NEXTEP LIVING, LLC

ladies and gentlemen

 

I know each of you from various parts of my life. Each of you have unique perspectives and mountains of skill, knowledge, leadership, and desire to make this a better world. I have been bantering around ideas about assisting our fellow humans most of my adult life. My dear friend and mentor, Dr. De Hoyos asked me what I planned to do for the next twenty years. This my answer. I invite you to play along and see if you have any similar, or tangential ideas that you care to work with. Then, we can, just maybe, be of assistance to those in need, in coming years.

• I believe that most, if not all the people I know are innately good. That we are all Children of our Heavenly Father
• I believe that the dole is an evil that has enslaved hundreds of thousands in the United States
• I believe that the correctional system needs to be completely restructured; turning it from a penal system, which breeds contempt, hostility, and recidivism, to a system which provides opportunities for individuals to pay for their transgressions financially, provide financially for their families, and learn ways of moving forward with their lives.
• I believe that learning and teaching are key elements in the success of every invididual and that these processes are as divergent as the very nature of the human spirit.
• I believe that those who suffer from addictions, whether they be to drugs, alcholhol, sex, or whatever, can return to "normal" society.
• I believe that everyone needs a friend, a cohort, a family, a mentor

I shared with Scott Fisher, my dream of helping in the creation of a serries of campuses, specifically designed with the above criteria as their primary tenants. These communities, or campuses could include, but are certainly not limited to:

• those (around three million in the US) currently incarcerated
• those with addictions
• those with family problems including all the nasties
• those who have mental limitations
• those who have fought for our country and are now fighting for their very lives (mentally and physically)
• those who find themselves outside the parameters of the economically stable
• those who are in the United States who got here under circumstances which do not allow them to be part of the mainstreem, ie undocumented visitors

I realize this note sounds like a pipe dream; like I have just walked on earth for the first time. It probably is, and I probably did just arrive from Mars, but that does not in any way minimize the need for many, many of us to step up and be part of the solution.

 

 I have personally wittnesses the devastation, the grief, the abject horror of these deamons within my extended family within the last week and I urge you with all my heart, to step up, stand for something, and help make life better for someone.

 

Thank you for your good hearts and your desires to help God's children.