Three Ways OSV Challenge Helped My Non-Profit
Martin Ford – Harbor
Last year, I participated in the OSV Challenge, a program that helps Catholic entrepreneurs get their projects from idea to reality. OSV helped me with my nonprofit, Harbor, which now helps parishes turn their underutilized convents and rectories into live-in communities of formation, discernment, and discipleship for young Catholics.
1) The OSV Challenge helped me to clarify my vision.
It’s nearly impossible to build anything worthwhile without having a very clear vision of what it is you’re trying to build. I often think of the Gospel of Luke when Jesus asks, “which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”
The builder couldn’t have calculated costs if he didn’t have in mind a crystal clear vision of what he was trying to build. He had to imagine the size of the building, the shapes of the windows, and the kind of roof. Only then could he plan and count the cost to make sure it could actually be done.
The OSV Challenge helped me with this process. Not only did they provide me with mentors to help me articulate this vision, they also provided me with multiple opportunities to share and discuss my vision in practical terms with a solid community of fellow Catholic entrepreneurs. My mentors and fellow-innovators helped me to solidify my vision and, in community, to develop a plan with detailed steps that greatly increases a successful initiative.
2) The OSV Challenge helped me to accept help.
I have not been left unscathed by the American zeitgeist of rugged individualism. I am a product of the American way. I like doing things by myself. I’m a proud autodidact. But I’m often challenged by St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians when he reminds us that “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”
God simply didn’t create us to be completely self-sufficient. As my vision for Harbor became clearer, I realized quickly that I needed a lot of help and that I couldn’t build this vision by myself. I needed lawyers, marketers, psychologists, just to name a few. The OSV Challenge connected me to all kinds of people who were able to give me the support I needed to get us started. More importantly, however, was that I developed habits of involving more people – and that has stuck with me to this day.
3) The OSV Challenge connected me to a network of Catholic innovators
One thing I really missed about working in the secular start-up world was being surrounded by visionaries. I think a visionary is someone who sees beyond what’s in front of them – they see a world of possibilities and work towards making them a reality. In my own church circles, these kinds of people were rare. By participating in the OSV Challenge, I found myself connected to a whole community of people who were a lot like me. Not only did this bring me great joy, it also helped me to learn to innovate better. Nothing sharpens iron like iron.
I am writing this from our community in San Francisco which is flourishing. I often think in gratitude how Harbor would probably be a pipe dream today if it wasn’t for the incredible support from the mentors, fellow-participants, and other resources provided by the OSV Challenge. I’d challenge anyone who feels called by the Holy Spirit to embark on a journey of making a vision a reality and to apply to the OSV Challenge.
