Our Philosophy
We believe that….
Each community, regardless of their level of poverty, has intrinsic strengths and assets that can be built upon and utilized for the betterment of a community as a whole.
If all a community’s resources (programs, activities, organizations, members’ talents, knowledge, and skills) realized their potential and were used optimally, the problems we’re seeing now in the world – including violence, dependence on welfare, illness, social dissolution – would significantly subside.
Social justice can be achieved by changing the way we think, act, and live, becoming more interdependent, connected, empowered, strategic, conscientious, and compassionate.
Because our work ultimately serves communities experiencing poverty, we find that considering culture and context is essential to understanding the factors affecting program success. Further, because our target communities have endured their current situation (e.g., health disparities, inequitable service provision, oppression) for many years, work with the communities must be sustainable and long-term. In working in these areas, organizations can get bogged down, making program evaluation a cumbersome activity, which often leads to evaluation findings being unutilized. Therefore, we apply a culturally responsive, utilization-focused theoretical orientation to our services, while also infusing a capacity building, collaborative, long-term, and sustainable philosophy throughout our work.
