by John Records,
former COTS volunteer, now COTS Executive Director

July 2004 marks my 12th anniversary as Executive Director of COTS, the Committee on the Shelterless in Petaluma, California. I never thought I’d be in this position so long.

The work of helping homeless children and adults to have whole and productive lives (click here to learn more about what we do), the work which I have described variously as a crucible of pain and a crucible of joy, and as surfing on a tidal wave (hanging 10 on a good day!), has been one of the delights of my life. At COTS I have met some of the finest people on the planet, and have had the privilege of giving the best I have to work that makes a difference.

As I’ve reflected on what this work has meant to me and the impact COTS has had on the people associated with it and on the community, I’ve found myself outlining what may be a book (and/or a website, magazine articles, etc.). I’ve realized that in a world that sometimes seems fragmented, frightening, and spinning out of control, COTS is one of the havens of healing, kindness, community, and transformation.

COTS has been recognized for its success by, among others, the Van Loben Sels Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sonoma County. People sometimes talk about “COTS magic”—something special that holds it all together and sustains an environment in which the community comes together to support our needy, and sometimes shattered, neighbors, and in which a palpable and vibrant love often is felt.

The key to COTS’ success is, in my view, the alignment of the staff and volunteers (and consequently the agency itself) with the underlying unity and wholeness of which we are all a part, and the participation of all concerned with the expression of that unity in the work of COTS. The means of this alignment with unity and wholeness I call “service,” and We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: An Invitation to Service is an exploration and documentation of service—what it has meant to me, people associated with COTS, and the larger community.

This We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: An Invitation to Service website is intended to show you the progress of this project and to invite you into it (or further into it, if you already are participating).

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