Dear Hecate
Thanks to the help and support of many experienced advocates for low income people who know their way around our State Capital, our little non profit program for disabled homeless persons was able to win an "earmark" in the homeless shelter line item that directs not less than $120,000 to a demonstration project to provide special services including adaptive equipment and furnishings for familes with disabled children. I'ts been murder getting that money from the Department!! First of all, since we were not specifically named, some of our "colleagues" in the shelter business are trying to get some of the money, and second, the bureaucrats in the Department are devising such a complicated and complex application process that we'll have to dedicate two staff people to fill out the forms!! Winning the earmark was easy compared to convincing the Department to cut some red tape so we can get our money.
Hecate says
Get over it. It ain't your money. It's the taxpayers, and the Department is accountable for how it will be spent. Stop whining and start filling out the forms. Hire consultants if you have to. Did you really expect the Department to hand you over a $120,000 check without going through a process to see if there was another shelter provider who could do the job better? Think about it. If one of your "colleagues" had lobbied hard to get the state to fund a new demonstration project that your program could administer effectively, I assume you would be quick to fill out all those forms.
Who is Hecate?
Hecate is a Greek Goddess who served as a guide and coach at the crossroads of Hades, where after crossing the River Styx, Greek souls found themselves facing three choices: the Elysian Fields, abode of the great and heroic; the Fields of Asphodel, for all who had led a blameless but ordinary life; or to Tartarus, a sunless land of punishment for criminals.
Hecate's best known role in Greek mythology was guiding Persephone, the goddess of spring, on her annual journeys between Hades and Earth. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Hecate is portrayed as a nurturing and protective guide for Persephone on those annual journeys.
