How One Sexual Health Clinic Uses Outcomes to Empower Clients for Healthy Choices

 


Savannah Aleckson
Events Director/Adjunct Instructor
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In the wake of the Supreme Court’s monumental decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, people increasingly will turn to private, local pregnancy clinics for support. Fortunately, many of these clinics are well-positioned for this sudden cultural pivot, as they’ve been sharpening their strategic care for men and women in crisis for many years. One such clinic is Choices Medical Services, located in Joplin, Missouri.

Choices Medical Services helps men and women facing a variety of sexual health crises, from unexpected pregnancy to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Karolyn Schrage Choices Executive Director

Choices’ mission is to “empower individuals to make healthy life choices through education and medical services.” According to Choices Executive Director Karolyn Schrage, that empowerment is delivered through education, access to quality health services, and compassionate support.

But there’s a difference between intuiting versus knowing that the education and services provided actually result in healthier life choices. And at Choices, they make it their business to know that what they are doing works; if it doesn’t, they are quick to course correct.

This is accomplished through rigorous data collection and outcomes measurement. As Karolyn puts it, for Choices, it’s all about “constant review of statistical evidence and re-shaping of programs accordingly.” There’s no guessing about each of their program’s effectiveness.

When asked about the demographics of those served through Choices, Karolyn laughs: Their services truly run the gamut and serve both men and women, of all ages, from any economic level. While their clients do vary quite a bit, Karolyn identifies young women who don’t have access to healthcare because they are below the poverty line as most prevalent. Regardless, across the spectrum of clientele, Choices is purposeful in making sure their strategies really work.

Choices’ strategy to bolster sexual health and healthy life choices for their clientele is primarily achieved through prevention and intervention services.

On the prevention side, Choices is active in over a dozen local school districts through their program Compass, providing medically accurate information with the goal to delay teens’ sexual activity. Designed for 7th-9th graders, Compass is a 10-day program that educates students on STDs and STIs, pregnancy, contraception, healthy dating relationships and boundaries, and more.

Rather than trust that this programming is influencing teens to delay sexual activity (ideally until marriage), Choices staff is intentional about measuring attitudes, perceptions, and ideas about sex and relationships before and after the class via an anonymous survey (taken online via SurveyMonkey). To quantify shifting perspectives on an individual level, Choices is able to match pre- and post-tests while still maintaining anonymity for each student.

In the test, certain questions are intended to quantify increased understanding: Students are asked about the effectiveness of certain types of birth control, about STDs/STIs, and where they could go if they had a question about their sexual health. They’re also asked about their previous sexual activity to identify each student’s starting point. The most important part of the survey, however, comes at the end: Are students more inclined to wait to have sex than they were before participation in Compass?

Fortunately, the data is clear: The program is well-received by teens and does result in reinforced commitment to delay sexual activity, even for those who have been previously sexually active. In fact, this was confirmed by an in-depth analysis by researchers at Missouri State University.

Sometimes, the data clearly support that what you’re doing is working, and possibly only minor tweaks are needed, such as with Choices’ Compass program. However, Karolyn and her team at Choices understand that isn’t always the case: A strategic, well-thought plan must be sensitive to the signals the data are giving, and the team must be willing to adjust accordingly even if that means making painful decisions to cut certain programs or services. This has been evidenced on the intervention side, the second prong of Choices’ strategic approach.

Choices provides intervention services for men and women in the Joplin, Missouri area who are experiencing a sexual health crisis. This includes early pregnancy detection, STD/STI testing, ultrasounds, limited OB-GYN consults, and more. The goal is to promote healthy choices that foster holistic wellbeing and to encourage women with unintended pregnancies to consider medically accurate information about their options.

The strategic plan to accomplish this goal begins before clients even walk through the door–or even before they’ve heard of Choices. In the wake of Roe vs. Wade being overturned, Choices understands the need to be increasingly proactive in informing those in the area with information about their free and confidential services. One strategy Choices implements to reach these folks is through social media campaigns, ensuring that their clinic pops up in the search results for those in the area who search topics relevant to pregnancy. They dutifully track how many clicks those ads receive as well as how many of the women–along with their partners–end up coming through Choices’ doors, all to ensure that their services are communicated clearly and the investment is worthwhile. 

Once women are at Choices, they meet with a friendly patient advocate who asks questions to learn her background, lends a listening ear, and helps create a supportive, welcoming environment for the client. In addition to filling out routine paperwork detailing contact information and medical history, the client is asked to complete a decision guide once she’s alone in the room.  This guide helps Choices gauge the client’s inclination toward abortion, the quality of her support system, and any specific concerns she has, such as abuse, addiction, childcare. The pregnancy is confirmed by a urine sample and an ultrasound in this first appointment. Typically, second and third appointments are scheduled for follow-up ultrasounds and a meeting with a volunteer OB-GYN, who makes recommendations for next steps. Throughout the nine months of pregnancy, Choices reaches out via phone call to the client to offer support and guidance.

At every step along the way, Choices is collecting data: They learn about the client’s situation and her attitude toward her pregnancy from the interview with the patient advocate and the decision guide, they track each client’s decision to continue to engage with Choices, and, finally, they track the client’s ultimate decision as to whether or not to carry the pregnancy to term. Happily, through this careful tracking, Choices is able to report that 90% of abortion-vulnerable women they serve choose not to abort.

Because Choices cares about each client’s holistic wellbeing, Choices also tracks other outcomes, including each time a spiritual discussion is generated by their clinic staff, changes in healthier lifestyle changes following HIV/STD testing appointments, and changes in knowledge after completion of parenting class modules.

However, as alluded to earlier, the data do not always give “two thumbs up” for every output. And when the data suggests that something’s not working, it’s time to re-tool or even cut programs or services entirely. Choices has certainly experienced their fair share of this in their continual effort to sharpen their effectiveness. 

For example, Karolyn shares that Choices used to meet with women for all nine months of pre-natal appointments but then realized through their data tracking that responsibility needed to shift to area hospitals. 

“We were finding that these prenatal appointments were so numerous and so long that they were preventing us from meeting with as many abortion-minded women early on in pregnancy as we could,” Karolyn explains. Knowing that those first several weeks of pregnancy are incredibly important and a great opportunity to influence someone who may be considering an abortion, they decided to cut back on other good outputs so that they could focus on those that were most important and led to their most desired outcomes.

Sometimes, the data led Choices staff to make decisions that were even counterintuitive. Being mindful of limited resources that were generously donated, Choices carefully tracked data from a new medical clinic that they had opened in a nearby community, a location about which they were very optimistic. However, their data collection showed over time that fewer resources were needed at the new location, whereas demand at their original Joplin location continued to increase. Eventually, this caused Choices staff to make the difficult decision to close the doors of their new medical clinic so they could focus on the location with the most demand.

“It was entirely based on watching the stats,” Karolyn explains concerning the decision. “As much as my heart didn’t want to give up, in the end, the outcomes spoke louder than my desires.”

Karolyn emphasizes Choices’ desire to be a faithful steward of all the resources that were donated to them: As a 100% privately-funded ministry, they rely on every dollar the community gives them and strive to use it wisely. Fortunately, when you’re tracking outcomes, it makes it easier to explain decisions that may be unpopular with donors, such as closing the new medical clinic. “Because we were tracking data, we were able to go back to donors and show them the math,” Karolyn shares. “Then they understood our reasoning, and it also demonstrated our heart for prudent stewardship of resources. The data enabled us to explain our need to calibrate and re-allocate according to what made the most sense.”

