STEVE LYON
Editorial Director
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The Story

After working at West Point, Michael wanted to go home to Joplin. Get back to his roots. Start fresh. He was confident someone with his resume could easily land a job there. 

He applied for one and made the finalists list. They hired someone else. He tried again. Same story. One more time. Don’t even ask. It didn’t take him long to figure out that he was the only person impressed with his credentials. In other words, he was right where the Lord wanted him: humbled—and open to whatever the Lord wanted. Eventually, he landed in Carthage at the Fire Department.

After ten years, a job as the Outreach Center Director at Watered Gardens opened up. He had a heart for ministry, so he prayed about it. It seemed like the Lord wanted him to apply. After a rigorous interview process, things were looking up. 

That one fell apart, too.

 No one could blame him for wondering what in the world was going on or what the Lord was doing.

Two months later, Watered Gardens called. The Director of FORGE had resigned. They thought he might be a good fit and wanted to know if he was interested. He was—and that’s how the medic partnered with the Maker to start molding men. “It was,” Michael puts it, “a complete God thing.”

At first, it wasn’t easy. Michael thought his job was to “create little images of me” by saturating the environment with a military-style command presence. He had to learn leadership does not mean earning respect by putting a wall up between you and those you lead in hopes of duplicating yourself.

Instead, the Lord taught him two critical lessons that were, in his words, “a gut punch.” 

One, that leading is about relationships. That is, getting in someone’s life to give them a lift up and out of poverty. Yes, it’s essential to have healthy boundaries. Like most of us, wounded men are needy, so you have to guard your emotional and spiritual energy. To that end, Michael and his wife jealously guard his day off for time together with each other and family and to lead bible studies. But leading in an environment like FORGE means entering a man’s brokenness —to bring hope and healing. 

The second lesson is just as powerful but more simply stated: God is the creator, and “I’m just the director to help them be what God made them to be.” 

 

The Program

FORGE is a four-phase, sixteen-month program involving service and education phases, each lasting three months; a work phase of four months; and a transition phase that lasts six months. In each, students progressively build discipline, habits, and skills that will enable them to move from joblessness and unhealthy dependence to responsible self-support.

What does it take to enter and graduate? Men must admit they have a problem, can’t fix it by themselves, and are ready to make a change. They must submit to God’s will and desire a relationship with Jesus Christ–and recognize getting started is hard because change creates stress. And, they must accept that the program’s rigorous requirements are designed to create a controlled environment that progressively prepares them for life beyond graduation. 

That process has its flashpoints. In fact, Michael says the biggest hurdle to success is students leaving early because they think they have a handle on things. “They don’t realize they’re successful because they’re in a controlled environment. They think they’re ready to live on their own, but they’re not.” That’s why FORGE’s policy is if you leave early, there are no do-overs.

Michael points out it’s important to remember FORGE isn’t a drug rehab program. Nor is it a men’s discipleship group. People around the building say the program is “where becoming and doing merge.” In other words, it’s about acquiring Christ skills and life skills so men leave with a big bag of tools, know how to use them, and are committed to community as their operational base.

 

Lessons Learned

Team Training 

Staff one-on-ones are a key part of staff development, with each leader “training someone to replace me.” Also, FORGE maintains an open-door policy to keep the relationships mentioned earlier in good shape. 

Volunteer Training

The Forge focuses on a commitment to the Seven Marks of Effective Charity which is their foundation and operational philosophy. Volunteers learn to jettison the “I’m going to come in here and bless these people with my service” attitude. Invariably, after hearing men’s redemption stories, they realize they’re the ones blessed.

Programs 

FORGE staff allow ample time for program evaluation. Programs are pre-loaded with content, requirements and procedures to ensure success but adjustments are made early on, when needed. Men enter the program dealing with all kinds of issues that are addressed when they begin their time at FORGE.

Michael and his staff have also learned the value of cyclical programming. Rather than wait for the start of a new class every quarter, men can now enter at any time and continue until they complete the whole sixteen-month schedule.

 

The Payoff

In Men

Dave’s a perfect example. When Michael first met him, he was closed off and hard-headed. He got high before his entrance interview. But by the time he graduated last September, God had completely transformed him. Now, more than anything, he “covets his time with Jesus.”

That’s not the only significant change. FORGE also makes a difference …

In the Community

It has a reputation. A strong reputation. Judges furlough criminals’ jail time to enter the program. They monitor their progress, and if they graduate, charges are dropped. Sometimes, a judge will have Michael stand in the courtroom and commend him for the impact FORGE is making in men and, therefore, in Joplin. “That,” says Michael, “drives you to do what you do.”

