Here it is:
In March, the government decided to stop funding the youth program that I worked for. Because they provided 95% of our funding, we had to close down our program. It was a program that ran for 6 months and the announcement came at roughly the mid-way mark for the last cohort of participants. They were able to finish their program, but that was it. All of the houses were shut down in June, and my job ended in July.
Wrapping up was a busy time, as well as stressful and emotional. I'd devoted almost 5 years to this organization and anyone who works in non-profit knows that you don't do it for the money. This is not a political blog so I won't go into my views on the Harper government. I will just say that I don't relate to their values. At all.
In the meantime, I hurt my foot. I had so much pain after a 10K run that I couldn't walk for 3 days. After several attempts to self-diagnose the issue, I discovered I have a bunion that I just irritated the heck out of. This meant lots of rest and then a very slow regimen of foot strengthening, and building slowly rather than jumping back in to running.
A combination of feeling low about not running, losing the program and the bleak employment outlook has meant that I've rarely had anything positive to say, so I've just been keeping to myself. Wah wah.
I'm still job hunting, but I decided to get over myself and put an end to the pity party back in September. We have had a beautiful fall and I get outside for at least an hour a day, for either a walk or a walk/run, usually with the pup. I'm up to 23 minutes of running without pain. There have been several setbacks along the way so when I say I'm taking it slow, I mean really, really slow.
This has been a bit of a downer post, so here's a pic to make ya smile. This is from last spring and she has grown a lot, but still has the floppy ear. Isn't she cute?
Oh no , I'm sorry!!! Thanks for being so open and talk about it on the blog. But please don't feel you can only blog when everything is good. I "enjoy" reading a blog that also talks about the bad days. Everybody has those days and it just makes us more real. Plus it helps when you write about it. I realy hope you will find a job very soon and everything will turn to the better.
ReplyDeleteGosh I'm sorry that happened to you :( I've been working in the non-profit world since February (and LOVING IT) so I definitely know what you mean when you say you don't do it for the money. Funding cuts to non-profits are rough, especially when we NEED the services and programs a lot of them offer to have a healthy economy and working force!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you find something else soon!