Hello, friends.
Sustainability is the quality of being able to continue over a period of time. Linda and I desire to have financial sustainability for the remainder of our lives. The stress resulting from financial insecurity tends to overwhelm everything else in our lives. Reaching sustainability is not an easy task, though—especially with today’s high inflation.
We developed a sustainability plan that, if executed correctly, will be successful.
As I have said many times, we want to earn money as opposed to depending on donations. Our sustainability plan provides the structure for earning money using our talents and skills. Due to our health issues, physical and sustained work is difficult to maintain over a long period of time. We created our sustainability plan with that limitation in mind.
Here is a simplified version of our roadmap:
Linda’s Art Studio
Most of you are not aware that Linda is a talented artist formally trained at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design in Washington, DC.
She has set up an art studio in our apartment. Her artistic experience includes colored pencil drawing, chalk illustrations, and watercolor painting. In addition to painting, Linda has experimented in various other mediums, including wood, glass, stone, and others.
As a key element of our sustainability plan, Linda is creating and selling paintings. Additionally, she is accepting commissioned work. We will market her services through Fiverr, our company website, social media, and word-of-mouth. She has a few beautiful paintings for sale today. These paintings were created at various points in her art career. Please review the photos below and let me know if you would like to schedule a call with Linda. There are also photos of previous commissions to give you a feeling of Linda’s artistic style.
Greg’s Media & Writing Services
I am offering ghostwriting for blogs, essays, and other documents. These services can be a one-time project or a long-term partnership. The subject doesn’t matter as long as I have the necessary background information. Additionally, I have the experience and knowledge to convert written blog posts into narrated videos.
Speaking of video, I am moving forward with my long-held dream to produce a video podcast show. I will share more details about the podcast in the coming weeks.
Corporate Consulting & Team Building
Finally, I am hanging out my shingle as a consultant and producer for team-building programs centered on community service projects. I have produced about two dozen successful programs in the past. Here are two examples of what we can achieve:
Field Games (Honolulu, Hawaii)
We took about fifty children from a homeless shelter to a beach resort for an afternoon of field games, followed by a cookout and awards presentation. Each child had an adult buddy assigned to them, chosen from the employees of my corporate client. Every child was given a backpack filled with school supplies, toiletries, and a few fun gifts.A Bicycle Christmas (Durham, North Carolina)
We purchased about one hundred new bicycles. The team-building aspect of the event involved the corporate team assembling the bicycles together. Children from economically struggling families were then surprised and gifted the bicycles at a festive holiday party.
Looking Forward
Certainly, these services will not all be rolled out at once. This is especially true since we will maintain our online store, and I will continue to write my blog and my research report. Our plan is to reach a goal of at least $2,200 in new monthly income within twelve months.
An important aspect of our sustainability plan is rethinking how we use GoFundMe. Our current campaign provided much-needed funds to cover expenses during my first year as an Alzheimer’s patient. It is time for us to move beyond asking for general donations.
A new GoFundMe campaign has been created to ask for the specific items we need to successfully implement our sustainability plan. For example, Linda needs a portable art easel, and I need light fixtures for video production. Based on recent research, GoFundMe donors prefer to support specific, tangible needs rather than general funds - especially when that donation helps someone become financially sustainable.
You can view our new “Investing in Sustainability: Help Greg & Linda Build a Future” campaign here.
Our current, original GoFundMe campaign will remain open but will be reserved strictly for medical expenses and emergencies. There will be limited promotion of this campaign unless a specific medical need arises.
Over the next two weeks, I will give you updates on our progress in implementing this roadmap. Beyond that, I will keep you updated as our business grows. As a community of supporters, you have always been here when we needed help. Linda and I are incredibly grateful for that support, and we look forward to having you with us on this next phase of our journey.
