty feet of me recently you will have heard me going on and on about the big changes happening at Centerpoint. If you haven’t been around of late, then please read on so I can fill you in too!   [Read More]

There’s an anonymous quote that always makes me chuckle at this time of year: “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other.”

I find it easy to set out some good intentions but then don’t always follow through.  [Read More]

An article in today’s New York Times, Still on the Job But at Half the Pay, is about a guy whose job was downgraded and whose salary was cut. Here’s a sentence from it: "The demotion, the loss of command, the cut in pay to less than his wife, Tracy, makes as a fourth-grade teacher, have diminished Mr. Lawlor, 34, in his own eyes."

It seems that one main theme that ran throughout the article can be described as follows:  [Read More]

I read an article in the New York Times yesterday about a 58-year-old man who was having a difficult time finding a job. It’s been 18 months since he worked. Then I heard on NPR radio today that 3.8 million people found jobs last month.   [Read More]

The Power of Community and Connection

Community is one of Centerpoint’s Principles of Service. We describe it this way: Change and renewal happen most gracefully within the circle of community. Connectedness provides support, feedback, resources, and shared experiences.

Centerpoint has fulfilled this Principle of Service over the past 17+ years through our workshops and services, LifeWork Library, and retreats, by gathering people in the same physical space. And yet, if we carefully look at this important component of Centerpoint’s vision, we never specifically articulate that Community is required to be face to face.  [Read More]