Online respite training helps build 'networks of support'

Institutionalizing the mentally ill can exacerbate their symptoms, while dehumanizing them and taking away opportunities for agency. For centuries, the town of Geel in Belgium has a government-funded program that places “boarders” in residential homes where they receive care like a family member. The solution to the problem is to not treat the mentally ill as a social problem, but rather as a social norm.

Bogotá's Manzanas del Cuidado (Caregiving Blocks) provides free services like education, counseling, and skills training at 25 neighborhood locations to reduce the burden on women caregivers, successfully empowering participants to complete high school, gain new skills, and find employment opportunities. It's become a pioneering model in Latin America for recognizing unrenumerating labors. Read this article in Spanish here: https://solu.news/zfxr

The Power, Innovation and Leadership executive education program brings Black women together to train them to become strong leaders, spearheading causes around issues like reducing poverty, advocating for reproductive justice and protecting voting rights. 25 women have graduated from the program already, and the next cohort is set to start in January, as they work toward their goal of training 100 Black women leaders.

Latino churches like Iglesia Misionera Cristo Vive are acting as social service hubs for parishioners and members of the community, providing food, shelter, English language classes, trauma recovery and immigration advocacy.

The Knox County Aktion Club gives adults with disabilities a community where they can connect with others and grow through volunteer opportunities. For 15 years, the group has helped members develop greater independence and confidence, as well as leadership and problem-solving skills. There are currently about 600 Aktion Club members throughout the state, and more than 12,000 members worldwide, spread between 15 countries.

The development of the ACE score in the late 1990s revealed that the causes behind many serious social issues-- from violence to graduation rates to poverty-- were rooted in trauma and stress experienced by the individuals enacting them. The Family Policy Council based in Washington State examined the connections between social problems and related issues and found that community networks, armed with this new ACE information, provided valuable knowledge on how to improve conditions across a spectrum of issues, even with modest resources.

When Washington state introduced higher standards for child care, many feared that home-based centers, including those run by women from Somalia, would close. But a group spearheaded by nonprofit Voices of Tomorrow arranged for training and materials in East African languages, helping a stunning 94 percent of providers to acquire the necessary license and to keep their centers - vital especially for low-income, immigrant families - open for business.

"A social secretary for people who have been deprived of the forms of communication that are now ubiquitous almost everywhere except for prisons," Renea Royster is part of a network of organizations (including Pigeonly, Infolincs, Inmatefone, and Phone Donkey) helping prisoners keep in touch with people on the outside.

There is a high rate of recidivism for juvenile offenders, Chad Houser started Cafe Momentum with the aims to help these individuals develop a new life. The food is made by young offenders who go through a year long internship at the cafe in order to develop their culinary skills.

In Sarasota, Florida, residents invested in change contend that for the poor to move beyond survival mode and break a multi-generational cycle, they need a wraparound strategy, rather than one-off or isolated services. The community is slowly growing programs like the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which helps to fund and support comprehensive programs that build sustainable change. This article explores solutions being pursued by the county from job training for adults to after school support for students.