Collective IMPACT
Last Thursday, I had the privilege of attending the Sunnyslope Youth and Family Partnerships Navigator Training session. This meeting is held the 1st Thursday of each month at Open Door Fellowship Church. Sunnyslope Youth and Family Partnership is a collaboration of representatives from schools, neighborhood groups, hospital departments, social service agencies and governmental entities who work together to address the issues of at-risk youth and their families for Sunnyslope. Through networking, resource sharing, educational presentations and problem solving this group teams up in a variety of programs and activities to better serve needy families without duplication of efforts.
I’ve bolded three things that stand out for me in this Partnerships’ statement of its goal: 1. The focus on collaboration; 2. The commitment to work together (coordination); and 3. Not duplicating services. These are key tenets of the work that IMPACT Phoenix does when providing person centered, wholistic, life planning to individuals and families in crisis who want to change their lives. Based on initial results of initiatives taken by IMPACT Phoenix, staying focused on these tenets suggest that substantially greater progress is made in alleviating many of our most serious and complex social problems if non-profits, governments, businesses, and the public join together around a common agenda to create Collective IMPACT. Thank you Sunnyslope Youth and Family Partnerships for what you do for this neighborhood. I’m looking forward to exploring how IMPACT Phoenix can assist you in this journey.
The bonus that I was able to come away with was making the face to face connection with leaders of some great agencies-Honor Health Desert Mission, NOAH, Doorways, NotMYkid, Kaity’s Way, and Drug Free AZ Kids. Populating a robust resource directory with ‘vetted’ helping agencies is a key benefit to those who access service from IMPACT Phoenix during a time of crisis. We have found that this lessens the frustration and anxiety when individuals are attempting to access community resources on their own. This process inspires hope that someone CARES about them, can HELP them, and can be TRUSTED.