Law enforcement has taken note, too. Officers hired by Michael’s church for protection Sunday morning see men they’ve repeatedly arrested walk through the doors clean, sober, and smiling. Sometimes, they don’t recognize them. When they do, they can’t believe their eyes. 

 

Advice For Getting Started

First, recognize there will be moments, as Michael puts it, when you find yourself “beating your head against the wall.” That’s why it’s important the desire to begin a ministry like FORGE “is truly in your heart, truly a calling and a passion.”

Michael also recommends that you set your end goal, establish outcomes, build to those outcomes, and evaluate the result. 

Interested in starting a Residential Life Transformation (RLT) program in your neighborhood? Network Members have access to our RLT Model Action Plan, including step by step guidance and a library of resources. 

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CT Studd, nineteenth-century English cricket star turned missionary to China, India, and Africa, once remarked:

Some want to live within

The sound of church or chapel bell;

I want to run a rescue

Within a yard of hell

---

 

 

 

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When Better Together CEO Megan Rose observed the problem of an overwhelmed foster care system in her home state, she came up with a bold solution that raised some eyebrows.

Rose’s home state of Florida ranks third in the nation in the number of foster-care children per capita. While a discouraging statistic, a look below the surface reveals that 60% of these foster care placements are from neglect, not abuse. An even closer look suggests that many neglect situations come from homes in which the mother and/or father are honestly attempting to care for their children but failing to do so sufficiently while struggling to make ends meet.

For Megan Rose, this fact begged the question: Could these children’s parents have effectively met their needs had someone intervened in their situation earlier? Would more families have stayed intact if someone had provided relief or support at certain critical junctures?

She believed the answer was “yes.” And she knew the Church was the right vehicle to provide this critical early intervention.

“When Megan told people her vision–that she was going to get volunteers in the Church to open up their homes, without getting paid, to help vulnerable children–she got laughed at,” Mellissa Foster, Executive Director of Church Partnerships at Better Together, shares with a chuckle. There were other organizations doing similar things at the time, but all took state funding. Megan was determined to create a privately funded solution, unencumbered by the red tape that accompanies government dollars, that was set up well for highly relational interventions.

Though her plan was met with skepticism, Megan began Better Together in 2015, with the Better Families program designed to empower the Church to help at-risk families stabilize and stay together. And with 5,400 children helped since then, and 98% returning to their families and staying out of foster care, the model has been proven successful.

Better Families helps families who are at risk of losing their children to the foster care system by allowing parents to voluntarily put their children in someone else’s home, temporarily, while they get back on their feet.

“We give parents the gift of time and space,” Mellissa explains. “For so many families on the verge of losing their kids, they are in crisis mode. They’re living in their car, they’re trying to figure out how they’re going to feed their children their next meal–they’re just surviving. They’re not thinking about long-term solutions like where they’re going to get a job or what apartment they’ll get to give their kids some stability.” With their children safe and cared for in another location, parents are able to focus on making rapid improvements to their situation and then can take their children back as soon as they feel they are ready.

“A lot of folks are initially very suspicious because they associate us with the government, with foster care,” Mellissa shares. “But when they learn that we’re a volunteer team and that placing their kids in a different home is entirely voluntary and that they can get them back whenever they feel ready without having to jump through hoops, walls start to come down.”

Better Together partners with Florida churches to facilitate their Better Families program by providing the framework, developing relationships with community partners, and managing referrals to the program.The churches simply provide the manpower to assist families in crisis.

There are four primary roles a congregant in a Better Families church can fill to tangibly help struggling families in their community:

 

Host Family

Host families agree to take in children referred to the program temporarily or on an as-needed basis. The stay can be as short as overnight or as long as 90 days (or potentially longer), with the average stay being 41 days.

The Better Together staff are careful to assist families with appropriate matching. “If a family with two teenage daughters agrees to host, we’re not going to pair them with a family in crisis who has a teenage son,” Mellissa explains. Beyond the purely practical, though, Better Families also attempts to align families based on interests, hobbies, and individual needs.

Knowing that this is the most demanding and daunting role, the Better Families program is designed to give host families necessary breaks.

“We tell hosts that just because you say yes today doesn’t mean you’re saying yes in two years,” Mellissa shares. “You can also do it just once and decide it’s not for you.”

 

Family Advocates

While host families focus on helping the children, family advocates work primarily with parents to develop relationships and set goals. Knowing that progress is not instantaneous, family advocates are prepared to work with parents for at least six months.

“Our family advocates really get in the weeds with the parents,” says Mellissa. Their job is to develop a deeper understanding of obstacles for the family and help the parents develop and stick to a game plan so that when they’re ready to take their kids back, they’re able to keep them long-term. Better Families, however, is careful to train advocates not to do for, but with– they are big proponents of allowing families the opportunity to take the lead in determining the future they want for themselves.

