Capstone Project 1: The Fundamentals
Core Values
The core values of the St. John’s Homeless Shelter in Green Bay, Wisconsin are preserving and furthering human dignity, restoring hope, assisting with goal achievement, and obtaining self-sufficiency (St. John’s Homeless Shelter, n.d.). These core values are connected to advocacy in terms of advocation for the rights of the homeless population to not spend unnecessary nights on the street or be exposed to danger and the elements. While the shelter provides emergency housing for those who do not have other housing options, the shelter’s programs also assist with combatting alcohol and drug abuse, financial counseling that helps guests transition out of homelessness, assistance with applying for government housing programs, and providing donations for guests’ first homes following shelter life. These programs not only advocate for the rights of the homeless population, but provide leadership for social change. Instead of disregarding the homeless population as non-humane and/or disregarding their social position as the population’s complete fault, the shelter and its programs realize the problem of homelessness is a complex socioeconomic issue that takes understanding and assistance from all members of society. The shelter’s core values not only improve the physical, emotional, psychological, and financial well-being of its clients, but allows volunteers, staff, and the community to remove the stigmas associated with homelessness. A higher degree of empathy is developed amongst those who assist with eradication and prevention of homelessness.
Although there is an absence of a formal mission statement on the organization’s website, the mission of the organization seems to be a combination of “connecting people with purpose” and “restoring hope” (St. John’s Homeless Shelter, n.d.). This mission is highly aligned with all of St. John’s values. While connecting people with purpose is more aligned with the values of goal achievement and achieving self-sufficiency, the restoring hope portion of the mission is highly connected with the value of human dignity. The meanings of purpose, goal achievement, and self-sufficiency are interdependent, although human dignity could also be perceived as overlapping the achievement of meaningful purpose. The mission promotes both advocacy and social change by restoring hope and purpose to a population that has lost both through the stigmas and difficulties associated with being homeless. However, being that the apparent mission statement itself is so succinct, it does not necessarily provide evidence of how St. John’s contributes to the well-being of individuals, groups, or societies. Although hope and purpose can certainly be attributed to psychological and emotional well-being, there is not enough of a description within the mission statement that indicates how hope and purpose are being carried out.
Similar to the mission statement, there is an absence of a clear designation of St. John’s vision. The closest statement that resembles an organizational vision is the following: “provides night-to-night temporary emergency shelter to adult men and women. St. John’s believes in meeting each guest right where they are at. Programs and services are then offered in the context of the furtherance of human dignity to assist each guest in goal attainment and self-sufficiency” (St. John’s Homeless Shelter, n.d., para. 1). The vision statement also communicates the values of the organization so it is completely aligned with the concepts of advocacy, helping homeless populations achieve goals and self-sufficiency, and restoring human dignity and hope. The organization’s vision statement promotes advocacy, leadership, and social change. By providing the adult homeless population with temporary shelter, the organization is advocating for the need for the homeless to find a safe, comfortable, warm place to sleep for the night. The shelter’s vision statement demonstrates leadership through the promotion of providing tailored programs and services according to where each guest is at in his or her situation. Social change is communicated through the portion of the statement that points to self-sufficiency. Instead of only providing a temporary solution, the organization’s programs seek to discover the primary root cause of homelessness in each guest and help each guest work towards overcoming the barriers to full social assimilation.
The key stakeholders involved in the organization include the guests, the board of directors, staff members, volunteers, and the Green Bay, Wisconsin community. Internal stakeholders include staff members, volunteers, and the board of directors. External stakeholders include guests and the greater Green Bay, Wisconsin community. While guests could also be considered internal stakeholders while they are residing at the shelter, since their residence is temporary, they would primarily be considered as external stakeholders as members of the Green Bay community. However, it is possible that some stakeholders would be considered both internal and external. For example, a volunteer or staff member who also resides in Green Bay would be considered both. The board of directors is responsible for providing leadership and managerial oversight, while staff members are responsible for implementing the shelter’s programs and services. Some staff members, such as the executive director, would be considered as fulfilling a managerial role as well. Volunteers play the role of assisting with implementation of the shelter’s programs and services, albeit at a lower level than the majority of the organization’s staff members. Without guests, the organization would not exist and as recipients of the organization’s services, they could become current or future advocates for the organization’s mission. Community members who have not stayed at the shelter could also become advocates for the organization’s mission, provide donations, or become future volunteers. The board of directors, staff, and volunteers could provide operational information, as well as information about the services provided to guests. These stakeholders could also shed light on the needs the organization has, identify gaps, and describe how guests have been able to successfully transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. The guests themselves could provide information on the quality of services they receive, whether they are helpful, and offer insights into how the organization can improve its outreach. Community members could play a critical role in providing information about how the organization is perceived from the outside, whether there is adequate awareness of what the organization does and the importance of what the organization does, as well as identify barriers to adequate community involvement.
References
St. John’s Homeless Shelter (n.d.). St. John’s Homeless Shelter. Retrieved from
https://www.stjohnhomelessshelter.org/about/our-organizations/st-johns-homeless- shelter/#1539623763794-e8514c26-9f67
L Anderson
HUMN6660Week3CapstoneAssignment.docx
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