The Choices staff is composed of compassionate employees and volunteers motivated by a heart for hurting men and women experiencing sexual health crises. However, in this line of work, they’re careful to let their minds discipline their emotions.

“You can step into something in faith, but when you have your data in place, those should not work against the Holy Spirit,” says Karolyn. “We’re moving to where God is moving. We do believe in intuitive walking in the Spirit, but we also believe that should be based in logistics.”

Karolyn uses the construction of the temple as described in the Old Testament as an example of holding faith and reason in tension. “Those building the temple stepped out in faith to undertake this massive project,” she says. “But reading through the pages and pages of the description of that process demonstrates how much precision and strategic planning was involved. 

“So often, we want the temple outcome but without the precision to get there. That’s not how it works. It’s all about checks and balances,” Karolyn explains.

Finally, Karolyn shares some of the different iterations of Choices’ mission statement in accordance with their outcomes measurement. It’s most common that nonprofits will choose their outputs–services provided, classes offered, etc–based on their mission statement. But it can be the other way around, in which the mission statement is modified to better match the outputs and outcomes of the organization. Choices is a prime example of this.

Choices’ mission statement used to be as follows: “Dedicated to upholding the dignity of life through medical services, education, and resources.” However, Karolyn shares that they realized this mission statement resonated more with donors than with their intended clientele—women considering abortion could find that language alienating. Furthermore, it was no longer indicative of what Choices was doing. Their mission statement and accompanying by-laws focused on mothers in crisis, but Choices increasingly found themselves focused on the family as a whole: Being more intentional about involving the father from the beginning and educating children about sexual health and healthy life choices through the local school systems.

Careful to first ensure that this was not mere mission drift but rather a strategic shift toward their desired area of impact, Choices eventually changed their mission statement to the following: “Empowering individuals to make healthy life choices through education and medical services.”

Choices is dedicated to doing just that, even in the shifting sands of politics and culture. But what’s more, they’re ensuring they’re doing it in a truly impactful way through thorough, careful outcomes measurement.

 

Choices Medical Services is a True Charity Network member. You can connect with Choices Executive Director Karolyn Schrage on the member’s portal.

Want help with outcomes measurement? Network members can check out the Outcomes Toolkit or our Real Results webinar on measuring outcomes.

Not a Network member?  Learn more about member-exclusive Toolkits and webinars.

Loving our Neighbors Better: A Pastor’s Story of Ministry Transition

 


Avery West
Membership Engagement Director
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For years, pastor Ben Scott knew something wasn’t right with the food pantry at First Baptist Church. Volunteers dwindled and morale declined. “We just knew that we weren’t doing it well, but we weren’t really sure what to do. True Charity helped us find some of those answers,” he shared. 

After watching a few True Charity Takeaways and previous Summit recordings, Ben felt convicted. As he learned about the concept of “toxic charity,” Ben remembers thinking, “This is who we are. We’re not giving them dignity, we’re not creating relationships, we’re not having any outcomes.”

 

Pastor Scott then sent these videos to staff and volunteers, asking them to think about making a change. He appreciated the opportunity to point to an outside source. 

“I was able to say, ‘Hey, other people see these problems, and they are having success in this way.’ It was easier for me to take it to them because it wasn’t my brain child,” Ben said.

The small group that led the food pantry began to meet to discuss shifting away from the handout model of charity they had used for years. “As much as possible, we wanted this to be a group decision,” Ben emphasized. The staff and volunteers each took time to pray about the change individually, and then came together to talk—and went through this process a couple of times. 

Pastor Scott reached out to the True Charity team, who was honored to walk alongside First Baptist as they considered a transition. “The Food Co-op Model Action Plan was critical for us,” Pastor Scott shared. “It helped us gain clarity on the direction we wanted to take with the co-op.  That was information we could not have gained on our own.” 

It was at this point, too, that Ben brought the larger church body in on the shift. At their regular Wednesday night Bible study, Pastor Scott asked for discernment as the leadership made a decision about how to better affirm the dignity of the people coming to First Baptist for food.

These prayer requests lead to individual conversations, and some of them became tense. People asked, “Shouldn’t we give without asking for anything in return?” and commented, “That doesn’t seem very loving.”

In his conversations with church members and food pantry staff alike, love was exactly what Ben tried to emphasize: “I had to remind people that we are doing this because we love people. This is to love our neighbors, and to love them well.”

Ultimately, he tried to see and affirm the good intentions behind these comments. “I know who you are,” he would say, “and I know that you want to give people dignity. I just think we can do that better.”

“That was the one thing I kept trying to tell them,” Ben shared, “We can do it better.”

The transition wasn’t completely smooth. Two volunteers were resistant to the change. One individual shifted her attention to other ministries, while the other individual’s family, for many reasons, made the decision to leave the church. 

Following the steps in the Food Co-op MAP, Ben knew it was essential to bring the community they serve in on the conversation about change. One night during the pantry’s open hours, Ben stood at the door and handed out a questionnaire, explaining that they were thinking of making a change. The survey asked questions about food preferences, willingness to contribute a few dollars every month, and what the individual liked and disliked about the food pantry.

The staff themselves were shocked at the responses. The vast majority of people wanted more fellowship time together, more variety of foods, and were willing to spend a little bit of money. “We thought we could do better, but after that survey, we knew we could,” Ben said.

The next month, the staff had a group conversation with everyone who came to the pantry. “We just explained that we felt like we could serve them in a better way,” Ben remembers. They shared the results of the survey, explaining, “Here is what you said you wanted, and switching to a co-op is a way we could do those things.”

At the next month’s pantry meeting, everyone went home with a copy of guidelines to sign and bring back, along with a five dollar registration fee. That extra bit of money made it possible for church staff to buy food for the co-op outright, rather than depending on (and abiding by the restrictions of) the local food bank. Church members have also given generously to the new food co-op, with one local farmer donating fresh meat each month.

Now, co-op members meet each month, contributing five dollars for the next month’s groceries, helping sort food, and spending quality time with one another before heading home. 

Change is never easy, especially when volunteers and clients have become used to one kind of ministry through the years. However, First Baptist Church of Cherokee transitioned with grace, and any ministry considering a shift can learn three things from their experience:

  • Cover the entire endeavor with prayer
  • Communicate openly and lovingly with staff
  • Bring clients in on the conversation

After making the switch, Pastor Ben can feel a difference in the room, especially when it comes to the men. When the ministry operated as a food pantry, men would often avoid coming in, or look ashamed if they did. Now, Pastor Ben sees men hopping out of their chairs to move heavy boxes, excited to help. Ben shares, “I can tell they feel happy, useful, and important.” 

Pastor Scott is confident the change was worth it. First Baptist Church of Cherokee always loved their neighbors—and now, they do it even better.


The True Charity team is here to come alongside you as you develop your programs. Whether you are ready to make a change, or just interested in learning more, you can begin by reaching out to info@truecharity.us. True Charity Network members have access to resources for developing a successful food co-op, including a detailed model action plan, operational documents, and personalized training.

 

From Fresh Beans to A Flourishing Life

 


Amanda Fisher
Joplin Area True Charity Director & Foundations Workshop Coordinator
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Coffee drinkers know that a morning cup gives energy to tackle the challenges of the day ahead. But, for Equip Coffee, a social enterprise in Springfield, Missouri, the motivation for great coffee goes beyond the single cup. In addition to changing the trajectory of a person’s day, Equip Coffee is changing the trajectory of a person’s life!

