"HUNGRY, ANYTHING HELPS"

Cardboard signs abound on many corners in Portland, Oregon. And behind them are invisible people. Some profit handsomely, some take turns working shifts, and many are exploited.  Handing people money rarely solves a problem. The best way to help is to financially support local pantries, shelters, and churches that are set up to serve the public or volunteer your time.

This is an update on consulting work with a church in S.E. Portland. Their initial goal was to launch a community pantry in a diverse neighborhood with higher than average food insecurity.

After nearly a year of probono work, it has been well worth the small investment of time.

The pantry team has doubled in size, and added several community partners. The pantry served 12 families in January. Growth has steadily increased and in the month of September, the pantry served 73 families.

This group is mirroring Jesus's words to feed the hungry. Hunger is what happens when a person doesn't have enough to eat. And it begins to impact a child in school, or a parent at work.

Food insecurity refers to a long list of problems that contribute to hunger-job loss, no high school diploma, loss of housing, no affordable child care and more.

Addressing food insecurity requires building relationships, identifying needs, assessing readiness, community partnerships, financial resources and a huge core of trained volunteers. 

Pantries offer emergency assistance, and give families time to improve their financial circumstances to prevent food insecurity as a way of life.

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Managing Surge Through Resource Agreements

Surge can include anything from a spike in production or attendance, to crisis management. When production exceeds capacity businesses need plans in place to ramp up rapidly. Non-profits such as food banks experienced a surge when needs exceeded available resources. In January 2012 we attended an event with five thousand participants and watched as many were turned away. Yet there was a like-minded business a mile down the road which could have co-hosted the event allowing for another three thousand attendees. In fact, there was a third entity that could have handled at least three thousand more. A business continuity plan can help a business or nonprofit manage a surge related to the economy, but it can also be used to manage unforeseen conditions. For instance many nonprofits have a large base of trained volunteers. Volunteers can be called up during times of crisis. Businesses can establish trigger points to rein in finances or provide cross training to manage labor needs until additional resources arrive. Resource management agreements allow businesses, churches and nonprofits to provide mutual aid which is only limited by imagination and codes. This may range from agreements for extra parking or improved logistics to top notch event planners. Few entities have the resources to plan for every contingency, but by appointing a liaison to participate in a work group and giving them the authority to commit resources within predetermined guidelines allows for greater flexibility and reciprocity leads to better cooperation.

Gain Visibility With EventBrite

EventBrite www.eventbrite.com allows users the to opportunity to customize information for an upcoming event. If an event is free there is no cost to advertise. It may be used to promote fundraising events or sell tickets online for a small percentage of proceeds. A fundraiser may be as simple as a 5k race, or it may be an event with multiple layers and a more complex price structure. This allows participants to choose an option they can comfortably afford. A request for donations may also be set up. One frequent use of the donation function is for people who would like to support a cause, but are unable to attend the event. The site is often used to register participants for classes, seminars or workshops. After registering for an event, the site provides very simple instructions to print off a ticket with the event name, recipient's name, date of the event, and the associated cost. For event organizers it allows them to know how much seating is required, how much food to order and how many volunteers are needed to host the event. Event organizers can limit the number of available tickets so the event remains manageable.

