The Alms Ministry Yearly Report - Civics Ministry 309 Retrospective!

[LadyLekku]

The Alms Ministry of Regalia
is proud to announce that we are now
The Civics Ministry

In the spirit of transparency, the Alms Ministry has since its inception posted monthly reports to detail the use of state funds and to appropriately thank all those who give charitably and support their fellow Regalians. This month, the Civics Ministry will be posting a yearly report, to look back on our accomplishments, and use our first year's history as a guide for our future goals and functions.
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A Letter from the Minister,

When I founded this ministry in December of 308, it was with a personal goal in mind: that when I would begin my political career, I would not cross that bridge of wealth and fall into a seat of complacency. At the time, the only Alms houses were privately owned, or were in service of the Temples. It was my hope that, with the focus and effort of like-minded individuals, Regalia might see a new kind of charity. One which built a community of its own, using the foundations laid before it. Where not only did the poorest seek shelter and warmth, but where the nobility could show kindness to their people using the work of their hands, and where people could serve their communities, if not with coin, then with their presence and protection. Thus was born our first mission statement: To be a focusing lens of scattered good will, into actionable difference.

Throughout this past year I have asked the same questions, many times. I ask these questions to as many as will answer them, and very rarely do I receive the same answer twice. I ask, 'if you could snap your fingers, what would you change?' I ask, 'what are you passionate about? How would you make this world a better place to live in?' The answers are as varied as the people. Many wished for safety; so, we founded the Brute Squad. Many wished for education; so, we founded the Library. None of these ventures were done alone, and none of them function alone, rather they rely upon the hours of effort and passion from our volunteers, noble and common alike.

So I will tell you all what has been my favorite question, and what has been my favorite answer, of this entire year, and why I believe that this ministry has truly accomplished what it was invented to do. The question was a simple one, to be asked of any passers-by on the street. It was, 'do you feel this ministry has had an influence on your life?' This question is the only one for which, again and again, I received the same answer.

"You showed me that at least some people care."

This, my fellow citizens of Regalia, is our mission statement. It is our purpose and our light, it is our reason and our promise. There is cruelty in this world, and there is neutrality, and there is injustice and there is grief. But through it all, it remains true- that there, too, is kindness. One need only focus the lens.

It is my honor and my blessing to have served as your Alms Minister for this past year, and as I continue to serve as your Civics Minister for the next one, my hope is that we continue to adapt and focus this ministry to suit the needs of our people. I look forward to seeing you all through this next year- indeed, we have much still to do.

Glory to the Empire and its People,​

Her Eminence Sivrid Sorenvik
Jarless of Irvainvik
Civics Minister of Regalia
Valsung and Jovrlov of the Velheim​

Civics Ministry Yearly Report: 309

Every former Monthly Report is available for personal review:*
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
October
November
*The months of August and September have no monthly report, due to the Sanguine Crisis of 309. January's report includes December of 308, our founding month. Any decrees published are noted in their appropriate report for easy access.

December Donations:

The Ministry thanks the following noble houses for their gracious donations of wealth -
House Howlester
House Faure
House Sorenvik
House von Schwarzkrau

Additional Donations:
The Songflower Spa: A monetary donation
Ro Mido: Handcrafted ceramic ware in fun colors for children to use
Medea/Weaving Wishes Shop: Monthly donation of mill ends and scrap fabrics
Lisette du Poncaire: Who sewed leftover donated fabrics into quilts
Commerce Ministry: Leftover party foods
Anonymous: Stuffed toys, candles, music boxes, and cheesecakes
Jisu Talanashta: Assorted baked goods

Thanks in particular to our cooks this month, Missus Saana Gahan, Mr. Alasdair Douglas, Count Frejnir Rodsvar, Sir Benjamin Beckett.

Thank you to all those who came to our Quilting Bee to put your hands to work and whip up some blankets for the orphans of the Santuary! And thank you to those who continued to light the fires, assist the Violet order with Community Service, and in general be a constant presence for the Alms as you volunteered to assist in charitable events around the city this month.

309 Initiative Spotlight

Here are some of the Ministry's favorite or most successful initiatives of the past year. They do not encompass all of our outreach, but shine a particularly beautiful light on what can be done with enough support and effort. ​

Restoration of Petal Court: Our first and perhaps still largest project to date, this initiative kicked off the Ministry with a fundraising event during which 8 families pledged over 100,000 regals to the restoration of the district of Petal Court, following the tragedy of its burning at the hands of criminal actors. While construction was underway, tents were erected for the victims of the attack, and many Petal Court residents continue to be devoted volunteers to this day.

