The Legal Stuff... A Big Hill to Climb

I am making some progress in many areas (more on that in another post). However, the most daunting task right now seems to be hiring an attorney. I have been in touch with some organizations that help non profits and they have advised me to hire an attorney that has experience setting up this type of non profit organization. They said that since I will be accepting donations from across state lines and providing funds to hospitals outside of North Carolina, that it may be a bit complicated.

In addition, the application for 501(c)(3) Non Profit status has become more challenging since 9/11 and the application will frequently be returned to you if something is not done exactly right. The approval process can take anywhere from 3-12 months. I have had a couple of recommendations to attorneys who have a little bit of experience in this and I have even had a pro-bono offer from someone who has not done this before at all. I greatly appreciate these offers and recommendations.

However, I would like to get the non profit status as quickly as possible and therefore, I would like an attorney who has done this at least several times before. I would like to find someone who knows all of the "government gotchas" and possible "snags". Unfortunately, I am having a very hard time successfully finding and getting in touch with someone like that. I have had a couple of referrals but those people will not call me back. Then someone told me they knew the perfect person but they had just died of cancer (that is sad irony). So, I find myself willing to pay someone out of my own unemployed pocket (a fee that I have been told can cost up to $5K) so I am caught in this ugly chicken and egg game. I will have a hard time raising operating funds or any kind of funds until I get through with the legal stuff.

So, this week, I will start again... making phone calls, reaching out to more people, trying to make more contacts in the non profit world so that I can find an experienced attorney that can help make Striving For More a reality.

On another note, an exciting thing happened while I was networking last week, I met the woman who started the RTP Dress for Success (what an inspiring woman and a wonderful organization). She told me that Duke has a Non Profit Management Certificate Course and that it was excellent. I have reviewed it and I am excited about it. I plan on starting those courses in January. I will register for that this week as well.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Ours was very nice. It was sad for me in the morning but as the day progressed and we were distracted by the festivities and food that we enjoyed with our friends, it got much easier than I thought it would be. So, we got through our first Thanksgiving without Colleen. Thanks to everyone who continues to pray for us. I am sure it is helping us to get through each day with strength.

It is the quiet times that are always the hardest. I chose not to participate in decorating the tree this year. I just couldn't do it as that is something I always did with the girls. Vince and Mackenna did it this year together. Mackenna told me that she decorated a whole section with ornaments that reminded her of Colleen or that are Colleen's. I asked her if it made her cry and she said yes. I told her that it was ok to cry and told her that the psychologist in the grief group that Vince and I go to told us that each tear is accompanied by a memory that needs to be remembered. I like thinking about it that way. I think she liked that too.

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you
just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.
You wait, and watch and work: you don't give up.
~ Anne Lamott ~