Mellissa elaborates: “We never do things for the families: We walk them through how to do it. We’re not going to write a job application for them, but we’ll definitely sit next to them at the library and help them as they go through it.”

 

Job Coaches

For so many families in crisis, the biggest contributor to their situation is the lack of a job. Better Families was designed based on the belief that neglect is preventable–and, often, a good job is exactly the boost that’s needed to enable a family to thrive.

A congregant who is well-connected to local businesses and with a long history of work experience would be a great fit for this position. Typically a two-week commitment, the job coach works with the parent to understand their skills, education level, prior work experience, etc., and then helps the parent find and apply for positions that are a good fit for their unique situation.

 

Resource Volunteers

These volunteers wrap around host families to provide support. Better Families churches will identify congregants who are dedicated to finding ways to make the host family’s job a little easier. 

“If a family takes in four kids, for example, their congregation will tap on resource volunteers to provide a meal, maybe send a gift card for groceries, drop off diapers, pick up the kids from school, offer prayer–things like that,” Mellissa elaborates.

Mellissa shares about one woman who serves as a resource volunteer sewing bibs and burp cloths for babies placed with host families, helping out in the way that she’s uniquely able. Most resources and skills have a place in supporting host families as they take in children.

Better Together was founded on the belief that the best resource to help struggling families is the Church. But why the Church?

“The Church is the best place for people to run to when they’re in crisis,” Mellissa explains. “Historically, the Church has filled this role. It’s our job to love people well.” To that end, Mellissa reminds us of the following verse describing what love in action looks like:

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Romans 12:10-13

 

How Your Church Can Get Started:

The Better Families program is currently only offered in Florida. While churches outside Florida aren’t able to partner with Better Families (yet!) to start the program in their own church, or may not have the bandwidth to create their own version, here are some simple, practical ways your church can support vulnerable families in your community right now:

• Host a parents’ night out. How can you find families who need help? Let them come to you! Post flyers in neighborhoods near your church inviting parents to drop off their kids for a movie night, field day, story hour … let your creativity run wild! Don’t forget to grab parents’ contact information and reach out to them post-event to stay connected.

• Start a jobs ministry. A good job is a great way to help families stay together, and also a great way for your congregants to connect with folks who may be struggling. Better Together can equip you to host a Better Jobs Fair, and True Charity Network members receive a 20% discount on Chalmers’ WorkLife Facilitator training.

• Start a Christmas market. Use the holiday season as an opportunity to connect with struggling families by hosting a Christmas market, an empowering twist on a typical toy giveaway. True Charity Network Members: Check out True Charity’s Model Action Plan for step-by-step guidance to start one in your church.

• Build connections with community stakeholders. Get coffee with the director of your local shelter, ask the principal of your local elementary school to give you a tour, buy lunch for the leader at a local foster care placement agency … whatever you do, make sure it’s in-person and friendly. Use that time to identify needs and consider how your church can help. Your church can serve in small ways and, in the future, these connections could prove to be very useful if your church decides to launch a Better Families-type ministry.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to join the True Charity Network for access to all our Model Action Plans, educational content, and other resources to equip churches for effective charity, including the Church Toolkit.

 

Better Together is a True Charity Network member. You can check out the True Charity Real Results webinar featuring Better Together on the topic of measuring outcomes here. You can connect with them on the member’s portal.  If you’re not yet a True Charity Network member, learn more at truecharity.us/join.

 

 

 

 

“Why can’t those people just go to work?” If you have ministered to those struggling with poverty for any length of time, you have heard this question aimed at individuals who are unable to maintain employment. Perhaps you’ve asked that same question as a poverty fighter, knowing that there is rarely an adequate response. Hope House of Bowling Green, KY explored why people weren’t going to work, and what they learned prompted them to action.

 

The Problem & Solution

All able-bodied individuals have the innate ability to contribute to their community, and they deserve the dignity associated with providing for themselves and their families. However, due to past tragedies, poor choices, or a myriad of other reasons, many find themselves stuck with no transportation to help towards those efforts. In fact, poverty-fighters across America say that a lack of transportation is a main barrier to self-sufficiency and a flourishing life. 

 

Hope House of Bowling Green, Kentucky is removing that barrier with their Ready to Work Shuttle Program. With one 16-passenger van and a driving desire to help people provide for themselves, Hope House is helping approximately 30 people per month get to and from their places of employment each week.

 

 

Since 2009, Hope House has been serving their community in five key areas: education, workforce development, addiction recovery, financial empowerment, and transportation. According to Bryan Lewis, President /CEO of Hope House Ministries, they kept hearing their clients consistently cry “I have the job – and the skills – but I don’t have the way to get there!” 

