Faithventure Forum

But work well done is also bounded by times of rest. As we ready to start a long Labor Day weekend, this prayer reflects the beauty of both work and rest: Let me but do my work from day to day,    In field or forest, at the desk or loom,  In roaring market-place, or tranquil room;  Let me but find it in my heart to say, When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, “This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;  Of all who live, I am the one by whom  This work can best be done, in the right way.”  Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,  To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;  Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours,  And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall  At eventide, to play and love and rest,  Because I know for me my work is best.   Poems of Sentiment: VI. Labor and Rest Henry van Dyke 

This month, Sunshine Gospel Ministries opened Greenline Coffee , a new high-end coffee shop in the disadvantaged Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side. Sunshine hopes the new coffee shop combined with its business incubator, Sunshine Enterprises , will start growing jobs in the neighborhood with traditionally high rates of unemployment.  Greenline hires young adults from the neighborhood who have completed the Sunshine Summer Jobs Training program. Sunshine's Executive Director,  Joel Hamernick, explained in an interview in DNAinfo Chicago his thoughts behind the creation of Greenline: He said two years ago, he and others at the nonprofit were frustrated that five years of teaching kids entrepreneurial skills had not produced a single business in the neighborhood. He said they switched to asking some of their supporters for investments instead of donations and started thinking about how many jobs a coffee shop would create in the glazed-brick building.  Gre

I had the pleasure to present to a social enterprise gathering hosted by a fantastic new organization in our community, The Denver Institute for Faith and Work . I've been meaning to write a post on this topic for awhile so it was timely to be able to present the following: People don't like ex-offenders coming into their home The social enterprise business needs to lead the mission A lot of people enjoy talking about social enterprise but very few actual practitioners (And a bonus point) Social enterprise is hard work Be sure to check out the Denver Institute's website here . Three Things I've Learned After 20 Years of Social Entrepreneurship - Jim Reiner from Denver Institute on Vimeo .