 

Equip Coffee was launched by Victory Mission + Ministry in 2018. Since 1976, Victory has been walking alongside men and women who have had challenging life circumstances that include homelessness, addictions, abuse, crime, and physical or mental health. “Every life has purpose” is not just their slogan; it is a reflection of a culture longing to see change in hurting lives, including those impacted by Equip Coffee. Often mistaken as a coffee shop with a storefront, the focus is instead wholesale coffee and online sales. They employ apprentices who process and package orders of coffee, ground or whole beans, while instilling a work ethic, self-worth, and valuable skills for their next phase in life. 

 

Ashlyn Deffenbaugh, Manager of Equip Coffee

According to Ashlyn Deffenbaugh, the manager of Equip Coffee, there have already been a few changes since its inception. However, the one thing that has never wavered is the mission to develop relationships with people while empowering them with skills that translate to the workforce. Whether their next job is as a barista, pastor, or accountant—the development, attention to detail, leadership, and communication skills each apprentice gains at Equip Coffee prepare them for that next step in life’s journey.

While they love offering quality craft coffee, their primary passion is for human dignity. They care about people at every step of the supply chain, from the well-paid farmers who harvest the beans to the local business that roasts them. The apprentices find a renewed sense of self-worth and also experience the reward of paying it forward, as coffee proceeds are returned back to Victory Mission.

Many are interested in what it takes to start and maintain a coffee social enterprise. Below are examples of Equip Coffee apprentice eligibility requirements, how workers are trained, specific job duties, as well as lessons they have learned along the way.

 

Apprenticeship Eligibility and Selection: 

Participants in the second or third phase of Victory Mission’s 12–18 month Restoration Program are eligible for apprenticeship with Equip Coffee. Prior to apprenticeship, an individual must complete Jobs for Life, an empowering, Bible-based curriculum that helps participants understand their unique giftings while building character, self-worth, and integrity.

Individuals are typically referred by other Victory leaders. Because a relationship is already established with the Victory Mission staff, an interview is optional.

If a Restoration Program participant already knows their career interests, Victory Mission tries to navigate them straight to that specific field. However, if they are in an exploratory phase, unsure where their interests lie, working for Equip Coffee provides an array of skills that translate into areas in which an apprentice may find interest. Equip Coffee is also ideal for candidates who already show some level of responsibility but are looking to increase their skill set. 

The apprenticeship positions not only advance an apprentice’s recovery and skill building, but allow the opportunity to give back to the mission that has been vital in their own development. The length of time worked varies per individual, but spans anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 months.

 

Training:

 

Prior to becoming a paid apprentice, individuals start in a volunteer role, shadowing an experienced apprentice. The purpose of this method is two-fold: 1) the volunteer becomes trained to become an apprentice; and 2) the apprentice becomes familiar with their own leadership style and growth areas. 

Each apprentice completes onboarding training including topics such as cleanliness, delivery etiquette, professionalism, office soft skills, and critical thinking. Once they have an overview, the apprentice completes a self-evaluation by selecting three strength areas and three growth areas from a predetermined list, such as public speaking, creativity, computer skills, marketing, dependability, and work ethic. 

As the apprentice selects areas of potential career interest, Ashlyn applies lessons from their apprenticeship directly to their future endeavors. They also develop their “big, audacious vision” for their future and set three goals for themselves, which are regularly reviewed to ensure accuracy and celebrate success.

Some come to the program with a fairly extensive skill set in need of “re-awakening” prior to entering the workforce. For those who come with little work history or skills, though, there is an in-depth dive into specific job skills required as well as soft skills. The training averages 3-4 days, but can span from one day to a few weeks if needed. 

 

Apprentice Job Duties: 

 

All apprentices at Equip Coffee learn how to receive orders, grind and package coffee, process it for delivery, clean the facilities and equipment, and complete inventory. Additional job duties are based on the level of direction needed as well as the individual’s strengths and weaknesses. As they advance, they may learn to complete billing, make phone calls, or make local deliveries alongside a Victory Mission Staff member. Some will even learn to complete the spreadsheet used for inventory management, sales records, and costs. (Download a sample of this spreadsheet: Google Sheets | Microsoft Excel)

Some apprentices participate in sales meetings, which include meeting with a coffee shop owner who wants to switch to Equip Coffee beans, a retail shop owner who wants to sell Equip’s packaged coffee, or a local church interested in supporting Victory Mission and serving ethically sourced coffee on Sunday mornings. Ashlyn takes these opportunities to model professional business attire and conduct. The meetings could include Equip Coffee informational presentations, pour-over demonstrations, or testimonies from apprentices. Stories of life change not only motivate people to support the mission but also help the apprentices hone their communication skills and gain confidence while developing relationships in the local community. 

 

Coaching:

Ashlyn explains that those interested in starting this type of ministry do not need a degree in business. An individual who has integrity, attention to detail, and a vision to do everything with excellence can be successful in building a coffee social enterprise. Ashlyn’s previous professional experience was routine and structured, but building relationships with individuals in recovery has taught her to appreciate a healthy level of spontaneity.

Ashlyn works with individuals to identify growth areas, facilitate opportunities specific to those areas, and keep them at the top of these individuals’ minds. A coach-to-apprentice ratio of 1:1 or 1:2 allows for deep conversation and development of a trusting relationship. She uses these one-on-one opportunities to communicate the importance of being “faithful in little.” Even the small, seemingly mundane tasks, like changing gloves or applying the coffee labels to the bags evenly, build character. She uses these moments to teach that bringing our best is important to God.

 

The Numbers:

Equip Coffee was granted $20,000 in start-up funds with additional space and inventory valued at $5,000. It was recommended to Equip Coffee to start operations with 1.5 full-time equivalent employees with a salary budget of $40,000 for the first year. They had anticipated a 6-12 month planning phase, but it ended up being a longer and more challenging process than expected. 

Equip Coffee’s mission is “less about revenue and more about partnerships,” but profitability has increased over time. In June 2020, gross revenue was around $1,000/month; as of March 2022, it had grown to between $4,000 and $5,000/month. Although they have recently invested more time into educating potential partners, Ashlyn sees this as an area of growth. Theirs is not a hyper-competitive growth model but their goal is to see Equip Coffee become one of the main coffee suppliers in Springfield.

 

Advice and Lessons Learned:

Understand the vision and be able to communicate it to others.

Although they knew their vision from the start, they re-branded in 2021 to better communicate it to others. They took a step back and pondered: “Who are we? Why do we exist? How do we explain that to others?” At the outset, there was confusion regarding their role in coffee; some thought they had a coffee shop or storefront, so part of the rebrand message became “We-come-to-you,” or corporate wholesaling.

Don’t take the relational approach of marketing for granted.

Initially, they relied heavily on social media. This approach was not as effective as they anticipated. They made a strategic change by reaching out to nonprofits and churches with whom they had an established relationship. Ashlyn learned that people are more likely to partner with them through a personal invitation or story of an apprentice’s life change rather than a social media post. “Human interaction is still just as essential to developing a business as it was 10 years ago.”

Emphasize transparency.

Victory Mission staff members participate in weekly “huddles” to communicate information between departments, thanks to lessons learned from the coaching organization The Great Game of Business. This has increased transparency, decreased dissonance in the organization, and helped Ashlyn to stave off confusion regarding happenings with Equip Coffee as well as enlist team members’ assistance with potential partnership leads. 

