Diane John-Smith: “I’m not alone anymore”
But then RESULTS happened. I heard Jos Linn, RESULTS’ domestic outreach organizer, give a presentation called “Why Advocacy.” He got me so fired up, I’ve never looked back. Jos brought our Cedar Rapids, Iowa, chapter together and trained us and guides us to this day. His support and training brought me to the understanding that poverty and hunger could indeed be ended in my lifetime. I’m not alone anymore. I have eight group members to support me and encourage me. And I’m no longer tilting at windmills. I get real-time information from RESULTS on legislation that will make a difference in the lives of people living in poverty and hunger. Most importantly, every month I work on RESULTS’ issues. Every time I make a call or write a letter to a member of Congress, every time I work on a project to educate Iowans, I know I’m just a little bit closer to that goal of ending hunger and poverty. The Cedar Rapids chapter has now had many face-to-face meetings with our members of Congress. I’ll never forget standing not two feet from Senator Tom Harkin, thanking him for his support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, but then telling him that his work was not done. When I spoke, he leaned in to listen to what I had to say, even commenting that I was “a very smart lady.” I have never felt so empowered. They say you get out of something what you put into it. RESULTS is different. The joy of seeing real changes in people’s lives is worth so much more than the effort I put in. And it’s changed me in ways I never thought possible. With RESULTS I have an opportunity to actually make people’s lives better, and that has brought a real and deep meaning to my life. I’m more confident in my people skills. I have an improved self-image. And I’m committed to ending poverty and hunger. Looking for a community of people making real changes in people’s lives? Want training and support to become empowered and effective? Visit our Take Action page, learn new skills from our Skills Center, or find a chapter near you where others who care about ending poverty wait. (Diane John-Smith passed away on July 1, 2009. "If there is anyone who embodied vision, drive, commitment, and profound courage, it was Diane," said RESULTS/REF Executive Director Joanne Carter.) |
My story of how I came to RESULTS begins in October of 2006. I was living on welfare and food stamps because I was unemployed, waiting for my disability hearing. By this time in my life I had given up on thinking I could make a difference in people’s lives. I had sent countless emails to members of Congress and letters-to-the-editor to newspapers, concerned about the suffering in people’s lives as a result of poverty. And nothing ever changed. I was tired of feeling alone, tired of feeling like I was tilting at windmills. So I had given up.