Through relationship-based case management of their developmental programs (e.g., Jobs For Life and Faith and Finance), Hope House staff investigated specific client situations. (True Charity Network members can access overviews of these types of development pr

ograms here.) They discovered that the cost to be transported to a job in their area was simply unfeasible. Rideshare programs were charging $20 one way. For someone making less than $8 an hour, paying that amount was out of the question.

Moreover, many people they serve don’t own a vehicle. And those who do, often face the insurmountable challenges of high insurance premiums, astronomical repair and maintenance expenses, and vehicle unreliability. The true costs of owning a vehicle prohibit many people experiencing poverty from dreaming of that possibility.

Furthermore, over a brief time span, the Bowling Green area witnessed 27 of 33 manufacturing plants move outside the city center, and some dissolved entirely, causing the overall need for reliable transportation to and from other regions of employment to increase significantly.

Like thousands of small to mid-sized towns across America, Bowling Green is not a sprawling, metropolitan hotspot; the city does not fund an extensive public transportation system. They offer a “Go Bus” which operates only within the city limits.

The need was glaringly obvious. So Hope House launched their Ready to Work Shuttle.

 

The Process & Procedures

They identified two main regions where most potential riders needed transportation, and they built their shuttle routes around those destinations accordingly. Presently, the shuttle transports to over two dozen places of employment within these two regions.

The process is impressively simple and streamlined. Potential riders complete a simple request form online. It’s important to note that Hope House requires one initial form that is not long, complex, or confusing. Otherwise, many potential riders seeking help simply won’t be able to follow through.

Participants agree to arrive at the Hope House parking lot 30 minutes before their shift. For a fee of $35 per rider, per week, they are granted a ticket for five round trips, and each rider is dropped off at the door of their employment. Since many participants cannot afford the initial cost before they receive their first paycheck, first time riders are offered their first two tickets for free. Also, participants in Hope House’s Jobs For Life program are given a discount.

Their own residents and program participants are employed as drivers for the shuttle and are paid an hourly rate. They transport approximately 30 riders each month.

To ensure that the program continues to run smoothly, Hope House requires every potential rider to agree to, and sign, a simple rider policy. Shuttle driver employees must do the same. Additionally, audio-visual equipment installed on the van runs and records the entire time the van is in operation. This technical measure deters potentially harmful situations and gives an accurate account in case the need arises.

According to Bryan, the biggest mistake they made when starting this program was not having rider and driver policies in place before they offered their first ride. This lack of foresight provided a stage for conflicts – “he said, she said” scenarios that rarely occur now.

 

Since the charge to riders is $35 per week, but the overall operational cost is significantly higher (approximately $85 per rider, per week), the rider fees alone do not fully fund the program. Churches and businesses provide both financial and marketing support. Hope House is diligent to track all monetary needs and income as exemplified in their annual fiscal report.

Hope House uses the van itself to attract donors. Corporations can choose to invest various amounts and are given advertisement space on the van, which travels over 50,000 miles annually.

The shuttle program has incredible support because the need is so well-known and so widespread. Even local news outlets took notice right after the program’s launch, and opposing forces seem to be non-existent.

 your city with several places of employment might have no public transportation, but a business might provide funding in order to allow potential employees to be employed in otherwise elusive jobs. Churches may have members who would donate their time and vehicles to help. . . there are many ways to start small.

The Obstacles and Response

However, as with the implementation of any worthy and sustainable venture, obstacles did arise. When they first started, finding insurance was a real issue so they enlisted a local business partner to help them. Only one insurance company agreed to insure them, and they discovered that since the Ready to Work Shuttle is considered a taxi service, they also had to secure and fund a secondary policy for taxi insurance.

The best advice that Brian offers to organizations and churches who want to minister to people in this manner is two-fold: Do your research and start small. 

Ask:

• What will it cost to insure the entire program?
• What are the local and state laws and regulations for rideshare or taxi services?
• What revenue can you bring in from the riders themselves?
• Survey your potential participants for information:
  • Would they pay for a ride to work?
  • How much are they willing to pay?
  • Would they sign a rider agreement and commit to following procedures?
  • Where is their area of employment?

