As many of you know I am currently in graduate school pursuing a Masters in Public Administration, and I’m excited to announce I will be done at the end of next month! So I do expect everyone to refer to me as Master Drew come August. That’s not too much to ask for, right?

Anyway, a masters degree has really been one of those goals I have wanted to achieve for quite a long time, and it’s going to be really exciting to have finished it. Goals are so very helpful to help guide our lives. They give us a roadmap and checkpoints to make sure we are going on the correct route. They also inspire us to do just that little extra in our daily lives.

What goals do you have? Do you have them written down? I have found that writing them down makes them real. It gives you something to look back on. Do you know the goals of the Community Services Block Grant, which is the core funding for Community Action? If not, they are listed below.

The six national goals for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) are:

• Goal 1: Low-income people become more self-sufficient.
• Goal 2: The conditions in which low-income people live are improved.
• Goal 3: Low-income people own a stake in their community.
• Goal 4: Partnerships among supporters and providers of services to low-income people are achieved.
• Goal 5: Agencies increase their capacity to achieve results.
• Goal 6: Low-income people, especially vulnerable populations, achieve their potential by strengthening family and other supportive systems.

Goals are important for both your personal and professional life. Write them down and always insure they guide your work. I know our Community Action Agencies here in Utah live up to these goals, and I hope you will do the same with your own goals.