Start small and scale slowly.

Ashlyn has found that patience is vital. As tempting as it is to start fast and do everything now, she recommends starting small and making sure that the “small” is stable before scaling.

 

Ashlyn states, “A lot of what we do builds on the foundation with what already existed within Victory Mission’s Restoration Program. I see coffee as a great avenue for connections.”  Whether it’s a front porch, business office, or church foyer, coffee connects people. Ashlyn calls it a perfect avenue for life change through work and relationships.

“People are the passion; coffee is the means. It’s about life change one person at a time, and Equip Coffee intends to do it with the greatest excellence.”

 

How Earning a Bike Can Change a Life

 


Avery West
Director of Community Initiatives
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When Becky and Tim O’Mara moved into Adair Park in Southwest Atlanta in 2008, they had no big dreams for neighborhood revitalization. “We were just looking for a cheap house,” Becky remembers, laughing.

The couple quickly got to know the neighborhood kids, even helping out with the occasional science fair project. “Tim was always at people’s houses, talking to kids, talking to their parents. That’s just his personality,” his wife explains. 

When Britney, one of the neighborhood girls, showed up one day with two flat tires on her bike, Becky and Tim asked if she’d like to earn the money for the repair. After asking the girl to help with a few chores around the yard, the O’Mara’s surprised Brittney with a new bike. 

The next day, Britney was back—this time with a couple of friends. 

The couple started collecting old bikes from friends and fixing them up. Neighborhood kids could earn a bike in exchange for picking up 5 bags of trash around the neighborhood. Not only did the children get a chance to create beauty in their environment, but they also spent their days flying around on bikes—which left less time to get into trouble with their older family members. 

Becky and Tim continued trading bikes for neighborhood work, and they began to gather in the driveway a few days a week for bike repairs.

“Eventually,” Becky shared, “We ran out of trash.” 

Bearings Bike Works, as it’s now known, moved to the basement of an old auto repair shop—a property which they then bought in 2017. There, kids can drop in on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday afternoons, and earn one star for each hour they spend learning about, building, and repairing bikes. “We just use a good old-fashioned star chart so the kids can see their progress,” Becky says. After 3 or 4 weeks, most kids have earned enough stars – about 12 or 15 – to buy a bike of their choosing.

Interested students can continue learning about more complex bike components, like gear systems. While the regular drop-in program is designed for 6-17 year olds, high schoolers and young adults can apply for a paid summer internship where they learn the soft skills and confidence they’ll need in the workforce. Through this program, youth get advanced mechanical training and exposure to “sister trades” like auto repair and construction work. While many high school graduates either go to college or remain unemployed, Bearing Bike Works equips kids to thrive in the skilled trades.

The O’Maras found that “exercising that work muscle” through building and repairing bikes especially helped kids who struggled in school. Working alongside staff members, these youth learn communication, problem solving, perseverance, and how to ask for help. Local schools now send their toughest kids to Bearings, and are noticing behavioral improvements both at school and at home. 

Becky explains that organizations who want to start something similar often get overwhelmed by Bearings’ built-out programs and large facility. “That’s not where we started though,” she says, “We started with bikes and trash bags.” The simple act of exchange was what fostered the kids’ work ethic and sense of independence—things they will keep for the rest of their lives.

Like any organization, Bearings encountered bumps along the way. For instance, they’ve found that taking a bunch of kids out on a bike ride is too difficult to manage. Additionally, they learned that the regular bike co-op model—pulling a used bike out of a pile and giving it to a kid to repair—simply doesn’t work in their context. “It requires too much oversight and hands-on involvement. This is the biggest reason we systematized how kids learn to build bikes and control the process as much as possible. It’s the most scalable,” Becky says.

The team at Bearings makes sure to keep families involved when their children join the program. Their enrollment form outlines expectations for behavior and asks for parental consent. “Our Outreach Coordinator calls new families or sometimes visits the home to introduce himself, answer questions, and tell them more about the intent of the program,” Becky explains, “And if people get me when they call, I usually go into detail about our hopes for impact ‘beyond the bike’.”

Always careful not to replace the role that parents have in their childrens’ lives, Becky and Tim make sure to seek out relationships with the families of the kids who drop by. When talking to a mom, for instance, the couple will intentionally brag about how well her child is doing in the program, affirming her role in raising such a great kid. 

Their annual “Bearings Bike Along” event draws donors, community members, program participants and families together. Becky shares, “Last year this was pretty well attended by families! It’s a “recreational ride” on the Beltline trail here with food and festival activities afterwards for kids. We are looking to expand in ways this year that create spaces specifically for parents to come to with their kids.” 

At its core, Bearings Bike Works exists for the sake of community. Becky, Tim, and their team of five intentionally build relationships with each of the kids who drop by. Trash pickup days, bikes, mechanical training—all these are just tools to get to know kids and their families. For Bearings, “it’s never just been about the bikes.”  

 

Watch Bearings Bike Works explain their charity model in their own words. 

 

Want to learn more about Bearings Bike Works and how you might start a similar effort in your community? True Charity Network members can find their contact information in the Member’s Directory.

 

Restoring Lives Through Restored Homes: Lincoln Village’s Inspiring Community Development Ministry

 

Savannah Aleckson
Events Director/Adjunct Instructor
Read more from Savannah

 

 

In the Lincoln neighborhood of Huntsville, Alabama, the freshly painted homes, trimmed lawns, and children playing on the quiet streets serve as more than just a testament to the power of a good home renovation. They’re a testament to the power of God’s restorative work, both in the physical world and in people’s hearts.

Had you stepped into that now warm, inviting neighborhood twenty years ago, you wouldn’t have been able to recognize it. Crime-ridden and economically depressed, the feeling of hopelessness hung thick in the air. The dilapidated houses provided their weary tenants with a roof over their heads, but not much else: in fact, many of the homes were so run-down that they didn’t have electricity, running water, or working sewage.


It’s obvious that a seismic change has occurred in the last twenty years in that once severely depressed area. What happened?

The Lincoln Village team would tell you that it was God’s redemptive intervention made through His Church. That, and a whole lot of paint.

What started as one man’s determination to share the Good News of the Gospel in the shadows of this dark place grew into a holistic neighborhood transformation. This 1.5 mile radius community now offers youth educational opportunities and 30 renovated homes for the working poor. Renovation of 27 additional transitional homes will be completed by the end of 2024. 

While providing clean, affordable housing was an admirable feat, the decision to complement it with holistic services delivered through intentional relationships turned out to be a pivotal one.

Lakshmi Nallamala, Lincoln Village Executive Director

“You can build as many houses as you want, but if you don’t have restoration with God and others, you’ll never experience real change,” explains Lincoln Village Executive Director Lakshmi Nallamala.

To ensure the right candidates are in the program, the application process is quite thorough. The first phase begins with housing application questions about income, work, previous residences, and the like. Residents are required to work 30 hours a week and make at least $14,000 in gross annual income.

Qualified applicants then apply for the Evolve program. “This is when a lot of people start to realize that this is more than just housing,” Field Staff Director Jess Ahrens laughs.

Jess Ahrens, Field Staff Director

“There are questions about their goals, areas in which they’d like to grow, questions about their communication skills, their finances, parenting style, past traumas … you name it!”

Jess explains that the intent of this questioning is “to find people who are ready for change and looking for support to reach their goals, because that’s what Lincoln Village provides.”