Start small, with a service that can be implemented with little complexity. This approach can take on many faces. A social service provider might need transportation for their clients. A local prison may need transport for their reintegration program. An area in

How do they staff such an excellent program? Hope House employs a full-time transportation coordinator. Although he has other ministry tasks, his primary focus and job duty is to make sure potential riders get to their jobs in a timely and sustainable manner. The transportation coordinator’s duties include:

• Setting routes and schedules
• Supervising all drivers
• Overseeing the driver and rider policy and procedures
• Tracking maintenance for the shuttle van;
• Documenting expenses, rider information, and route data
• Maintaining daily driving logs
• Managing the communication of the riders’ and drivers’ needs
• Driving the shuttle during daytime hours

 

The Future & Opportunities

In 2017, the city contracted for an extensive research analysis of the transportation needs for Bowling Green. The analysis reported an overwhelming need for transportation to social services – just the type of services that Hope House provides! Not surprisingly, the city has contacted them about transportation services not offered by the municipality. Hope House is presently collaborating with city leaders about potential solutions, so that more people will be able to successfully provide for themselves and their families.

For those ready to own their own transportation, Hope House offers another service to their community – its Driver Ready Program. They receive donated vehicles and complete any maintenance required to prepare the vehicles to be sold in good, working condition. Then the vehicles can be purchased by their Faith & Finance program graduates, with income-based payments and no interest financing. 

Now the question, “Why can’t those people just go to work?” is being asked with less frequency, at least in one small town in Kentucky. Now more people are able to provide for themselves, thanks to the Hope House of Bowling Green.

 

 

 

“If you have a strong enough character, people don’t care about your criminal record, your disabilities, the addictions you’ve had,” Rich Schaus, Executive Director of the Muskogee Gospel Rescue Mission, asserts. “That’s what we’re trying to develop in the men and women here–undeniable virtue that makes the past irrelevant.”

Rich sees the sad but familiar story play out every day in his role at the Oklahoma mission: So many men and women with criminal backgrounds are ready to turn over a new leaf in their lives but encounter roadblocks at every turn.

“It’s everything from getting car insurance to finding a place to live. Some car insurance companies won’t cover you if you have a felony, even if the felony had nothing to do with driving. Landlords see it as too risky a move to let someone with a criminal record live on their property, particularly if it’s a drug-related charge,” Rich explains.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for former felons Rich sees is finding employment.

“Everyone knows that people who have felonies on their record have a hard time getting a job,” Rich says. “And, sure, every community has a list of ‘felon-friendly’ employers.” While a step in the right direction, Rich laments the little-known fact that many of these employers will put applicants with felonies at the bottom of their list, only hiring them “if they’re desperate enough.” Though it is possible in some cases to get a record expunged, it’s expensive and time-consuming. Even still, in the internet age, a record is never truly erased–it’s not uncommon that a potential employer will discover a criminal charge through an old article or a news story from years ago.

These hurdles can make a return to a life of crime seem tempting or even unavoidable to those who face them.

“Survival instinct is strong in people,” Rich reminds. So often, people make bad choices that can look inexplicable from the outside, but Rich’s encouragement is to view people’s lives and choices in context.

“People will do what they need to survive. If they learn that in spite of effort to do the right thing that they can’t care for themselves and their families, that presents a strong incentive to stealing or selling drugs or whatever you used to do to provide for yourself.”

While these are difficult obstacles indeed, Rich shares the good news that they are not insurmountable. In his estimation, there are three essential elements to a successful strategy for getting over the hurdles: the returning citizen must undergo demonstrable character change that makes past wrongs irrelevant, relationships must be fostered with employers so they feel more comfortable taking calculated risks on men and women with rough histories, and the nonprofit leader must be willing to act as a mediator between the former felon and community connections.

 

Character Change

One way in which Rich helps men and women develop strong character is through his four-week class, Forging Past the Felony. While primarily geared toward guests at the Muskogee Gospel Rescue Mission, the class is open to the community, including people with loved ones who have criminal records.

 

“A lot of what we do in that class comes down to reprogramming,” Rich shares. “It’s helping people rethink their habits, their mindset, and their identity.”

Over the course of four weeks, participants learn about their purpose as humans created in God’s image, they take time to evaluate the relationships in their lives and identify connections that need healed, and they work on developing new, healthy habits.

When Forging Past the Felony participants have completed the program, Rich invites them to meet regularly with him one-on-one for mentoring and coaching. It’s during this time that they identify individual challenges and create a game plan to address them.

Regarding the power of demonstrable character change, Rich shares a success story: One program participant landed a desk job at a local hotel in spite of her rough criminal history because the employer didn’t run a background check for this entry-level position. She excelled at her job and eventually found herself in the running for the manager position at that hotel.

“At that point, the employer ran a background check and was shocked at what he found in her past. There’s no way he would have hired her for a management position with a rap sheet that long, had he not known her,” Rich explains. “But, because he had gotten to know her and witnessed firsthand her character and strong work ethic, he decided to take a chance and offered her the management position.”

Today, that same woman has advanced to regional manager in that hotel chain, overseeing multiple hotels in a four state area. She has undeniably advanced to a stable position in life–and it was dually thanks to her new-found character and an employer willing to take a chance on her.

