Presenting Care-Ready™ Concept at Conference on Homelessness

Chris and Carol Green define the CARE-Ready™ Responder and Coach

Pennsylvania, USA ---- The Community Conversation on Homelessness hosted Community Life Coaches, Chris and Carol Green as the featured presenters of the Care-Ready™ Responder Overview.

Conducted in the conference room of the Rock Church in Harrisburg, 16 people, representing organizations, agencies, charities, government services and churches who address human service issues from perspectives that range from education and housing, to mental wellness and trauma, gathered to learn more about the Green's concept of providing an orientation for people who desire to enter the human service field, but have no idea what that requires in the way of understanding diverse cultures and people groups.

"We realize these professionals don't need to be told how to do their jobs," explains Chris Green. "These sessions are not conducted as best practice presentations regarding their policies and procedures. We're talking about matters of the heart when it comes to connecting with people. This is all about helping every individual and leader, within the field of human service, make self examination and self discovery into the hidden or unspoken challenges that are keeping their organizations and agencies in the frustrating cycles where the outcome of most of their activities and programs are not improving."

The discussion was lively and engaging as the Greens introduced the concept of helping staffers and volunteers, within their organizations, learn how to work past the inner cultural limitations that keep them from becoming more effective helpers and CARE-Ready Responders™ in the community.

"The meeting has resulted in a request for us  to provide evening classes for these leaders and their staffers," Carol Green revealed. "So we're working to make that happen ASAP!"

As the world's leading producers of CARE-Ready™ Life Coaches, Chris and Carol Green teach and train community, government and education leaders, human service organizers, business visionaries, and neighborhood dreamers how to be much more effective by embracing the principles of CARE (Compassionate Accountability with Respect and Empathy) in their professional and personal lives. They LISTEN to people, LIFT people and LAUNCH people. Then they equip and empower them to do the same for others.

Many coaching, mentoring and community outreach programs employ what is known as a "deficit model" of working with people. That's where you focus on the problems (deficits) of a person, and then apply a set of pre-determined, cookie cutter steps and treatments to address their issues. The deficit-based model is what many well-meaning Helpers use, but it rarely works long-term, leaving Helpers wondering why their clients fail to break the cycles of addiction and recidivism.

However, CARE-Ready™ Life Coaching mirrors the principles found in the proven, Best Practice strategies of Strength-based, Solution-focused methodology. CARE-Ready™ life coaches are taught to connect with people in order to build a relationship/ partnership that empowers the client to discover the solutions that will work best for them.

Also, while many coaching programs focus on how to target potential high-paying affluent clients, and high-paying speaking opportunities, the Greens train, equip and empower Care-Ready™ Responders and Coaches, who are willing to take on the most often overlooked people of society; those who live in under-served communities, who can least afford, but benefit the most from professional guidance.

If you want to be trained and empowered to coach or mentor with a purpose that's greater than yourself, EXPLORE THAT POSSIBILITY at https://www.candcconnections.com/life-coach-certification

Special note* Thanks to The Rock Church of Harrisburg and Shalom House for their support and advocacy.

Nonprofit Nonsense: Crisis of Charities

A LinkedIN article by
Barry Kolanowski
Executive Director at Senior Services of Will County

What do you get when you do the same thing over and over and expect better results? A nonprofit organization. Welcome to the nonprofit world of causes, passions and interventions which at times may resemble more the environment of Alice in Wonderland than that of an organized effort to change the world.

A place where decisions seem upside down to logic. A place that enlists well-meaning people who have their own vision, which may be in contradiction to the compliance requirements of grants. A place where emotions make more decisions than intellect or data. A place where territories, traditions and myths still live and control many of the efforts of the agency.

Today’s nonprofit organizations are experiencing some incredible challenges, but the challenges are different this time. According to the Concord Leadership Group, which conducted a survey of nonprofits, they found that more than half admitted to not having a strategic plan and if they made the claim that they did have a plan, it wasn’t written down. The only conclusion one can have is that they are completely flying by the seat of their pants, following emotional prompting and shifting focus regularly. Always striving, but never arriving.

This lack of a vision driven organization has serious impacts on leadership selection, development and the efficiency of the operation itself. They may have a beautiful plaque on the wall carrying their mission statement, but it ends there. Actions are based on feelings and perceived trends without data to back up the consideration.

People are hired because they “fit” and have passion for the cause rather than that they bring experience to the tasks they will perform. This results in a lack of meeting objectives and incredibly wasteful costing the organization thousands of dollars and jeopardizing its very viability in the future.

This is not true of every nonprofit, but the environment is full of many that need the help of strong leadership. If you are on a board of a nonprofit or leadership role, begin by taking stock about your true mission outcomes. Then embrace the fact you can do something about your organization and its impact. There are so many voices calling for help that someone has to take the time to ask, “Is this the best way to accomplish our mission?”

“Question everything,” the philosopher, Euripides once said.  Have the capability to build an organization that will move in the direction you want it to go. All nonprofits, at some level, started out in the heart of someone and it grew into a dream. So there is nothing wrong with a dream, but in order to see it become a reality it takes not only a lot of hard work, but a willingness to accept criticism when you don’t always give others what they want.

It may seem crazy and absurd, but the nonprofit arena is also risky and exciting. Instead of making widgets or selling products that provide temporary relief, you can change a life.  Not just one life, but the generations around them and follow. That is the allure and that is what drives people to move and act despite the salary per hour.