Meet Kelly Schrader

We recently connected with Kelly Schrader and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
This is a doozy of a question, but I think it’s key to consider this idea not in terms of “my life’s purpose is XYZ” but rather as “I do this *because* of XYZ purpose”. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think any of us have much of a purpose beyond fertilizer, but I also recognize it’s much nicer to not focus on that too much while we’re still living. Just trying to do your best and offering the community around you what you can is a noble pursuit, and should be purpose enough for anyone.

I find purpose in keeping busy. I find purpose when I’ve made something that another person can authentically connect with. I find purpose in spending time with the ones I love. Most of all I find purpose in being helpful….more accurately, in being useful. It’s only very recently I’ve accepted that I need to *allow* myself to find purpose in personal fulfillment rather than from others.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’ve spent a good chunk of my life working for nonprofits, volunteering, and organizing within my community. This year, in 2023, I’ve gone all-in and joined up with some other area organizers to start and run a nonprofit and community center. Through my work with Raleigh United Mutual Aid Hub, aka RUMAH, I’ve been able to meet new people, connect the different circles I run in, and find an even deeper fulfillment through community organizing and volunteering. Art is a huge influence on my daily life, and it has the power to unite and uplift people. I aim to share the knowledge, skills, and passion I have for the arts with my community as much as possible, and am keeping that same energy as I organize within other areas. Basically, art and creative thinking is useful and can be integrated into all areas of mutual aid and community work from food relief to accessibility to mobilization and beyond.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I guess at this moment I’d say the first one would be being honest with yourself. Some people swing from self doubt to illusions of grandeur when considering themselves and their self-image or self-confidence, but don’t have a consistently realistic image of themselves, their skills, and their contributions to the world around them. Some folks think their success is measured by notoriety, being more or less successful than someone else, or a slew of other false equivalencies. In truth, I believe you should only compare yourself to…yourself. When you were a baby, that was your original baseline. You’ve grown from not being able to interact with the world or express yourself, into a whole person! Are you better than you were yesterday? If you’re learning, then you’re a success. If you’re trying, you’re a success.

The second thing could be networking. And by networking I really mean building relationships and community. Things get a whole lot easier when you share the weight.

And for a third thing, let’s say maybe responsibility? That sounds good, right?

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m always looking for folks to join or work with RUMAH! Anyone and everyone is an ideal collaborator. There are lots of ways to learn about RUMAH, what we do, and how to get involved. Here is our linktree: https://linktr.ee/raleighunitedmutualaidhub

We’re actually hosting three volunteer interest meetings, one of which will be virtual, later in August 2023, so be sure to come out and learn about how to get involved!
Or, just shoot us an email at contact.rumah@gmail.com

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Personal photo/headshot: Sass Photography, https://www.instagram.com/sasss.world/

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