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Home Sweet Office

Welcome to F.E.A.S.T.’s international headquarters. Also: my front door.

We are, like many small nonprofits, a lot of heart with not a lot of infrastructure. We don’t have an office, really. We all work from home: volunteers in many countries, plus a paid staff of one. I’m the sole salaried staff person, and I work from my laptop in my family’s laundry room.

Despite these modest circumstances, F.E.A.S.T. gets a lot done. We have an international board of directors, an amazing Advisory Board, dozens of volunteers, in person and online peer support services, and we collaborate with organizations and agencies around the world to support the inclusion of families and evidence-based treatment practices. Maybe we get all this done not in spite of, but because we are home-based and have no office to maintain and fund!

We are proud of the cool technology we use to do it all, too. We depend on an online Workplace called, well, “Workplace” that is offered to nonprofits for free by Facebook. That is where dozens of us connect daily and work together on decisions and documents and projects. We depend on Zoom, a video conferencing platform that allows me to open a virtual window into my office at any time to our volunteers and to anyone who needs a chat. We offer a live chat from our website now, and throughout my workday I hear the inquiring chimes that tell me a parent is reaching out. We have phone numbers in five countries, through Phone.com. We use services through our bank and a bookkeeping program to help us track and report our finances.

I’m alone here in the office but I’m very connected to the world. It’s a great job. And my commute, well, I do it in my bedroom slippers.  My closest co-worker is our cherry-red washing machine. And this office comes with a concierge sweetheart of a husband who brings me coffee and breakfast and today, some pretty flowers that give a welcome hint of spring.

Laura

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