 

Form strong relationships with employers:

The next critical component Rich identifies is nonprofit leaders forming strong relationships with employers in the community, knowing that they’re more likely to take a risk on someone with a rough past if that person is recommended by someone they know.

“It’s like developing a friendship,” Rich explains. “I don’t immediately approach them about whether they’re willing to hire someone who’s gone through our programs.”

Instead, Rich will typically ask to meet up for coffee with a community employer to explain more about the programs at Muskogee Gospel Rescue Mission. From there, he sets up a tour of the mission, making sure to explain their WorkStart program designed to create job preparedness. The WorkStart program is a different program from Forging Past the Felony, but the two often work in tandem.

“While that person is touring, I make sure to ask him things like, ‘What are the skills you need in an employee? What are you looking for in a potential new hire?’” Rich shares. And those questions are not just performative – Rich really listens to what employers want and need. To demonstrate that he takes their feedback seriously, Rich sends the employer a document detailing expectations for each level of the food service track of the WorkStart program, thanking them for specific advice they were able to give that Rich added to the document.

Allowing employers to see how they measure growth in job preparedness also equips Rich to be able to explain where a program participant is at in objective terms. “When I get to the point that I’m sending guys over to an employer to be considered for employment, I’m always honest about where they’re at. I’ll let them know that they’re a level 2, having grown in soft skills and now learning to lead. Or, I can share that they’ve progressed to a level 4 and are now supervising all other workstart work tract participants,” Rich explains. Because the employer has been familiarized with the program, Rich and the employer are able to speak frankly about the applicant’s ability in mutually understood terms.

“At the end of the day though, employers need to know that I’m not just some bleeding heart. I’m only going to send applicants that I actually think will do a good job, and I’ll always be honest about where they’re at.”  This often requires Rich to have difficult conversations with shelter guests when they have not yet proven themselves when a job opportunity comes up.

On that note, Rich encourages other leaders working with returning citizens to not take it personally if they do lose out on an opportunity by dropping out or doing a poor job. “If you’ve built a relationship with an employer, he or she will understand. It may take them a while to try again, but you can build back.”

 

Mediate between ex-felons and employers:

Rich sees mediation between former felons and employers in the community as a critical part of his role: He helps each group understand the other better and encourages them to build bridges.

As an example, Rich helps participants in Forging Past the Felony strategize about how to talk about their past in a way that doesn’t close doors of opportunity.

“We had one woman who went through the class who wanted to be a buyer for Macy’s –helping choose the products they sell in store. As we were helping her prepare for her interview, we encouraged her to be honest about her past as someone who sold drugs,” Rich shares. While honesty was emphasized, Rich helped her think through how to talk about in a way that made sense to the employer, including talking about the necessary skills she was excited to use in a much healthier context. She was gifted in networking, understanding what makes a good product that’s appealing to customers, and selling, and she was ready to put those skills toward something healthy and beneficial now that she had turned over a new page.

Sometimes, the mediation role means opening up lines of communication and facilitating making things right.

One Forging Past the Felony participant shared with Rich that he had, years before when he was living in addiction and crime, stolen about $400 of product from a local Walmart. Though he was never caught, the man had undergone significant character change and felt convicted that he needed to take $400 from his paycheck at his new job and give it back to that Walmart.

Fortunately, Rich knew the Walmart store manager. He was able to ply his social connections to arrange a meeting with him. As a show of support, he accompanied the nervous man to the meeting.

“It was so humbling to see this jail-hardened man so strongly convicted and yet trembling at the same time as he handed the manager the money and apologized,” Rich recalls. 

Rich shares that the store manager later called him to tell him that he was going to push for a re-evaluation of their policy regarding hiring felons as a result of that man’s courageous act to make things right. Had Rich not been willing to leverage his social connections to arrange and attend that meeting, the store manager may never have gotten to experience this perspective shift. As is, the story is a testament to the power of character change and leveraged social capital in changing people’s preconceptions.

“I love these men and women. I was so tired of seeing them stuck,” Rich shares about why he started the Forging Past the Felony program four years ago. “I want to help them define a new direction in their lives and make that new direction so evident that it’s undeniable to the people around them.”

 

The Muskogee Gospel Rescue Mission is a member of the True Charity Network. You can connect with Executive Director Rich Schaus in the member’s directory.

 

 

 

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s monumental decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, people increasingly will turn to private, local pregnancy clinics for support. Fortunately, many of these clinics are well-positioned for this sudden cultural pivot, as they’ve been sharpening their strategic care for men and women in crisis for many years. One such clinic is Choices Medical Services, located in Joplin, Missouri.

