A New Semester and a New Home for the Kindness Station

On August 26th, volunteers from The Redemption Movement will embark downtown to begin the church's 8th straight semester of serving the community with free rides home from the bars, an effort responsible for over 2,700 safe rides. Each year brings exciting changes as the outreach continues to expand. This year, we begin the semester by setting up the Kindness Station at its official new home, in front of LEAF!

#Oneonta Kindness Team gave 71 #SafeRides & the #Kindness Station in front of @LEAFcouncil was a hit!#OneontaRides pic.twitter.com/6SRr6kWnH8

— Redemption Movement (@RedemptionNY) April 30, 2016

Why Did You Move From Muller Plaza?

Adding the Kindness Station to the free ride service was an idea we had last summer. In November, we launched the station at Muller Plaza, a location that made for a great first home. The City of Oneonta oversees the plaza, and therefore, city officials played a major role in helping to procure the spot. In fact, the approval process alone was enough to draw local media coverage, which included concerns about the safe ride service voiced by a minority of citizens. 

Read More: 

• "Ride service draws ire of taxi drivers" -The Daily Star
• "What Exactly is Going On Friday Nights at Oneonta's Muller Plaza?"

As much as we enjoyed using Muller Plaza, the location had its limitations. Primarily, when it came to working with city bureaucracy. To be fair, the city officials we worked with were great and they went above and beyond to help us. It's just that the nature of working with city policies with the accompanying red tape and committee meetings isn't flexible enough to keep up with our outside-the-box outreach ideas. And, while the city was obligated to assist us with questions and permits, a government institution can't go so far as to embrace and support the work a religious group is doing, and we don't expect them to. 

Plus, I was beginning to feel sensitive about how taxing my church outreach activities and inquiries were becoming on city personnel. It's always been a goal of mine for the activities of RM to assist and bless the community and its leadership; if a simple activity like setting up an outreach station means pages of paperwork and the coordinating of multiple meetings with city officials, taxi drivers, police officers, fire fighters, code enforcement officers, and the potential for a public showdown at City Council, then I have to wonder if it would be more responsible of me to simply move operations 100 feet so that we're instead on private property. 

Therefore, when St. Patrick's Day rolled around and the holiday landed on a day outside the agreed upon time for using the plaza, we began looking for alternative locations to set up the Kindness Station. This search brought us to LEAF, an organization that occupies a privately-owned location, and thus, doesn't require city approval in order for us to use it. LEAF was kind enough to give us permission, and they were very flexible to work with. This encouraged us to seek out continued use of their location during the remaining weeks of the Spring 2016 semester, which LEAF generously approved as part of a trial period.

The Redemption Movement and LEAF: Two Nonprofits With Similar Goals 

Working with LEAF is a natural fit for what we're trying to do with the Kindness Station and the safe ride service. In fact, LEAF's stated goal is:

Our goal is to reduce the serious personal, social and economic consequences of alcoholism, other drug addictions and associated problems.

Amazing! This is a value that we share and a goal that we're working toward too, albeit at a different angle. Whereas the work of LEAF battles the long-term effects of drug and alcohol addiction, I feel that RM compliments this work by putting ourselves on the front lines and doing what LEAF Executive Director Julie Dostal describes as, "You're sharing the kindness and keeping people safe from alcohol-related harms."

In August, LEAF's board of directors voted unanimously to allow The Redemption Movement to officially meet in front of their building for the upcoming school year. At this point, use of their space is the official extent of this partnership, but I look forward to developing this mutually beneficial relationship further, and I appreciate how they cheer us on:

.@RedemptionNY Thank you for helping to reduce the harm associated with excessive alcohol consumption. #PayItForward #ActsOfKindness

— LEAF (@LEAFcouncil) April 30, 2016

For example, one way that we've already benefited from associating with LEAF is when it comes to our practice of offering the public free breathalyzer tests. Upon viewing our posted video of us giving the tests, Julie was kind enough to reach out to me with some compelling statistics regarding intoxication that myself and the Kindness Team volunteers now share while administering the tests. Since incorporating these figures into my "breathalyzer spiel," I've seen it persuade several people to quit drinking for the night because they now understand that they've definitely had enough.

Additionally, LEAF has spoken at the Town & Gown Gala, invited The Redemption Movement to sit in on OCO Task Force meetings, and even provided the Kindness Station with food on busy evenings when we're running low. May this this relationship continue to make a positive impact on the local community by minimizing the associated problems and consequences of drug and alcohol abuse.

Other Advantages of the New Water Street Location

Additionally, we've discovered other advantages that make Water Street a good fit for the Kindness Station. Advantages like: 

• Water Street is more of a hangout place than Muller Plaza, where people generally just pass by. This has allowed for better conversations with people who would otherwise feel rushed to move on to the next bar.
• LEAF has given us permission to collect donations at the Kindness Station, whereas the city forbid it as part of the agreement to use Muller Plaza.
• Water Street is actually a rather rowdy spot and sees a lot of drunken brawls. I believe that our presence and efforts have helped to reduce this violence.
• There's a bus station nearby that we can point people to if our cars are busy or they need a ride, but don't necessarily want us to take them home. There's even been a time or two where we've assisted people by walking them to the bus stop because they've been too drunk to make it there on their own.
• Excellent police coverage.
• The flexibility of making and changing last minute plans. 

Of course, Water Street can sometimes be a little tricky to navigate our free ride cars down, but we've made it work by utilizing the parking garage and telling people who stop us and ask us for a ride that "We've got a tent at the end of the road with a line that you can wait at." Some nights, it can be rather comical how often we get hailed for a ride while trying to make it to the Kindness Station and pick up someone who's been waiting patiently for our car to return. Case in point:

 

Overall, the new location has a lot of potential and it's working out great for what we're trying to do, and working with LEAF has been a joy. We're looking forward to serving Oneonta with another semester of safe rides and kindness, and we invite anybody who wants to help us to join the Facebook Group "Oneonta Kindness Team," as well as donate to fund what we're doing. 

May Oneonta have a safe and happy 2016-17 school year, and feel free to find us on Water Street to say hi and see the Kindness Station in action!