To further drive home Lincoln Village’s determination to create a space defined by honesty and reciprocal relationships, the next phase of the application process involves meeting a group of several staff members, each of whom share very openly their own hurts and struggles. “90% of the time, candidates will also share their own story with the group in a very real, raw way. A lot of times, we’re all in tears by the end. We just are very intentional about creating a space where walls can come down,” Jess explains.

From here, the selected candidates are those who have demonstrated the greatest willingness to be transparent, to learn, and to grow. Of those who make it to the interview stage, roughly 80% of these applicants end up in a Lincoln Village home. Heartbreakingly, in part, due to the housing crisis in Huntsville, Lincoln is only able to house 5% of those who apply.

Anyone hoping to hide behind the four walls of their Lincoln Village home will be disappointed: Isolation is not the name of the game in Lincoln Village. Rather, from day one, each resident is encouraged to participate in the strong social support system.

This relational support is spearheaded by Lincoln Village’s Neighborhood Coordinators, staff members whose aim is to share the transforming power of the Gospel and provide holistic support to residents. Neighborhood coordinators meet with families in their homes to share life together, dream of the future, and create strategies to make that future a reality.

While the specifics of the relationship look different based on the needs of the resident, the basic structure looks like this: Each Neighborhood Coordinator is assigned to 5 families and is expected to meet with each at least twice a month, on top of regular phone call/text check-ins. For the duration of the resident’s stay in Lincoln Village (the average is three years), Neighborhood Coordinators focus primarily on helping residents set and achieve goals. Lincoln Village has no shortage of connections and opportunities available to residents to help them pursue their goals: a resident could take advantage of a matched savings account, weekly Bible studies, counseling, support groups for single moms, and educational scholarships, to name a few.

“The Neighborhood Coordinator’s job is to set the table. The resident’s job is to choose to sit down at it,” Jess shares about the wide variety of resources available.

While the Neighborhood Coordinator is tasked with helping the resident define and achieve goals, no less important is their job to bolster an area so frequently languishing: friendship. For that reason, while many meetings involve activities such as poring over budget spreadsheets or signing up for GED classes, others involve simply pouring a cup of coffee and having a chat on the couch, like two old friends catching up.

That friendship doesn’t just spring up overnight, though. “Honestly, the first year of meeting with a resident is what it takes to build trust,” Jess shares. On the task-oriented side of things, before Neighborhood Coordinators can help a resident catch the vision for what their life could look like, they have to help put out the fires that trap residents in day-to-day survival mode.

“It’s not unusual at all for residents to enter Lincoln Village with crises on multiple fronts,” Jess shares. As an example, one resident came in with an enormous car payment—just under $600 a month—complete with a 28% interest rate. The first order of business was working with this resident to help her sell her vehicle to relieve her of this burdensome drain on her finances.

Jess recounts a recent success story: One Lincoln Village resident overcame a difficult addiction and was able to work her way from near-eviction to being a resident in good standing, thanks to the accountability and friendship provided by Lincoln Village staff and other residents. At the end of what turned out to be a trying 6-month ordeal for the resident, her Neighborhood Coordinator texted her saying, “I am so proud of you!” The resident responded with the following: “Thank you for believing in me when nobody else did.” For this resident, her neighborhood coordinator’s determination to believe in her and encourage her through every trial gave her the strength to overcome the immense challenges she faced.

“You know, it really doesn’t take a lot to change someone’s life,” Jess concludes. “It takes someone willing to take the time to listen, encourage, and share the hope found only in Christ.”

That, and a whole lot of paint.

 

Watch Lincoln Village Ministry explain their charity model in their own words. 

God is on the move at Lincoln Village and its staff warmly welcomes you to see the transformation for yourself if you’re ever in Huntsville, AL! Until you’re able to make the trip, though, you’re welcome to call or email with questions you may have. You can find contact info for Lincoln Village Ministry in the Member’s Directory.

 

 

This article is just the tip of the iceberg for the practical resources available through the True Charity Network. Check out all of the ways the network can help you learn, connect, and influence here.

Already a member? Access your resources in the member portal.

 

 

From Free Stuff to Freedom: The Self-Reliance Club’s Empowering Twist on Backpack Giveaway Programs

 


Savannah Aleckson
Events Director
Read more from Savannah

 

On any given day at Trafalgar Middle School in Cape Coral, Florida, you will find students tending the school’s garden. Though, perhaps the word “garden” isn’t the best descriptor any more—with 9,000 pounds of produce harvested each year, “farm” is a more accurate term.

Under the guidance of a teacher, students plant, tend, and harvest the garden’s myriad fruits and vegetables. Some of that produce goes to the school’s cafeteria to round out school lunches, some is donated to local homeless shelters and nursing homes, and some still is sold at the local farmer’s market for a profit. 

That revenue is split among the students who voluntarily oversee Trafalgar Middle School’s garden as part of the school’s Self-Reliance Club.

Self-Reliance Clubs, a creation of the Freedom and Virtue Institute (a True Charity Network member), exist to sharpen entrepreneurial intuition and strengthen character in school children. Trafalgar Middle School’s Self-Reliance Club is just one example of many: each one different as each school’s context is unique.

Ismael Hernandez, founder of the Freedom and Virtue Institute, reflected on his inspiration for starting the Self-Reliance Clubs. Several years ago, Ismael attended a massive school supply distribution at the beginning of the school year, a common occurrence in many school districts across the United States, and was deeply unsettled by what he witnessed.

“All I saw was hordes of black and brown kids getting cheap supplies handed to them for free by white people,” Hernandez, a native of Puerto Rico, put bluntly. “And I thought to myself, ‘Why are we always on the receiving end? I want to be on the giving end!’”

Ismael noted perverse incentives and implicit lessons communicated to every school child in need of supplies: “We were teaching kids that the way you get stuff is by standing in line, smiling at a stranger, proving that you’re poor, and then letting that stranger hand you something for free. They were learning that’s how you get stuff, and it’s simply not true. That’s not how the real world works.”

This reinforced something that Ismael already knew but had not yet applied to his work with children: The means by which someone (even a child) receives something is just as important as the thing they receive. The means can either affirm dignity and capacity, equip for future challenges, and reinforce positive character traits … or undermine them.

In the spirit of affirming rather than undermining, Ismael created Self-Reliance Clubs.

Self-Reliance Clubs are completely voluntary entrepreneurial projects that teach kids to take ownership over their lives: to allow them the thrill of creative effort, to explore how to create something of value that has market demand, and to enjoy the fruits of their hard-earned success.

For schools interested in starting one, the Freedom and Virtue Institute helps identify a collaborative project that could work as a Self-Reliance Club. “We’re typically looking for something that already exists within the school,” Ismael explains. “There are lots of programs or projects that are already happening that, with some creative thought and a little tweaking, can turn into a collaborative, entrepreneurial project for the kids.” Indeed, all kinds of projects, programs, and activities have turned into Self-Reliance Clubs in different schools. Examples include school gardens, art projects, science projects, music clubs, and more. One school even started a smoothie bar in operation during the lunch hour for their Self-Reliance Club, an idea completely formulated and executed by students.

Once the school chooses a project for the Self-Reliance Club, the Freedom and Virtue Institute helps identify relevant markets: the produce from the garden could be sold at farmer’s markets. Artwork made by the students could be sold at an art show hosted by the school. Music clubs could perform at local churches that could charge a door fee.

