Jesse Stout, Moishe PVD, December 07

This month I'd like to reflect on the interaction of physical space and abstract community. Everyone posting on this blog probably already has some complex conscious or subconscious thoughts about this interaction because of our involvement in the Moishe House Program. Through Moishe, we give "place" to the otherwise intangible community of young Jewish adults living in our respective areas. Well, I'm currently engaged in doing this or something like this for work, too. I run a non-profit called the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition (RIpatients.org). RIPAC has been headquartered in my bedroom for the past year and a half. Finally this fall running the organization was too much for me to handle by myself so I hired another staff member, and thus needed an office. This month, I rented an office here on the East Side of Providence and we moved all of RIPAC's corporate belongings from my place to the office. Through cleaning, moving, and decorating, the office has become more than the physical home of the organization -- it has become the tangible center for the patient community for whom we advocate.