Finding True North #20: Inside the Bottle, Outside the Box

On Thursday evening, I went to a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization called Outside the Box, or OTB for short. The event, a wine tasting and silent auction, was cleverly billed as Inside the Bottle. Jordan Updike, the executive director of Earth House, a member of Lockerbie Central UMC and one of my unofficial guides to Indy for the summer, is on the board of directors for OTB and so had an extra ticket and invited me along. I had heard some about OTB and was interested in learning more, and I had never been to a fundraising event like that, and since I'm theoretically working on a professional certificate in nonprofit management from Duke Continuing Studies, I'm taking any opportunity to learn about grassroots organizations.

Here's a snippet from OTB's mission on their website:

Outside The Box Inc.’s mission is to empower people with disabilities to be the leaders in their lives and create meaningful days. We believe in every person’s ability to create a meaningful and productive day based on their strengths and what is important to them.

OTB is an organization that provides customized services to adults with developmental disabilities. Their model has been recognized as unique in many ways, and they joked at one point that they don't see other groups with the same client base as competition, but rather as a referral source. They work with clients on everything from character development to finances and have a 100% success rate in job placement. Their services include day programs and employment services as well as a really neat arts program called Studio OTB. Some of the art created by clients was for sale as part of the auction, and Earth House will actually be hosting an exhibit called "Outside the Cigar Box" where 150 cigar boxes painted by clients and staff of OTB will be on display. You can check out some of the boxes and the creative process for that on Studio OTB's blog.

Here's a video that gives you a better look into what OTB is and does:



I was really moved by this event, not only because it was a huge success with hundreds of attendees and over $30,000 raised. I have an inner activist/community organizer that has been hibernating for the past several years, but in the last few months it's been waking up. (I blame Dr. Amy Laura Hall, the Toward a Moral Consensus Against Torture conference, and the Jack Crum Conference on Prophetic Ministry for this.) This summer is already opening my eyes to the ways grassroots movements can make a real impact on the community, and even how the church can be involved creatively—but more on that later.

The fundraiser was largely aimed at raising money to renovate a new building that OTB recently acquired. The organization started in a tiny room with a handful of clients and has steadily expanded, and the recent acquisition of a 7-acre property with an old nursing home promises to double their capacity in terms of clients served. The move was made possible in large part by a $100,000 grant from an incredible organization called Impact 100. Here's a brief description from their website: "Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis is a charitable women's giving circle dedicated to awarding high impact grants to nonprofits in our community in the areas of arts & culture, education, environment, family, and health & wellness." The idea is that a group of women comes together to make a real impact on an organization collectively, giving a $100,000 gift to a select group and then smaller gifts to others as well. OTB was this year's large grant winner. That this gift was given by a group of women was made even cooler by the fact that both the executive director and board president of OTB are women.

I really enjoyed myself at Inside the Bottle, but it was especially neat to learn more about Outside the Box. I'm going to see about visiting OTB at some point this summer. North UMC is currently discussing how publicly to profess its openness and inclusivity, a conversation that is largely about the GLBTQ community but which is also being expanded to include the differently abled and even socioeconomic classes that aren't necessarily represented or potentially welcome (or perceived as welcome) at North. Maybe OTB can give us some ideas for how better to reach out to and support families of children and adults with disabilities. Interestingly enough, the executive director of OTB attends North.

I love how everything is connected.