The students understand what is expected from them: they must participate for the duration of the school year (the minimum contribution expected is 40 hours from August through May) and take ownership over their project, including developing their business plan with guidance from a teacher or committed volunteer. (The Freedom and Virtue Institute will pay a teacher for the time they commit to the Self-Reliance Club.)

As for the reward? The students split the proceeds they get over the course of the school year, whether that’s $1 or $10,000. As in real life, how much they make depends on the quality of the product, the demand for the product, and how well the product is marketed.

“It’s really important to preserve natural incentives,” Ismael comments. “So often we want to help kids so much that we take away the power of making choices.” Ismael, along with many other school administrators and teachers, recognize the value in honoring children’s decision-making power and letting them experience the natural consequences that follow, knowing that both success and failure contain valuable life lessons.

Regardless of the profit made, at the end of the year, students who diligently followed through on their commitment to the Self-Reliance Club take a fun day where they get to leave school, tour a bank, and enjoy a fun lunch out. The school partners with a local bank, who takes the children on a tour and teaches them about the difference between checking and savings accounts, how interest accrues, the importance of saving for the future, and more. Once the children have a basic understanding of how banks work, each student is given the opportunity to open a savings account to deposit their earnings from the year through their involvement in the Self-Reliance Club.

“We strongly encourage the kids to save at least a portion of their earnings and to think about what they will need at the start of the next school year. Will they need supplies like a new backpack or folders? Would they like to put aside a little extra to afford nicer pencils, crayons, and notebooks?” Ismael comments.

“The idea is human flourishing, not material prosperity. Humans flourish when they realize whom they were meant to be and bring that to fruition.”

Self-Reliance Clubs equip kids with what they need to be successful for the future. It turns out that students don’t merely need school supplies but to learn that they are the protagonists in their own stories of flourishing.

 

Want to learn more about Self-Reliance Clubs? You can watch our webinar with Ismael Hernandez as well as his presentation from our 2023 True Charity Summit.

You can also connect with Ismael directly through the member’s directory in the True Charity Network member portal.

 

Community Christmas: One Church’s Relational Alternative to Christmas Toy Giveaways

 


Avery West
Membership Engagement Director
Read more from Avery

 

“When we ran a toy giveaway program at Christmas, fathers were never the ones coming to pick up gifts for their families,” Heather Fullerton remembers. Dads felt ashamed that strangers were providing presents for their kids. “But now that we’ve started Community Christmas, dad comes to shop.”

Fairview Christian Church in Carthage, MO, runs a relational, dignified, affordable Christmas shop every year for low-income families. All items are priced at about 10% of their original value, and everything in the store sells for less than $4. This way, parents are able to pay for their gifts independently, and children experience the love and joy of receiving gifts from their own parents. 

What really makes the program special for shoppers and volunteers alike, though, is the focus on relationships. Each shopper family, from the time they fill out an application to well into the next calendar year, is paired with a volunteer family, or “partner.” Partners, who participate in a group study of When Helping Hurts as a part of their training, aim to foster real relationships with the shopper families so that they can meet deeper needs over time or welcome them into the church community.

Partners start off by visiting their shopper families’ homes to introduce themselves and explain how the Christmas shop works— they’ll sign up for a time slot on the Saturday the shop is open, they can pick out up to 3 gifts per child, there will be space for children to spend time and make a gift for their parents, etc. Then, on the day of Community Christmas, partners welcome the families and walk with them through the entire experience, from shopping and wrapping to talking in the hospitality area and carrying gifts to the car. 

After Christmas, Fairview Christian Church provides partners with resources for reaching out to their families throughout the year. Partners will send postcards for church events and cards for each of the children’s birthdays. In this way, the church presents a structured way for partners to keep the door of relationship open with their shopper families. Over the years, these relationships have given partners and other church members the opportunity to help with specific material needs, as well as pray for their neighbors in a more personal way. 

Heather loves how people from Fairview with varied skills and passions can each contribute to the program. Her husband happily carries gifts out to cars, a teenager heads up the kids’ craft section, administrators help sort and inventory items, and the entire congregation rallies to buy toys each year. Community Christmas has served as a way to build relationships both inside and outside church walls. 

Fairview Christian Church has joined the recent movement of many churches and organizations in making the switch from traditional toy giveaways to affordable Christmas markets. Each shop is unique, with its own take on advertising, pricing, and community building. True Charity Network Members can check out our Christmas Market Model Action Plan to learn about variations of this program and to see step-by-step instructions for creating a shop that meets your community’s needs. 

What advice does Heather have for people on the fence about making the change this year? “Just do it!” she encourages, reminding us that a Christmas shop isn’t just about paying for gifts, making new friendships, or making fathers feel more respected. It’s about affirming the human dignity inherent in every individual. “These people are too valuable to wait another year.”

 

This article is just the tip of the iceberg for the practical resources available through the True Charity Network. Check out all of the ways the network can help you learn, connect, and influence here.

Already a member? Access your resources in the member portal.

 

How One Idaho-Based Program Honors Achievement at Christmas Time and Beyond

 


Savannah Aleckson
Events Director/Adjunct Instructor
Read more from Savannah

 

For Maggie Lyons of Charity Reimagined, Christmas represents an opportunity not just to give gifts, but to remind people of their giftings. In fact, she’s helped shape a program centered around the idea that everyone has capacity to contribute—and honoring capacity is a beautiful thing.

Located in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, Charity Reimagined partners with the Coeur d’ Alene Press (the community newspaper), businesses, nonprofits, social service agencies, and other groups actively helping those who are “ALICE”—Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, and Employed. The goal is to honor ALICE individuals who, through determination and perseverance, have made a dent in their poverty—but the program didn’t always look that way.

Christmas Year Round, formerly known as Christmas For All, is in its 36th year and is sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Press. Until two years ago, it looked like most Christmas charitable programs: well-intended yet shortsighted charity to anyone who asked, all in the name of Christmas spirit. Anyone who qualified for the program received a gift card to a local grocery store or department store, varying from $35 per person up to a maximum of $150, depending on the number of residents in the household.

“People would stand in line for a couple hours just to receive a small gift card,” says Maggie, reflecting on how the program ballooned to an unmanageable size. “Eventually, it became clear that it just wasn’t worth it to some folks. Every year, designated gift cards went unclaimed.”

But the problem was much deeper than unclaimed gift cards. “It seemed that the resources meant to help only reinforced helplessness and dependency,” Maggie notes, reflecting on how the outcomes did not come close to justifying the amount of time, energy, and financial resources that went into maintaining this program every year. So, Charity Reimagined and the Coeur d’Alene Press started to ask that dangerous question: How could this well-intentioned outpouring of generosity really start to make an impact in people’s lives? “It just became clear that we needed to start building capacity, not dependency,” Maggie shares, “but we knew we weren’t doing that the way the program was structured.”

So, thanks to a courageous first step by the Coeur d’Alene Press, the team behind the Christmas program decided it was time for a major facelift.

Christmas Year Round (CYR) underwent key shifts in its program design as a result of this epiphany. Perhaps the most significant change was the focus: Rather than giving gifts to folks who could prove themselves the most destitute, they decided to honor those who had taken courageous, hard-fought steps to rise up out of their poverty. And, honoring big steps made in the right direction calls for a big award—no more $35 gift cards as a prize for waiting in line for hours. 

Necessarily, that meant that they couldn’t serve hordes of people anymore. Instead, they wanted to make a big impact for the smaller group of people taking real steps to improve their own situation. But how could they narrow it down to those folks?

That’s where the Referring Partners come in.

