Rampant growth has been changing and churning the landscape of Central Florida and makes people wonder if the future Orlando is a place anyone would want to call home. Whether a real change of heart, or reaction to the housing bust, Mayor Buddy Dyer recently announced plans to move in a greener direction.

The City of Orlando recently announced it’s plans to formally get greener. Called Green Works Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer heralds some positive steps forward.

As ONE members, we care. We care about the child orphaned by HIV/AIDS. We care about the village that lacks access to clean water. And we care about the millions of people throughout the developing world who will go to bed hungry tonight. For many of us, that caring is borne of our faith.

Last week, the ONE campaign asked students to take action on our challenge: to make poverty history. Now, ONE is reaching out to people of faith and engaging traditions that say that when you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness. (Isaiah 58:10)

I recently discovered I was an idealist. Well, I’ve always been passionate about many aspects of life. I’ve always volunteered and worked with many non profit groups to make my community a better place. Yet it wasn’t until recently that someone labeled me as an idealist.

Webster says an idealist is “one guided by ideals; especially one that places ideals before practical considerations.” It leads that an idealist is “an adherent of a philosophical theory of idealism; an artist or author who advocates or practices idealism in art or writing.”

Dr. King is an inspiration–and shows us how great America can become if we work together towards the common good. So much is in place to divide us. We need to build bridges–and there is a group working to build a monument in our nation’s capital that does so.

The mission of the Memorial Project, is to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by leading a collaborative funding, design, and construction process in the creation of a memorial to honor his national and international contributions to world peace through non-violent social change.

As 2005 draws to a close and we look forward to the new year, I found this information on Citizens Against Government Waste. CAGW is the source of information on government waste and, backed by our members, CAGW works tirelessly everyday to win cuts in wasteful spending.

Bruce Wilkinson’s recent bestseller The Prayer of Jabez shined the light on an obscure Old Testament character who unleashed a powerful petition to the God of Israel that had a dramatic impact upon his life. A key portion of the prayer was Jabez’s request that God would “expand his territory.”

What this meant, explained Wilkinson, was that Jabez sought broader and deeper opportunities to be of service to God and to humankind.

The ONE Campaign grew out of the Heart of America tour in 2002, in which a busload of citizens and celebrities toured the mid-West in support of a new U.S. initiative on global AIDS. The success of that trip insured that a new constituency of Americans were raising their voices for Africa and needed to be heard. Together with the Better Safer World Campaign, representing nine of the largest, most effective private aid agencies (with 3 million supporters) working together to fight global poverty, and Bread for the World, a Christian voice for ending hunger for more than 30 years, the ONE campaign got off to a great start.

Brevard Tomorrow announces its annual Community Celebration, an event that highlights the organization’s accomplishments and honors its many volunteer team members and partners. The date is Thursday, August 25, 2005, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am, at the King Center for the Performing Arts Rotunda, in Melbourne.

Originally scheduled for June 17, Brevard Tomorrow recognized the equally important Community Leaders Breakfast -sponsored by NASA and being held on the same day- could compromise the attendance for both events, as they each invite a majority of local business and community leaders.

Is abstinence until marriage a totally foreign concept to you and your teen? And why shouldn’t it be? Everywhere teens look their society, culture and media are giving them one clear message. Sex is great. Do it now. Do it often. Plus there’s the constant pressure teens face from their peers to grow up, join the party, and act like an adult.

We usually get in trouble with our to-do’s when we over promise. We put too much on our plate, we make far more commitments than we have the time, resources, or ability to deliver on.

There are many reasons for this. For example, having a full plate may be a part of the company culture, or you may be piling on tasks to create the perception that you’re a go-getter, or you were raised with a strong work ethic. Whatever the reason, I invite you to explore it further with a coach. In this section, however, we will examine how “promise management” (explained later) can be used to restore some sanity into your work life.

Though Children’s Home Society (CHS) has provided adoption services for 102 years, our role in “special needs” or foster care-related adoptions is more recent. As a result of Community Based Care (CBC), CHS is providing adoption services for children in foster care in many parts of the state. By June 30, CHS expects to be involved with more than 500 adoptions involving children in the foster care system, compared to just 150 in 2001-02.

Hacienda Girl’s Ranch, Melbourne, is a program of the Children’s Home Society of Florida, Brevard Division.

Hacienda was originally established in 1968 by a group of caring Brevard citizens. One family anonymously donated the 25-acre campus and the Florida Federation of Women’s Club funded the construction of three buildings. In 1999, Hacienda partnered with CHS’s Brevard Division to improve and expand services.

A Ray of Sunshine for the Living. “What are your hopes and fears?” That is what you will hear from a hospice nurse when she walks into the home of one of her patients. Together a hospice nurse and her patient address the needs, emotions, and practical decisions of how to live until it is time for life’s most intimate passage. Death and dying is a subject we find difficult to talk about in this country. We are uncomfortable and at a loss for what to say and how to care for someone who is facing a life threatening illness. At hospice, they know all too well that talking about death, and life at the time of death can ease a difficult time.

I felt honored last month to be recognized along with many others as a Brevard County “Emerging Leader” under the age of 40. Leadership Brevard sponsored the awards, organizing and throwing a great banquet complete with videographies and an improv comedy troupe. It was neat to look around the room and celebrate the accomplishments and potential of so many younger persons, both teenagers and adults.

Hospice is a concept of care, not a place. Hospice provides quality, compassionate health care to individuals facing life-limiting illnesses. Hospice focuses on maximizing the quality of life based on an individual’s choices, so that the person may live life as fully and comfortably as possible, for as long as possible.

Kids at heart, helping Brevard’s kids! One of our area’s many service clubs is perhaps not as well known as the Rotary or Kiwanis, but is just as active in volunteerism to support community needs—and, we think, we have more fun doing it!

Should we send the children to the large, public elementary school, or to a smaller but expensive private school? Should I accept an offer for a higher-paying managerial job and give up the hands-on involvement, or stay at my current level and salary, but do work that I love? Should I go to graduate school now and finish in 18 months, or enter the workforce and go to grad school at night, but finish in 3-4 years?

What does it mean to be an “ethical” person of faith?

I have wrestled with this for many years, ever since spending three seasons at Asbury Theological Seminary and earning my M.Div. I saw fellow students, and at times myself, hiding out. And then I immersed myself in church leadership as an associate and then senior pastor, and I saw my parishioners, and at times myself, hiding out.

Growing Leaders of Worth was founded by Marlene Abbott in 2004 and is located in Rockledge, Fla. It is a woman/veteran owned corporation. Marlene served in the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps for over 20 years, holding a variety of leadership positions. Growing Leaders of Worth provides energetic and encouraging leadership development through motivational speaking, consulting, executive coaching and education and training.

As I speak with people, I seek to verbalize what ties together the unifying mission of GreenBrevard. Simply put, we speak to diverse segments of the community that care about our collective future. We speak to groups who share a passion for our unique quality of life.

“Quality of Life” is the buzz phrase for the 2000’s. I see mention of it everywhere, from real estate ads to not for profit brochures, from city websites to radio spots.