The Fire Brigade: Following the burning of Petal Court and Crookback, a string of arsonist crimes continued across the city. This led to the creation of the Fire Brigade, a volunteer firefighting force which was called upon several times throughout this past year to douse fires before they could become additional tragedies. The Fire Brigade also assisted the Violet Order with controlled burns, and our devoted volunteers met often to train with the equipment and prepare for future fires. Thank you to our brave Fire Brigade volunteers!

The Brute Squad: Now enveloping the Fire Brigade, the Brute Squad has become the security force of the Civics Ministry. Sworn to uphold the neutrality of the Sanctuary, and protect those within it, the Brutes were able to work alongside both the Crookback Militia and the Violet Order this past year, to ensure the safety of our staff and our charges. Brutes continue to oversee Civics events, and are proof that with a common goal, people of all backgrounds can find a unified cause to fight for.

City Tour Guides: Though a small part of our operation, the Civics Ministry is eternally grateful to those who took up the mantle of Tour Guide, and have offered to show newcomers around the city. We are always looking for more volunteers to fill this role!

Sendrassian War Outreach: During the Sendrassian War, the Ministry was able to send two outreach missions. The first included missionaries of several religions joining together to offer comfort and prayers to the soldiers, and was among the last missionary trips of the late Honorable Celate Harhold. It is truly this ministry's honor to have been part of his legacy, and it is with utmost respect that his holiness is remembered to us as a kind and charitable man. The latter outreach was a polishing of shields and armor and the sharpening of blades to our soldiers, for which the Ministry is also exceptionally proud to have had a hand in boosting the morale of our fighting men and women. And while Hadar has refused further charitable outreach, we are proud of what we managed there, at the time.

Recognition of Holy Sites and other efforts for Religious Unity: The Civics Ministry has always been, and will continue to be, a place of sharing ideas and promoting tolerance for one's neighbors. In light of this, the Ledger of Religious Sites was officialized in February, to ensure that all areas of holy significance in this city are protected from vandalism. The Regalian Theological Society will continue to meet in the Sanctuary's Lecture Hall, and further efforts of tolerance and education will always be among our founding principles.

No Lands Left Behind Festival and Speech: A copy of the speech from this festival can be found here. Booths were manned and charitable contributions made, while we celebrated the Word of His Imperial Holiness and his message of kindness and unity.

The Library: An addition to the Sanctuary was made in May, which quickly became a favorite spot to many of our volunteers. The Library will continue to host books of various cultural significance, and be a place of teaching and sharing philosophies among the people. Let there be no pretense to mingle among those of keen mind in this city, wherever they hail from.

Job Fair and Occupation Training: In July we hosted our own job fair, where recruiters from businesses, guard charters, and more gathered to meet applicants. But in addition to that, the Ministry has been connecting people to one another since our inception, and offering a place to learn relevant skills like gardening, self defense, mead-making, cooking, pickling, and sewing. We hope that in this upcoming year we will continue to see artisans share the love of their crafts with those willing to learn.

The Alms Ministry Assembly: Given the high turn out, passionate speeches, and excellent communal ideas of the first Alms Assembly, we intend to make this a regular practice, now of course as Civics Assemblies. It is our belief that with many varied perspectives we will see more excellent ideas about future initiatives to take with our state funding, and we want the city to feel connected to our work by having some influence in it. While many laws can be suggested and granted during the Upper and Lower House assemblies, we hope that those who wish to see charitable works done will continue to share their ideas with us as Civics Assemblies arise.

This is only a fraction of the events which occur on a weekly basis with this Ministry, and again would not have been possible without the combined efforts of dozens if not hundreds of citizens of this empire, each trying to make it a better place. At the time of writing, there are 100 subscribers to our bulletins! Volunteers, Supervisors, Donors, and everyone in between, thank you endlessly for your time and energy. This list does not even begin to encompass the daily happenings of the kitchen fires lit, the garden tended and harvested, the library opened, the courtyard filled with company and parties, the nobility offering lessons, or the many other regular occurrences that make this the place that it is.

Volunteer Spotlight

Though there have been too many devoted volunteers to count, allow us to take a moment to recognize those who have offered particularly devoted service to their communities through the Ministry.

Mrs. Saana Gahan
Baroness Humaira di Civita
Duchess Tuija Nordjhem
Mr. Alasdair Douglas
Lady Genevieve Howlester
Sir Lee Ming-Qie
The Wilson Family
Miss Revna
Duchess Milena Cadieux du Lierre
Miss Isobel Lykke
Mrs. Triss Aduro
Sir Benjamin Beckett
Miss Sage Marais
Baron Alduir Delmotte

Additionally we thank:
Jarl Viggo Sorenvik, Lord Commander of the Violet Order, for collaborative efforts with the Ministry and for devoting resources to our collective safety for nearly every event.
Her High Eminence Madelyne de Azcoissia, Lord Chancellor of Regalia, for her support of the Ministry and its missions of tolerance and outreach.