Abolish Hunger Now

One of Several Community Gardens-See Sponsoring Partners in 3rd Photo

US Marines Grow this Garden For Anyone in Need

This Partnership Makes Gardens Possible-See next Photo

A Closer View of Community Partnerships

Sustainability comes in a lot of packages. It can refer to food security, agriculture practices, green building, finances, energy, transportation and more. Food security is a big concern. Rising prices, pesticides, lack of access, generational poverty, the high cost of public benefit programs all play a role. Churches, nonprofits and businesses can help by developing sustainable partnerships. For instance a local Lutheran church has partnered with one of the largest health care systems in the United States, several local businesses and Thrivent Financial, a Lutheran organization to create a garden that is now serving apartment dwellers. Yesterday a member of our team interviewed the church secretary and looked at available plans and materials. The church has two master gardeners and several garden mentors available to answer gardening questions for apartment dwellers. Many have never grown a garden before and just need a little guidance. No pesticides are permitted in the garden, and gardeners are asked to use organic seeds. Seed sharing is highly encouraged. Soon we will post pictures that explain this partnership. There are many ways to improve food security. Willamette Christian Church in West Linn receives donated food from Whole Foods. They serve a meal on Sundays at 12:30pm and participants may "shop" for groceries after lunch. Some participants also freeze, can or dehydrate foods when quantities are sufficient. The availability of high quality food and produce helps mitigate health problem, and hunger, but also encourages use of fresh food and food preservation. Growing Gardens is a nonprofit that helps persons who have very low incomes become more sufficient by teaching them how to grow some of their own food. There is a long wait list. Mentors are assigned to help teach gardening skills. The organization uses volunteers to build raised beds, provides containers for gardening on decks or patios, tests for lead in soil if needed, and provides seeds to help gardeners get started. The food stamp program now allows participants to purchase vegetable seeds. Our company is challenging small businesses to incorporate sustainable practices in the workplace that build employee skills. We believe this can serve as a training ground that pays rich dividends. Employees that are exposed to the idea of growing food, preparing healthy food and snacks and breaking bread at work improve relational skills, learn about healthy practices, and eat better. They may in turn take some of what they learn at work and incorporate it at home. We also encourage the idea of family days to help children of employees learn new skills.

Urban Solutions: Ministry, Math and Melissa Data

The last post was on Urban Solutions: Creating Strategic Ministry Partnerships. If you have read our mission and vision statement, you already understand that our focus is on helping small businesses, churches and other nonprofits improve their capacity to serve others. Our premise is that employees and members must improve their own resilience in order to improve sustainability. We cannot afford to operate in isolation. Instead we need to transition to a model of healthy interdependence.

So let’s breathe some life into this by understanding the big picture. Once church leadership teams help their members understand how to implement this simple concept in their neighborhood, the steps are repeatable. Try to imagine this. Oregon has 36 counties, 471 zip codes and 1,349 profiles on populated areas. In the City of Portland alone there are over 1,200 Christian churches. By building on the work of the US Postal Service, internet maps and databases, coordination and measuring outcomes at the neighborhood is both realistic and necessary. Here is an example of what how to bring this idea down to the neighborhood level.

First, figure out which of neighborhoods are in your zip code. Then find a map of the neighborhood and identify your location on the neighborhood map. The last step is to dentify several homes and make a commitment to develop some level of relationship with someone in each household. Since that represents such a diverse area, divide the neighborhood into ten sections with the goal of developing a relationship with at least one person in each of the ten sections. If this seems like a daunting task, enlist the help of ministry partners by using entering "nonprofit organization lookup". Melissa Data allows users to enter a zip code to identify all nonprofits within that zip code. This allows church leadership teams to build strategic partnerships closest to them and build out thir resource list in concentric circles.

Encouraging Church Resilience

 Encouraging church resilience is a six part workshop series. Each workshop can stand alone, be delivered in a six week series or a full day workshop.

Ten Ways to Bolster Church Finances
Many churches are struggling to pay bills or expand ministry. In this workshop attendees will learn four practical steps to improve finances. In addition, break out groups will address specific skills to boost church revenues.

Opting In: How to Create a Culture of Service
Research says that a few members carry the work load. This can lead to burnout. This sub-topic addresses how churches track and improve participation?

Public Information Officers in the Church-What’s Next?
Is your church invisible? If it closed its doors would anyone notice it was gone? Public information officers can play a unique role in improving visibility. Listen to some astonishing principles the church can apply to revitalize ministries.

Hamming It Up: The Role of Amateur Radio Teams
Communications are a essential to resilience and sustainablity. Redundant communications help the faith community serve each other and others expecially during times of adversity. Amateur radio has applications for missions, building community partnerships, and maintaining resilience and serving others during adverse conditions. 

Safeguarding Our Most Precious Resource: How Safe Is Your Child Safety Plan?
The world has changed and child safety has become a major concern in churches. Failure to address child safety may lead to harm, criticism and legal consequences. Churches also need policies and procedures that outline how to safety Reunite  children who have been separated from parents or caregivers following a critical incident.

Nurturing Church Workers
Research indicates new church workers are not adequately supported emotionally or vocationally. Expections lack clarity. Without a fair appraisal process, imrovements are not made causing small problems become big problems. Learn how to implement processes that help develop new resources perform well, mature and in turn develop others.