Dear Hecate,
Our little non profit is trying to come up with a strategy to get our board more involved in educating our legislative delegation about our mission, our programs and our need to get additional funding to adequately pay our direct service staff. Currently our board is debating whether or not to ask for an "earmark" for our program or to work with other programs like ours to support increased funding for us all. The problem of course is that asking for an earmark gets us a tiny bit at the expense of other programs who need the money too, but if you add up the total amount needed for all the programs like ours it comes to over 30 million dollars! And that's just for a little cost of living for the lowest paid workers! Our legislators tell us there is not that kind of money for us in the state budget. We hate this position of being in competition with other worthy programs for limited funds!!! Some of our board members are urging us to take care of ourselves first, others are saying we must work together to get additional funds for programs like ours. And that might mean finding addtional revenue streams for our state government and that might mean taxes and everybody knows that taxes is a political dirty word!! What's your advice?
Hecate says
Let's see your letter is the 4,578th version of the same question since January. At this rate, you people will beat last years stupid question record of 7,1002.
Stop whining and get your board some budget and tax literacy training from ONE Massachusetts. You will find you have only two choices. More taxes or cut your programs. Let them decide whether or not they want to preside over a fully funded quality program or not.
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.