Our Future

With eternal gratitude expressed to those who have helped us grow over the past year, let us now turn our eyes forward, and discuss what the next year of the Civics Ministry will look like.

From this point, all former Managerial positions are scrapped, in the spirit of a clean slate. All Supervisor positions are similarly scrapped and the positions will become monthly-relevant.

Manager responsibilities are as follows:
Library Manager: To oversee activity and organization of books in the Library, as well as collect new books, hire researchers and authors, and run events around the Library. To oversee all Librarians.
Events Manager: To assist in planning and scheduling events, publishing event literature, or seeking participants for events in the ministry.
Security Manager: To oversee the training and upkeep of the Brute Squad and Fire Brigade.
Human Resources Manager: To maintain a document of artisans seeking apprentices, and to seek donations from businesses of the isle, and to collect relevant people for outreach missions regarding the Civics Ministry.

These positions are not available for interview. The positions will be offered upon continued service with the Ministry, to those who make themselves a noteworthy presence to us. Those who wish for a Volunteer Managers position should endeavor to attend events, offer support, and be an asset to the Ministry.

Supervisor roles continue to function as before. The title of Volunteer Supervisor lasts for one month, and is simply a moniker of acknowledgement of consistency and trustworthiness. Supervisors are encouraged to take a single personal project and make it their staple contribution to the Ministry on a regular basis: IE, self defense courses, reading lessons, etiquette practice, etc. If the practice is upkept at least once a month, the Supervisor will retain their rank.

On Outreach:

The Minister is suggesting various outreach initiatives and receiving feedback on them before we attempt to use state funds. We thank you for your patience as we await further instruction. Ideally, Civics Assemblies will continue to precede the spending of our funds, and will serve as our open forums to suggest and debate future outreach.

Getting Involved

How do I become part of this?

Where do I start?

Start by reaching out. Whether you have an idea in mind and want to see if it is viable, or whether you have no idea what to do and just want to be put to work, please feel free to reach out to the Minister via letter.

We have seen initiatives like planting gardens, starting bee boxes, hosting lessons of all kinds, and even law changes and construction efforts. But most of all, attend our events. Not only those from the calendar, but those which pop up naturally or are hosted by other volunteers on the bulletins. What this ministry needs, now more than ever, more than anything, is feet on the ground. So when you see the fires burning, show up. Have a talk with the people of your community, or the staff of the ministry, and see what is needed. Discover your place through action, through presence, and with an open mind and heart. With this, I promise you will do good for your fellow Regalians.

And of course- a little coin never hurts.

((If you haven't yet, Join our Discord! We send pings out for activity as it pops up. Anyone can ping for activity in the RP channels, and we now have a space on the Activity Board IG. The best way to get involved is to keep your eye on the bulletin!))
JOIN OUR DISCORD

OOC Notes:

Thanks for a great year of RP, everyone! I couldn't possibly include every name and every volunteer who has showed up to our events or even hosted them in this post, but you should mostly be listed in the Monthlies linked above. Be sure to shout out to our volunteers IG and remember who is out there putting in the hours to say their character is an ally of the poor people IC. It's always my hope that characters get some amount of IC benefit from volunteering, aside from just having stuff to do. Siv will happily talk up anyone who is a consistent volunteer so be sure to use her as a reference if your character needs a job or something.

And remember- we cannot, IG or in any way, affect Crookback. Throwing this up here because I get a lot of suggestions for it- Crookback exists with IG protections because it's a fun part of this game and people don't want their fun criminal and slummer rp infringed upon. We respect Crookback rp in this house, and we don't ever intend on barging in there. <3

And I mean it. Join our discord. So many spur of the moment events and calls are not on the calendar, but we also do Community Service alongside the Violet Order, we have people popping in for slice of life rp, we have random calls for Brutes or Fire Brigade- get in here, or you'll miss out! Linked above. If you still can't figure out how to partake in Civics Sanctuary Rp, feel free to reach out to me, or just post in that disc for help. Those folks are some of the most patient and sweet people you will find. (Especially people willing to be Tour Guides for new players. Actual MVPs. And we need more of them.)

And Finally,

If you have an experience or any feedback to share with the Civics Ministry about this past year of our operation, please discuss it ((below, in this thread)). I and my Volunteers would love to hear of it. Be sure to call by name anyone who helped you in particular, or your feelings about the events described in the monthly reports above. With any further feedback, my letterbox is always open.

Thank you to my Officer of Commoners, the Honorable Szaralaszotl, and to our secretary, Miss Seishan.

As we progress, we will do what this Ministry always has done. Adapt, assess, adjust- we will be what is needed of us. I hope you will be part of our journey.

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