Choices Medical Services helps men and women facing a variety of sexual health crises, from unexpected pregnancy to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Choices’ mission is to “empower individuals to make healthy life choices through education and medical services.” According to Choices Executive Director Karolyn Schrage, that empowerment is delivered through education, access to quality health services, and compassionate support.

But there’s a difference between intuiting versus knowing that the education and services provided actually result in healthier life choices. And at Choices, they make it their business to know that what they are doing works; if it doesn’t, they are quick to course correct.

This is accomplished through rigorous data collection and outcomes measurement. As Karolyn puts it, for Choices, it’s all about “constant review of statistical evidence and re-shaping of programs accordingly.” There’s no guessing about each of their program’s effectiveness.

When asked about the demographics of those served through Choices, Karolyn laughs: Their services truly run the gamut and serve both men and women, of all ages, from any economic level. While their clients do vary quite a bit, Karolyn identifies young women who don’t have access to healthcare because they are below the poverty line as most prevalent. Regardless, across the spectrum of clientele, Choices is purposeful in making sure their strategies really work.

Choices’ strategy to bolster sexual health and healthy life choices for their clientele is primarily achieved through prevention and intervention services.

On the prevention side, Choices is active in over a dozen local school districts through their program Compass, providing medically accurate information with the goal to delay teens’ sexual activity. Designed for 7th-9th graders, Compass is a 10-day program that educates students on STDs and STIs, pregnancy, contraception, healthy dating relationships and boundaries, and more.

Rather than trust that this programming is influencing teens to delay sexual activity (ideally until marriage), Choices staff is intentional about measuring attitudes, perceptions, and ideas about sex and relationships before and after the class via an anonymous survey (taken online via SurveyMonkey). To quantify shifting perspectives on an individual level, Choices is able to match pre- and post-tests while still maintaining anonymity for each student.

In the test, certain questions are intended to quantify increased understanding: Students are asked about the effectiveness of certain types of birth control, about STDs/STIs, and where they could go if they had a question about their sexual health. They’re also asked about their previous sexual activity to identify each student’s starting point. The most important part of the survey, however, comes at the end: Are students more inclined to wait to have sex than they were before participation in Compass?

Fortunately, the data is clear: The program is well-received by teens and does result in reinforced commitment to delay sexual activity, even for those who have been previously sexually active. In fact, this was confirmed by an in-depth analysis by researchers at Missouri State University.

Sometimes, the data clearly support that what you’re doing is working, and possibly only minor tweaks are needed, such as with Choices’ Compass program. However, Karolyn and her team at Choices understand that isn’t always the case: A strategic, well-thought plan must be sensitive to the signals the data are giving, and the team must be willing to adjust accordingly even if that means making painful decisions to cut certain programs or services. This has been evidenced on the intervention side, the second prong of Choices’ strategic approach.

Choices provides intervention services for men and women in the Joplin, Missouri area who are experiencing a sexual health crisis. This includes early pregnancy detection, STD/STI testing, ultrasounds, limited OB-GYN consults, and more. The goal is to promote healthy choices that foster holistic wellbeing and to encourage women with unintended pregnancies to consider medically accurate information about their options.

The strategic plan to accomplish this goal begins before clients even walk through the door–or even before they’ve heard of Choices. In the wake of Roe vs. Wade being overturned, Choices understands the need to be increasingly proactive in informing those in the area with information about their free and confidential services. One strategy Choices implements to reach these folks is through social media campaigns, ensuring that their clinic pops up in the search results for those in the area who search topics relevant to pregnancy. They dutifully track how many clicks those ads receive as well as how many of the women–along with their partners–end up coming through Choices’ doors, all to ensure that their services are communicated clearly and the investment is worthwhile. 

Once women are at Choices, they meet with a friendly patient advocate who asks questions to learn her background, lends a listening ear, and helps create a supportive, welcoming environment for the client. In addition to filling out routine paperwork detailing contact information and medical history, the client is asked to complete a decision guide once she’s alone in the room.  This guide helps Choices gauge the client’s inclination toward abortion, the quality of her support system, and any specific concerns she has, such as abuse, addiction, childcare. The pregnancy is confirmed by a urine sample and an ultrasound in this first appointment. Typically, second and third appointments are scheduled for follow-up ultrasounds and a meeting with a volunteer OB-GYN, who makes recommendations for next steps. Throughout the nine months of pregnancy, Choices reaches out via phone call to the client to offer support and guidance.

At every step along the way, Choices is collecting data: They learn about the client’s situation and her attitude toward her pregnancy from the interview with the patient advocate and the decision guide, they track each client’s decision to continue to engage with Choices, and, finally, they track the client’s ultimate decision as to whether or not to carry the pregnancy to term. Happily, through this careful tracking, Choices is able to report that 90% of abortion-vulnerable women they serve choose not to abort.

