Erika Kiphart
I started listening to Car Smart in September (is that when Confidence came out?). My journey to doing MORE started before this, but your lectures and blog posts have certainly fueled the fire for my passions in life.
I traveled with a medical team to Port au Prince, Haiti two weeks after the earthquake. It was life-altering, inspiring and heartbreaking all at the same time. I had never even set foot out of the lower 48, so this was a huge step of faith for me.
Since then, I traveled back a few weeks ago and was able to work with 100s of school kids in Chambrun. We worked in medical clinics in the tent cities as well. The hope springing up out of the devastation there blew me away. Despite the loss, the disease and the poverty that has plagued these people, they continue to move forward. Their resilience has been so inspiring to me. Words cannot express.
In February 2009, I started a girls program in the inner city of Indianapolis. We started with 4-5 girls and it’s grown to over 100 kids in just a year and a half. This is in an area where the crime rate is 20x worse than any other city in the Midwest. Kids lose their lives to violence nearly every week in this part of the city, BUT not our kids... Not on my watch. We strive to foster self-confidence and growth in our kids through weekly programming. My goal is to see them graduate from college someday. They are well on their way and it’s AMAZING the transformations that have taken place in not just our kids’ lives, but also in those of our volunteers. CRAZY AWESOME stuff goin’ down.
Since listening to you when you were in Indy, I’ve decided to kick it up about 5 notches. I’m taking the plunge and becoming TK certified with Julie on Sunday. I’ll be teaching approx 150 girls every week at a youth center in the inner city, which will include the girls we first started with in ‘09.
I have a little fear of public speaking as well, but I’m not keeping my passions quiet any more. December 3rd, I’m speaking to an entire school (K-8) about Haiti and the progress being made there. Still trying to wrap my head around that one.
Thank you for the inspiring words and advice. Since starting a to-do list and aligning it with my priorities, I’ve made some real progress in just a weeks time. Thank You! Thank You!
btw I went to school for Pharmacy, not social work or Constitutional Democracy and Justice
Erika Kiphart