“We wanted to partner with relationship-building organizations making an impact,” Maggie shares. Those organizations–22, currently–are known as Referring Partners (RP), and are vetted for highly relational programs aimed at building self-sufficiency. The RP’s refer prime candidates for CYR: those who are working hard on overcoming major hurdles in their path out of poverty.

“They really know their people, so they’re the best ones to refer clients who fit the bill,” Maggie explains. Clients and RP’s fill out the application for CYR together. In addition to typical administrative information, the client is asked to share their story, their biggest challenge, their biggest achievement in the past year, and an item or items that would help improve their situation.  The RP is asked to elaborate on why they believe this person is an ideal candidate for an award.

It’s a fairly selective process by the Referring Partners, with further vetting by Charity Reimagined. However, that frees CYR to gift in a major way: Typical awards are big-ticket items or services, like car repairs, new tires, dentures, large household appliances, or eye exams and glasses. 

The benefit of gifts like these is two-fold. For one, these are gifts that offer a direct boost to the person’s path out of poverty. 

“So often, we see situations where someone has demonstrated a real willingness to work but literally can’t see the text on job applications. So, for that person, an eye exam and a brand-new set of glasses can be a game-changer,” Maggie shares. 

She added another story: One woman was disabled but had made major headway in providing for herself and her family through a paper route that she diligently worked on, which eventually resulted in bald tires on her vehicle. CYR took that as a prime opportunity to honor her grit and dedication through an award of brand-new tires.

But from an administrative perspective as well, gifts like these offer some real advantages, including eager response from business partners and financial donations that stretch farther. 

“The Charity Reimagined team went to the business community and said, ‘Look, we know you are constantly being hit up for donations. We are not asking for money. We are asking if you will provide your services, your talents, and your knowledge at cost,’” Maggie says. Paying for the services at-cost is a win-win: CYR can make each donated dollar stretch further, and business partners are eager to contribute to the cause knowing they’re not losing money on each service.

Maggie and others on the CYR team are careful to honor reciprocity at every opportunity. “We expect clients to pitch in a little bit toward their award to remind them of their capacity and resourcefulness,” Maggie shares. One way in which they do this is by asking the client to secure a quote from an approved vendor. From there, a sliding scale based on income determines the client’s co-pay, typically between 10% to 30%. For an auto repair costing $800 with a client co-pay of 10%, the applicant would pay the mechanic $80 in advance of the repair, and CYR would write a check for $720 after the completion of the repair. The client is also offered a 20% reduction in their final co-pay if they are actively participating in case management through the referring partner and meeting their goals.

Quality is of the utmost importance. “The award needs to be solid,” Maggie shares, “no cheap fixes.” That commitment to quality is evident, right down to the certificate that clients receive honoring their achievement. In fact, the certificate is so high-quality that it becomes a treasured item to many clients, who often frame them and hang them up in their homes.

What’s the impact of a Christmas program that intentionally elevates those combatting their own poverty? Well, the program is a hit in the community, so much so that it’s no longer limited to just the Christmas season–hence the name “Christmas Year-Round.” But more importantly, with a little encouragement from their supportive community, clients are finding the strength within to continue their journey to a flourishing life. The woman who worked the paper route and had her tires replaced through CYR demonstrates this: Shortly after, she returned to her RP and proudly informed them that she didn’t need them anymore. She was self-sufficient, no longer depending on the charity in her community.

“We’ve got a front row seat to the best work in town,” Maggie shares. “To be part of that work, to affirm people’s capacity, has been an amazing journey.”

 

Interested in operational documents for the Christmas Year Round program, including applications and detailed processes? Contact Maggie Lyons of Charity Reimagined through the True Charity Network Member’s Directory.

 

Expecting Little Miracles: How One Scholarship Program Encourages Hard Work, Self-Sufficiency, and Service

 


Avery West
Director of Community Initiatives
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“What can we do so you don’t need us anymore?” This is the question Missy Hanks asks anyone who applies to the Expecting Little Miracles (ELM) scholarship program.

The ELM foundation in Huntsville, Alabama, exists “to make intentional investments that create self-sufficiency, accountability, and a desire to serve.” Missy Hanks, the case manager for ELM, explains that they award grants for skills development, whether that be a traditional college degree or specialized job training. The Little Miracles program also assists with childcare, legal, or healthcare barriers that present themselves on the participant’s path to self-sufficiency. Missy works closely with each program participant, serving as an advisor, friend, and listening ear to individuals who may be undergoing significant stress in order to work, continue their education, and in some cases, provide for their children.

ELM focuses heavily on long-term development work rather than meeting immediate needs. They don’t advertise the program widely but instead rely on referrals from clergy, community leaders, or social service staff who have noticed a particular client progressing. Missy explains that those who end up qualifying for the program tend to be in the top 1-2% of a typical poverty-alleviation program demographic. “You not only have to find someone who can be successful, but someone who wants to be successful.”

Referred individuals who qualify for FAFSA fill out an application, write an essay about their history and goals, and interview with Missy. Their applications must then go through the grants committee as well as the board of directors before being accepted.

Before the school year begins, participants work with Missy to clarify their own goals and write a development plan. A typical student development plan features requirements for class attendance, GPA retention, and working 15 hours a week. For a working parent who wants to complete more education, a development plan might include increasing one’s salary, earning a CNA, or even eating dinner as a family four nights a week. Both Missy and the participant sign the document, and it becomes a kind of a contract for their commitment to each other and the program.

The participant then meets with Missy according to their needs. Some students, for example, might call her often with questions about which classes to take and how to set up a checking account. Others, especially ones nearing the end of their education, might only check in once before the end of the semester. Missy spends extra time with those mothers who both work and go to school and meets with them for lunch monthly. ELM even enlists volunteers to write birthday and Christmas cards to each participant. They try to make the program as relational as possible.

Grants are awarded by semester, and ELM helps participants all the way through their schooling, as long as they stay committed to their development plan. A typical student grant is $7,500, while a typical childcare grant is $6,000. Each individual has different needs, and ELM works with them to alleviate some financial burden while still asking for substantial contribution from the participant.

ELM’s intentional application process and intense case management results in their participants overcoming significant odds and transforming their lives.

The ultimate goal for ELM is encouraging self-sufficiency. Missy explains, “That means paying their bills on time, not relying on government assistance, and then turning around to assist others. That’s what success looks like for us.”

Missy tells the story of one woman who joined ELM when she and her son were thrown out on the street by her abusive husband. With the help of Little Miracles, she graduated from college with an RN degree and now works as a dialysis nurse. Her son, who was nine years old when they became homeless, grew up with the love and support of the ELM staff. He eventually received a full scholarship to Amherst College and went on to study medicine. Missy explained that their formal relationship with that family lasted eight years, but they continue to call just to check in to this day.

For those who are interested in beginning their own scholarship programs, Missy encourages leaders to make an intentional investment in just a few candidates. “To truly do development work and not just meet immediate needs, it’s expensive.”

By investing both financially and relationally in a handful of individuals, a program can make a real difference in their lives. And, by encouraging those individuals to turn around and serve, one little miracle for an individual could impact generations.

 

The ELM Foundation is a member of the True Charity Network. For more information about their program, Network Members can contact them through the directory in the member portal.

