Systemic Change October 2016

Systemic Change October 2016

Greetings Fellow Vincentians,

At the end of September I had the opportunity to attend the Tamarack Collective Impact Institute in Toronto, Canada with Jack Murphy, National Goal 4 Leader, and two other members of the Systemic Change Task Force.

There are exciting things going on at the National level. Among them:

Jack Murphy and the National Office have submitted the name Neighborhoods of HopeTMto the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If approved, it will become the Society’s trademark for Systemic Change.
The Society has partnered with Donna Beegle to produce a series of seven poverty awareness training dvds. The dvds are designed to raise awareness and provide tools for communicating, relating and assisting people to move out of and to stay out of poverty. The Society is currently in the editing stages.
A small group of Vincentians across the country are scheduled to begin working on developing questions which will help home visitors conduct a better home visit. As a member of this team, I would welcome suggestions from Vincentians in the Austin Council.
Jayne Stewart, the ED of the Rice Lake Conference (an isolated Conference in WI) and I are producing a slide show which will concentrate on basic poverty facts and myths drawing from material presented by CAB (Communications Across Barriers), GA (Getting Ahead), The Rule and Vincentian Spirituality.
Beginning in November those who have attended a Tamarack Institute will be working on ways to bring the message of Collective Impact to Councils and isolated Conferences.

The items mentioned in #’s 2, 3, and 4 will be distributed to Conferences and Councils across the country as they become available. The Systemic Change Task Force believes that these materials will greatly aid in advancing Systemic Change within the Society. The goal is for all of the materials to complement and enhance each other.

And so,about now you may be asking yourself, “Well it’s great that National is actively pursuing Systemic Change/Collective Impact but what can I do now to start bringing it to my Conference?”

Systemic Change in our Conferences starts with a better home visit. Let me repeat that, Systemic Change in our Conferences starts with a better home visit.

A clip-board driven, fifteen minute inquisition of a “client” ending with the writing of a check will not bring about Systemic Change.

To bring about Systemic Change, we must know and understand the problems facing the neighbors we serve and the communities in which they live. And, while we may live in that same geographic area, we may not actually live in their community. The people we visit are experts on poverty in their communities. Put aside the clipboard, listen attentively, be present to them, build relationships and see the community through their eyes. Then we can attack the problems and bring about Systemic Change.

I encourage you to explore a new booklet, “The Spirituality of the Home Visit.” Written by the Home Visit Task Force, a National Goal 1 committee, of which our own James Davis, Austin Council Spiritual Advisor is a member, the booklet comes to us in the format of a journal. It begins with “Our Vincentian Heritage” then moves on to “Our Vincentian Spirituality”. The remainder of the 65 page booklet is a journal.

Now you may be asking, “Why would I journal?”. The simple answer: journaling will inspire you to do a better home visit. Journaling will help you to remember the Vincentian virtues of simplicity, gentleness, humility, selflessness, and zeal.

AustinSVdP Council is now giving each Vincentian a copy when they attend Ozanam Orientation. But many of our members will not attend another Ozanam for a year or more. To address this, the Santa Rosa Conference ordered a copy for each of our members using our secret collection money. At our Spirituality meetings we are centering our Spiritual Reflection and Systemic Change Training around the booklet. They are available from the SVdP store. Go to “svdpusa.org” and click on “order materials”. The booklets cost $2.00 each.

Please remember that I am looking for questions that will produce a better, kinder, gentler, more informative home visit. If you have any suggestions, please email them to me.

Thank you all for living our Vincentian virtues and for all you do in service to the poor.

God bless you!

Angela