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Let's examine the concept of “helping others” from the perspective of community developers. Their primary role is to focus on the overall state of their community, with a particular concern for the social, economic, and well-being of individuals and families.
This task is challenging, especially given the ever-evolving and complex issues like poverty, hunger, and unemployment. These challenges can be daunting, and finding enduring solutions that truly make a difference is difficult. However, there is hope. Let’s delve into these problems and explore potential solutions.
Communities across the country are overwhelmed by constantly changing and complex social needs. Community developers desperately seek lasting solutions that will “move the needle” on poverty, hunger, and other challenges.
It is increasingly clear that sustainable solutions will be scarce without the entire community's involvement. Let me first highlight some of the major issues communities face today. We are discovering that communities are continually striving to make significant progress on complex challenges such as poverty, hunger, and health disparities, among others.
Community developers, whether by profession or passion, adopt a 30,000-foot perspective of their community. This "big picture" approach aims to prioritize public interest for the collective well-being.
Key stakeholders include city and county governments, economic and workforce development agencies, as well as institutions in public safety, education, and healthcare that serve the broader community.
These groups are increasingly recognizing that addressing complex challenges requires widespread community engagement. Without it, their efforts and aspirations risk falling short of expectations.
They are the ones actively seeking answers to essential questions.
These are vital questions that require solutions comprehensible to everyone in the community.
Their primary objective is to cultivate vibrant, healthy neighborhoods and invigorate the economy by developing a well-trained workforce and creating superior job opportunities. Consequently, they usually entrust the "day-to-day care" of assisting individuals to various agencies distributed throughout the community.
However, with limited staff and budgets, these agencies often focus on programs and services aimed at ensuring survival, lacking the resources to provide opportunities for people to truly prosper.
In this context, the "forest" symbolizes a community-wide support system, often referred to as a social safety net, designed to catch those who have fallen on hard times.
This safety net aims to enhance communication and cooperation among helping agencies and community developers. It is intended to offer an effective referral system, though in reality, it often falls short.
The metaphor of trees represents individual helping agencies and stakeholders, each absorbed in their daily routines and practices. Their day-to-day busyness, management challenges, budget constraints, and other obstacles consume nearly all their time and energy.
This preoccupation leaves little room for them to look beyond their interests and connect with others in the community who share a similar vision and mission of helping others.
To truly break the cycle of poverty for those in crisis, streamlined processes are essential. Community developers need to extend the efforts of helping agencies by providing opportunities for people to secure better jobs and earn a living wage.
Unfortunately, many communities are disjointed and lack a context or culture where human development partners with community development. While everyone agrees on the necessity of social and economic well-being for all, there is ambiguity about who is responsible for making it a reality.
I recall a pivotal conversation with the president of a community college in my city, where we explored strategies to enhance communication and collaboration among human and community developers.
Throughout our discussion, it was clear that he recognized the mutual benefits of working together and how such efforts could transform lives. However, he admitted that his ability to actively pursue these initiatives would be limited.
He remarked, “I already have so many plates spinning. To take on another would require setting one down, and I simply can't afford to do that. It wouldn't be in my best interest.”
While I understood his daily challenges, I was nonetheless disappointed by his strong focus on self-interest and his reluctance to engage with other community stakeholders or developers for the greater good of our community.
Earlier, I shared a quote from Peter Block that bears repeating: “The essential challenge is to transform the isolation and self-interest within our communities into connectedness and caring for the whole.”
We must address the fragmentation affecting communities nationwide and find ways to transform isolation and self-interest. These issues lead to "siloed service gaps," hindering comprehensive, coordinated care.
In the illustration below, each dot represents individuals or entities offering help—caregivers, social service organizations, churches, schools, businesses, government, and funders. The issue is their isolation and lack of communication.
This isolation makes it nearly impossible for the entire community to unite in tackling poverty, hunger, and other complex challenges. The outcome is inefficient duplication of efforts and significant service delivery gaps, which prevent people from accessing the resources they need.
We should all appreciate the abundance of caring individuals and organizations in our communities dedicated to feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and sheltering the homeless. These compassionate efforts often involve countless hours of volunteering, generous donations, and innovative solutions to tackle complex social issues.
However, the reality is clear: no single person, organization, or institution can meet all needs. The scope of challenges faced by our communities is vast, and independent agencies alone cannot guarantee that everyone in the community has the opportunity not just to survive but also to thrive in a productive lifestyle.
Yet, there is hope! By fostering collaboration and building networks of support among diverse stakeholders—governments, nonprofits, businesses, and individuals alike—we can create a more inclusive and resilient society that uplifts everyone.
Communities nationwide are awakening to the reality that fragmentation poses a significant problem requiring immediate attention. They are discovering that enhanced connectivity fosters greater cooperation among support agencies, ultimately leading to more significant outcomes and impact.
So, how do we start making this happen in our community?
Many community stakeholders describe our networking technology as their "Monday-morning solution." Agencies leverage CharityTracker to establish well-connected and widely distributed Care Networks. These networks facilitate a mutually beneficial exchange of communication and information in real-time. This networking approach supports agency development, accelerates its mission, and promotes a more comprehensive strategy for transforming lives.
We are encouraged that community developers are learning how to help themselves and not be constantly dependent upon outside resources. This challenge has spawned proven methodologies and capacity-building tools like appreciative inquiry and asset-based community development.
The goal of these tools is to help developers tap into an abundant wealth of local community assets that are ever-present in most communities. These include:
Tapping into a community’s abundant wealth of local assets can also:
Some communities are using our Community Resources Directory as a companion to 2-1-1 phone helplines. Our web-based solution makes it easy for individuals and families to quickly find help using a PC, Mac, or any mobile device that is connected to the internet.
It also allows organizations to manage their account to ensure that information remains accurate and available when it matters. Features include:
Our Community Resources Directory is a proven solution for asset-based community development.
Learn how to discover the abundant wealth of local assets or resources that are already present in your community. Use innovative technology and capacity-building tools to connect these assets so that they can work together for greater impact.
Create mutually beneficial community partners and collaboration to co-create opportunities for these assets to be productive and powerful together. Doing these transformative processes will increase a community’s resourcefulness. And it will make all kinds of funders happy and willing to give more for generations to come.
It all begins with getting to know the people, organizations, and institutions within your community. Building strong relationships with community leaders who are passionate about transforming lives is a wise first step. Create opportunities for them to come together, share their concerns, and discuss how they wish to give back to their community. These meaningful connections and insights can then be harnessed and aligned to drive collective action.
In essence, we assist communities in "connecting the dots," streamlining their ability to discover, align, and collaboratively manage local resources more effectively and productively. Since 2006, our discussions with aid organizations have predominantly occurred at the grassroots level in many communities.
However, this is swiftly evolving.
Now, stakeholders from the "grasstops level" are reaching out to us, including regional hospitals, municipal and county governments, and statewide associations of helping agencies. We are inspired by the innovative ways these community leaders are leveraging our networking technology.
To our delight, they describe the impact of care networking in their communities as "unprecedented, revolutionary, or simply an answer to prayer."
