Thriving Connections is an intentional way for people to build relationships across class and race lines to end poverty in their communities. The Guiding Coalition acts as an advisory board for the local initiative. It is a representative group that includes people from all ages, economic classes, faiths, political viewpoints and races who are committed to building their community and ending poverty. The Guiding Coalition member has three primary goals: Use their role within the community and relevant stakeholder groups to gain the community's support of the Thriving Connections initiative; Provide their energy and resources to contribute to the Guiding Coalition collaborating with the lead organization to implement the Thriving Connections initiative; Increase their own awareness and urgency regarding poverty by actively building relationships across race and class lines, and modeling the way.
Join an advisory group of the Guiding Coalition that focuses on a specific part of the Thriving Connections initiative and attend monthly planning meetings for that group.
Captain/Ally Advisory Group - Plans programming for the Weekly Community Meetings, Captain training, Ally training, and resource groups
Economic Stability Advisory Group - Connects Captains with employers, educational institutions, and financial institutions to increase Leader's resources and strengthen overall economic stability.
Funding, Recruitment, & Outreach Advisory Group- Works with the SCCAP Director of Communications and Development and be responsible for increasing our visibility and name recognition in the community through events, PR documents, and media outreach and will recruit Captains, Allies, Meal, and other volunteers. Leads the Thriving Connections community in identifying, discussing, and problem-solving barriers to getting out of poverty; Research and apply to grants to promote goals of the Thriving Connections Initiative; research, plan, and facilitate fundraisers for to promote goals of the Thriving Connections Initiative.
Talking about Change Advisory Group- The focus of this group will be planning programming on issues that our community feel is important and create additional hurdles in our fight against poverty. Some subjects to be addressed will be, but are not limited to, racism, the LGBTQ community, mental health, and both visible and invisible disabilities.
Tech Advisory Group - This advisory group works with all things tech to help TC stay connected and informed. This advisory group will help TC collect and manage its data electronically as well as come up with new ways to help connect TC members to each other and to resources in the community. Possible projects include: making sure all TC members are connected to email, providing technology (tablets) pre-loaded with links to information and TC notes/star charts, digitizing ROMA data collection and storage, and creating a way to digitally store and share ship notes and star charts. This advisory group will also manage/oversee an electronic TC newsletter and/or website.
Youth Advisory Group-Identifies age-appropriate activities and information to address resource areas. Recruits, trains and supports volunteers that work without youth and builds reciprocal relationships with other youth-serving agencies in the community.
Potential Commitments/Opportunities: Attend monthly Guiding Coalition meetings. At least one member of each of the six advisory groups will be present at the monthly Guiding Coalition meeting in order to report the goals and progress of that advisory group. Work in between meetings to accomplish tasks determined at monthly meetings (approximately 2-5 hours per month) Receive training in a model of understanding the environment of poverty and its challenges and strengths. Become involved in some practical manner with the implementation of the Thriving Connections initiative. Guiding Coalition Chair or Co-Chair commitment: Create an agenda for the monthly Guiding Coalition meeting, including topics that will be discussed. E-mail this agenda to the Volunteer Coordinator, Thriving Connections Coordinator, and members of the Guiding Coalition Responsible for coordinating with staff and teams to ensure Guiding Coalition is working effectively.