Because Choices cares about each client’s holistic wellbeing, Choices also tracks other outcomes, including each time a spiritual discussion is generated by their clinic staff, changes in healthier lifestyle changes following HIV/STD testing appointments, and changes in knowledge after completion of parenting class modules.

However, as alluded to earlier, the data do not always give “two thumbs up” for every output. And when the data suggests that something’s not working, it’s time to re-tool or even cut programs or services entirely. Choices has certainly experienced their fair share of this in their continual effort to sharpen their effectiveness. 

For example, Karolyn shares that Choices used to meet with women for all nine months of pre-natal appointments but then realized through their data tracking that responsibility needed to shift to area hospitals. 

“We were finding that these prenatal appointments were so numerous and so long that they were preventing us from meeting with as many abortion-minded women early on in pregnancy as we could,” Karolyn explains. Knowing that those first several weeks of pregnancy are incredibly important and a great opportunity to influence someone who may be considering an abortion, they decided to cut back on other good outputs so that they could focus on those that were most important and led to their most desired outcomes.

Sometimes, the data led Choices staff to make decisions that were even counterintuitive. Being mindful of limited resources that were generously donated, Choices carefully tracked data from a new medical clinic that they had opened in a nearby community, a location about which they were very optimistic. However, their data collection showed over time that fewer resources were needed at the new location, whereas demand at their original Joplin location continued to increase. Eventually, this caused Choices staff to make the difficult decision to close the doors of their new medical clinic so they could focus on the location with the most demand.

“It was entirely based on watching the stats,” Karolyn explains concerning the decision. “As much as my heart didn’t want to give up, in the end, the outcomes spoke louder than my desires.”

Karolyn emphasizes Choices’ desire to be a faithful steward of all the resources that were donated to them: As a 100% privately-funded ministry, they rely on every dollar the community gives them and strive to use it wisely. Fortunately, when you’re tracking outcomes, it makes it easier to explain decisions that may be unpopular with donors, such as closing the new medical clinic. “Because we were tracking data, we were able to go back to donors and show them the math,” Karolyn shares. “Then they understood our reasoning, and it also demonstrated our heart for prudent stewardship of resources. The data enabled us to explain our need to calibrate and re-allocate according to what made the most sense.”

The Choices staff is composed of compassionate employees and volunteers motivated by a heart for hurting men and women experiencing sexual health crises. However, in this line of work, they’re careful to let their minds discipline their emotions.

“You can step into something in faith, but when you have your data in place, those should not work against the Holy Spirit,” says Karolyn. “We’re moving to where God is moving. We do believe in intuitive walking in the Spirit, but we also believe that should be based in logistics.”

Karolyn uses the construction of the temple as described in the Old Testament as an example of holding faith and reason in tension. “Those building the temple stepped out in faith to undertake this massive project,” she says. “But reading through the pages and pages of the description of that process demonstrates how much precision and strategic planning was involved. 

“So often, we want the temple outcome but without the precision to get there. That’s not how it works. It’s all about checks and balances,” Karolyn explains.

Finally, Karolyn shares some of the different iterations of Choices’ mission statement in accordance with their outcomes measurement. It’s most common that nonprofits will choose their outputs–services provided, classes offered, etc–based on their mission statement. But it can be the other way around, in which the mission statement is modified to better match the outputs and outcomes of the organization. Choices is a prime example of this.

Choices’ mission statement used to be as follows: “Dedicated to upholding the dignity of life through medical services, education, and resources.” However, Karolyn shares that they realized this mission statement resonated more with donors than with their intended clientele—women considering abortion could find that language alienating. Furthermore, it was no longer indicative of what Choices was doing. Their mission statement and accompanying by-laws focused on mothers in crisis, but Choices increasingly found themselves focused on the family as a whole: Being more intentional about involving the father from the beginning and educating children about sexual health and healthy life choices through the local school systems.

Careful to first ensure that this was not mere mission drift but rather a strategic shift toward their desired area of impact, Choices eventually changed their mission statement to the following: “Empowering individuals to make healthy life choices through education and medical services.”

Choices is dedicated to doing just that, even in the shifting sands of politics and culture. But what’s more, they’re ensuring they’re doing it in a truly impactful way through thorough, careful outcomes measurement.

 

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Choices Medical Services is a True Charity Network member. You can connect with Choices Executive Director Karolyn Schrage on the member’s portal.

Want help with outcomes measurement? Network members can check out the Outcomes Toolkit or our Real Results webinar on measuring outcomes.

Not a Network member?  Learn more about member-exclusive Toolkits and webinars.