The Power of Partnerships

This last week I received an e-mail that was a great confirmation that forming real friendships and working as a team has its dividends. I am quicker today to say that I need help and don’t have all of the answers or even the right questions about community transformation work. It has been through making new friendships that I have been fortunate to make more friends who help me be better positioned to make a real difference in my neighborhood.

I have been invited to be part of an advisory board that the Director of DES has formed to help a governmental agency be better equipped to make a real difference in the lives of their clients. I know that there will always be needs in marginalized neighborhoods to have special help both from the church and the city, state and Federal government. I am learning that there will always be a need for relief work, i.e. emergency circumstances that are a byproduct of an individual’s poor choices and also the economy or environmental factors beyond control anyone’s control. The goal is to empower our community to rise above their circumstances to be better equipped to own their lives and find solutions that require them to be responsible for themselves not expecting handouts from anyone.

This week I also met with leaders from an organization that focuses on influencing policy on a local and regional context. They are very active about pro-family and pro-life causes. The constituency of this organization doesn’t reflect the diversity of Phoenix or the State of AZ that it represents. I had recently attended a fund raising banquet thanks to some generous friends who bought us tickets. It was an excellent banquet in showing the vision and purpose of this organization. The only down from my perspective was that I didn’t see any representation from my diverse neighborhood present at the banquet.

I received your typical thank you note for making a contribution with a title that said we are taking you serious. I responded with an open plea type of e-mail to see if the leaders of this non-profit were serious about being more pro-active in addressing the needs of the majority in our city and state. I was impressed with the well thought out response and openness to meet with me. So I had a great meeting with two of the key leaders of this organization this last week. I was able to share my passion about working in marginalized neighborhoods and address some of the key needs that clearly aren’t presently on the radar of this organization.

I joke at times that too often the golden rule is what determines the result of most organizations whether that is the church, business community or non-profit sector. What I mean is that those with the resources typically end up directing or influencing what happens. This isn’t necessarily bad if that individual is tied into the broader community. Unfortunately this usually isn’t the case. I will be the first to admit that as an educated middle class ‘white guy’ I usually believe that I know best for most circumstances even in a totally different ethnic context. It takes a lot of time and effort to understand someone else’s situation.

What I have been learning over the last 20 years of my life is that it takes an inordinate amount of time to gain the trust of someone who comes out of a totally different context. I also know that when I break someone’s trust by doing something presumptuous that it can take years to regain that trust if I am ever able to do that.  So one of the challenges for type A individuals, like myself, is that it requires me to work on someone else’s time frame. I usually don’t like that and tend to react when someone shows up late to a meeting. Last night we attended a birthday party of a one year old. We came on time and no one else showed up for another hour plus. The party was a success but in my mind probably bad timing on the part of friends for the young mom who was anxious that all of her hard work might end up for naught.

I’m so blessed to have awesome friends who support me and also walk with me in wanting to see real change take place in my community so my little friends like Pee Pee, Peanut, Bookie, Reesie and many others will have a chance at a life that will be more than a statistic on the evening news.