An organization is, at its core, a group of people with a shared purpose. At Red Door Community, I was recently reminded of just how powerful those two things – PEOPLE and PURPOSE – can be.
A group of Red Door Community members, each touched by cancer in different ways, came together to share what it means to feel welcomed, understood, and connected at Red Door Community. We heard about uncertainty being replaced with comfort and loneliness becoming connection. We saw laughter, anger and tears, honesty, gratitude, and joy.
The goal of the gathering was to inspire a work of art that captures the essence of community at the heart of our mission: ensuring that no one faces cancer alone. While we will have to wait to see how artist, Jason Naylor, translates the experience into his artistic vision, the immediate gift was witnessing the impact of our community in real time. No one can articulate the value of our collective purpose more powerfully than the people who experience it firsthand.
PEOPLE and PURPOSE. In the end, perhaps the most powerful expression of both was not what happened in front of the cameras, but what happened after they were turned off. Individuals who had never met before stayed behind for hours talking, sharing, connecting, and expressing their genuine appreciation for one another.
