Create West Virginia

Last evening the Create Huntington team held a public meeting to review their long-term strategic plan. Vaughn Grisham, the noted community development guru and socioligist from Mississippi, was on hand to share his observations. One area of concern was the need for far more volunteers who are emotionally, financially and functionally connected to the cause.

"You are the core of change, but you can't move Huntington forward with this number," Vaughn Grisham told an audience of about 80 people Monday night at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. "You have so many skilled, bright people. You have a real chance to lead the state of West Virginia."

The use of the word "core" is right on. What typically happens in any transformation, whether it's a community or a company, is that a core group of highly passionate, highly positive people get together to create a vision. The key indicator of success for whether that vision will take hold and change a negative situation, in our observation, is how long that core group can stay positive and persistent in the face of relentless negativity. If the core group can stay at a higher level, maintain a positive approach even under withering cyncism and criticsm, then others begin to believe, join and take action required for change to occur.

It's tough. Community change isn't easy. It really stinks to be mocked, to have your motivations assailed, and your character questioned when you're giving countless hours towards trying to improve the community. Just read some of the negative comments posted after the Huntington Herald-Dispatch article about the public meeting. Sometimes you just have to shake your head at how negative people can become.

In addition to negativity and lack of hope among citizens, core groups of change agents in communities also often face an even greater foe - the notorious "powers that be." Usually they are the equivalent of school bullies, only this time they sit on a city council, a county commission or school board. Often they are the people behind the scenes with money or other power that block change because it works against their own perceived self interest.

In these situations, it requires great courage and persistence to stay positive and continue pressing for change. But history has proven that those who maintain their positive persistentce until the very end, win. In honor of Create Huntington, and all other teams who are forming across West Virginia, we offer the following words of encouragement: 

Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have.

Norman Vincent Peale

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

John Quincy Adams

Hang in there folks! We're in this for the long run!