 

Check out several testimonies from those whose lives have been impacted by the ELM Foundation’s Little Miracles program:

 

Therapeutic Community: How a Residential Program Teaches Clients to Hold Each Other Accountable

 


Nathan Mayo
Director of Member Services
Read more from Nathan

 

 

Challenging, relational programs are an effective path to life transformation. The only downside to such models is that they usually require a high ratio of staff and volunteers to clients. It seems reasonable that implementing such a model in a residential addiction recovery program would demand round-the-clock vigilance and 24/7 staffing to help keep former addicts from falling back into bad habits. Surprisingly, Ascent Recovery proves that there is another way. In their program, clients hold each other accountable, with minimal input from program staff and no authority figures living on site. 

In 2008, Teddy Steen, a credentialed substance abuse counselor, set out to build a residential transformation program for men in Joplin, Missouri. In preparation, she spent nearly two years visiting and researching other programs around the country, finally finding an Atlanta-based nonprofit with a model she felt was worth emulating.

Today, ASCENT Recovery Residences is a year-long residential transformation program for men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction—it is not a treatment program, but augments clinical treatment. Ascent Recovery’s model is distinguishable by two central components:

  • First, it has a very challenging set of restrictions and rules for residents that relax as clients move through the program.
  • Second, it uses the residents themselves as the primary enforcement mechanism for the standards of conduct rather than relying solely on the authority of the staff to enforce the rules.

This innovative model, known as a “therapeutic community,” is central to their high rate of program success. Outside of their organization, the scientific literature on this model is also very promising.

Entry into Ascent’s program is not easy—they only admit around 20% of applicants. The application process screens for clients who have a real willingness to change by ensuring they understand how difficult the program will be. Once admitted, the majority (60-70%) of residents who make it past the first few days will complete the program. From graduation, they have about an 80% success rate of maintaining sobriety. These figures stack up well against an industry average graduation rate of 30%.  This success rate is especially impressive given that Ascent takes many clients right out of jail or who have multiple offenses on their record. The program’s performance is above average because it is more challenging and relational than normal. Its rigorous standards ensure that only clients serious about change enter the program and the relational power of the community they create serves as a catalyst for real change. 

 

The Standards

Ascent divides its program into two phases. The first phase has a 7-man capacity, and the second phase has a 5-man capacity; the men of each phase are housed separately. Each participant is on an individualized track, so the community evolves as men enter, phase up, and graduate at their own pace. Graduation from each phase is based on a set of explicit requirements rather than a strict timeline. Clients pay $100 a week for the program, as well as pooling $40 a week to collectively buy the groceries they need.

In the first phase (the Intensive Residential Program), residents give up all electronics, control of their money, and unapproved access to people and places outside of the program. There are also required chores, classes, church attendance, Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous meetings, drug testing, and counseling. After the first few weeks, clients work offsite in addition to their programmatic duties.

Once clients graduate to the second phase, the Extended Residential Program, they move to a new shared home, regain access to electronics, manage their own finances, and have less restricted contact with people outside of the program.

 

Community-Based Development

With so many rules and restrictions, it seems like Ascent would necessarily require someone to keep track of each client and hold him accountable. In fact, Carl Perkins, the program manager, only drops into the residences a few times a week, to lead classes or participate in select house meetings. Program participants are expected to both enforce the rules with one another and solve their own internal conflicts. Clients only call staff to report violence, missing persons, drug/alcohol use, or medical emergencies. How is this possible?

Residents begin the program by creating a contract with the Ascent staff and the other community members. In addition to agreeing to the clearly defined structures of the program, they also identify “concrete goals” (e.g. getting a job, saving money, staying sober) and “growth goals” (e.g. learning how to handle anger, resolving problems with a family member, becoming more assertive). This contract is a critical part of the system of enforcement. A key section states, “The therapeutic community is responsible for confronting an individual about whom they may be concerned. Failure on the part of the community to accept their responsibility results in members engaging in a conspiracy of silence. When this occurs, you may be discharged…”

The obvious question is, “How often do residents conspire to hide rule violations?” According to Teddy Steen, such cover ups are usually very short-lived. Problems eventually bubble over and come to the attention of staff if not addressed by the community.

There are also formal systems in place for the men to use to raise their concerns. Each Sunday evening, the men prepare a shared meal, someone shares about his life story, and then men present their concerns and issues for initial discussion (e.g. “I don’t think we’ve divided up the lawn work evenly” or “Jim, I’m concerned that you aren’t following your growth goal of getting your anger under control” or “Joe, it seems like you keep drinking all of the milk”). The following evening, the men hold another meeting to address the issues that arose. The Ascent staff attends this meeting but, ideally, they don’t intervene to solve the issues—they just watch the men solve them on their own. If Carl is aware of an issue that the men didn’t bring up, such as the fact that the common areas are dirty, he will raise the issue and ask why they didn’t bring it up themselves.

If a client tries to inform the Ascent staff about a problem he has with another resident, the staff will refuse to discuss it without the other party present. Even then, staff require the men to address each other directly, not appeal to staff for arbitration. Because arbitration is not the default manner by which to settle conflict, residents must practice settling their conflict directly, as they will have to do in the world outside the program.

 

Best Practices

During their experience running a therapeutic community, the Ascent team has learned many things along the way.

First, it is better to be selective with the individuals they allow into the program. Early in his tenure, Carl says that he occasionally admitted a new program member against his better judgment if the applicant was insistent that he was prepared for the rigorous program. That has nearly always backfired, with the client dropping out of the program in short order. Now, if an applicant claims to know he is ready, even though the staff thinks he’s probably not, they give the client some next step or test to prove his readiness. If he completes it, they will welcome him in.

Second, as counterintuitive as this is to a program that seeks holistic recovery, they learned to limit clients’ access to family in the early part of the program. Clients occasionally protest that their children are the most important part of their lives, and that they need to spend as much time with them as possible. While this sounds sensible, Carl points out that such statements are more aspirational than true—if their kids were central to their lives, they would have sought help earlier and have remained committed to sobriety and responsibility sooner. In many cases, clients who make these claims haven’t made an effort to see their kids in over a year prior to entering the program. While Ascent believes strongly in reuniting families, they intentionally limit contact as clients are gaining stability. They find that the emotional stress of family interaction often drives men back to their addiction until they can build up other coping mechanisms. Additionally, the Ascent staff wants to protect the children from yet another disappointment or trauma. Over time, they increase exposure to family, first with letters, then planned short visits or calls, which they process in conversations with the Ascent staff.

Finally, Carl cautions that it is important to maintain the program rules without exception. Occasionally, residents will ask staff for some exception to policy, but such exceptions tend to undermine the program. With frequent exceptions to rules, residents can lose the confidence that comes from consistent standards. If someone gets authorization to violate curfew, unauthorized curfew violators are less likely to be confronted by their peers, because it is easy to rationalize that they might have received an exemption and avoid the confrontation. Additionally, it places the pressure of precedent on staff to authorize many more exemptions for many more people than they had intended from the outset. Keeping the standards as inviolable gives staff and residents the confidence of consistent rules. Enforcement is simple when the standards are constant.

 

Conclusion

Ascent Recovery Residences’ therapeutic community model provides a fascinating application of challenge and is doubtless applicable outside of chemical addiction recovery, as well. Regardless of whether your program adopts it completely, there are always ways to incorporate aspects of the principles and practices into your own work. For instance, the two-meeting client-led process for uncovering issues and concerns could be used in any residential program. Additionally, any program could refuse to mediate certain types of issues between clients and insist that clients address each other directly, if needed, in the presence of a staff member.

Ascent proves that people’s capacity to challenge and sharpen one another and grow to a higher level of life is often much greater than we presume.