Program Design and Implementation
“People are not problems to solve, projects to fix, or prospects to save, but instead, they are persons to be embraced.”
– Fred Liggin, Founder and Executive Director of Faith Community Development & Training
When hospitality links with asset-based collaboration practices, a movement of community development empowered by everyday people can work to solve local problems and address injustices for the common good. We believe that alleviating impact of trauma and reality of social displacement is a community-based effort that requires strong commitment and risky actions. We believe that the most creative long-term solutions to the problem of social displacement come from grassroots faith-based movements willing to collaborate with other nonprofits, social services agencies, and education institutions.
The 3e approach is to offer strategy and sustainability consulting for trauma-responsive program design and implementation for the workplace, non-profit sector, government sector, and faith-based communities, and follow up with thorough providing accredited education and training.
Program Design & Implementation
We believe churches and faith communities can play an integral role in leading people toward holistic sufficiency and transitioning people out of social displacement.
3e Partnering Churches participate in the journey toward holistic sufficiency with those living through social displacement in a few ways. Some partner financially through consistent giving–choosing to invest in a life through 3e Restoration, Inc. Other faith communities partner by receiving training in the 3e Curriculum, further equipping their congregation to serve their local communities in a holistic way.
Our staff utilizes our emergency shelter, Restoration Place, to help the neighbor/friend in need find stability as a coordinated system-of-care is established and tailored to their situation. This may include a 3e Partnering Church.
Becoming a 3e Community of Hospitality is a great way to begin engaging neighbors/friends in need. It is less intensive and involved than a 3e Restoration Ministry Partnering Church.
3e will equip, encourage, and empower a faith community to become a trauma-informed community of hospitality. 3e Communities of Hospitality partner with neighbors who need a community of friendships to surround them and, when needed, serve as advocates as they navigate the referring agency’s case management process (i.e. social services, human services, etc). Many of these neighbors are already housed and moving forward. They just need a community of trauma-informed support–a community of hospitality.
3e Communities of Hospitality are equipped by a three-hour (Tier 1) or four-hour (Tier 2) training that includes an introduction to personal and collective trauma, the social science of social displacement, self-care practices, and 4 of our 9 growth symbols (coaching tools).
Our 3e GoodNeighbor Network is consists of everyday neighbors who have varied levels of 3e Certifications volunteering their time to serve throughout our community in particular ways. For example, some serve as GoodNeighbor Connections to help neighbors settle into their new homes or grocery shopping, whereas some serve as on-call GoodNeighbor Emergency Responders to crisis situations for neighbors living through homelessness or as GoodNeighbor Advocates to help neighbors living through social displacement to navigate social services and resources.
We believe Housing First is the only trauma-responsive approach to housing as it addresses the most life-threatening circumstance: stable shelter. Programs we have designed, such as Home First and the Footprints Collaborative, coordinates permanent housing. It provides tenant-based rental assistance and a coordinated system of care based upon a strategic collaboration of service providers and agencies. Our housing first initiatives meet the Virginia Homeless and Special-Needs Housing Program match requirements.
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) coordinates housing vouchers obtained through a number of partners. Our PSH initiatives include the City of Williamsburg, James City County, and York County as well as other PSH partner providers. Our PSH initiatives includes individuals and families who are housing stable but require ongoing support services and/or prevention. All participants in this program are living with disabilities and/or seniors.
Restoration Place is a mass shelter and hotel/motel voucher “hybrid” model offering onsite intake & assessment for non-congregant hotel rooms. Shelter guests are offered housing stabilization services and resource coordination, including trained 3e Communities of Hospitality and/or 3e Restoration Ministries.
This program serves as an Assessment Point within the region’s Coordinated Entry System as a pathway to permanent housing and homeless services.
3e partners with employers to establish a workforce development program to hire neighbors and friends in need for a select period of time based upon a Coordinated System of Care Plan (CSCP). The CSCP is personalized for each neighbor/friend in need to guide them through the employment experience.
It includes a weekly meeting between a fully trained and certified employment coach and the neighbor/employee to work through 3e’s curriculum and coaching tools and is overseen by a 3e staff member. 3e will serve as on-call assistance for the employer as challenges arise. Upon completion of the CSCP the neighbor/friend in need graduates with a certificate of completion and a proven track record of employment readiness.
The benefit for the employer is to contribute to the creation of a productive workforce in our city. An additional benefit is the possibility of a great hire if the employer wants to make an offer to a neighbor/friend for a permanent role.
3e partners with employers to develop an Employment Assistance Program (EAP) to help increase the retention of employees. Similar to our Workforce Development Program, our Sustainability Program utilizes a Coordinated System of Care Plan personalized to each employee participating in the Employment Assistance Program.
We host colleges, universities, and faith communities from all across the nation for three to five-day poverty experiences. These are immersive learning experiences led by a friend who lives through homelessness. Each participant is given a case study from which they live for the week. The purpose of the experience is to awaken the mind and heart to catch a glimpse of the trauma-inducing complexity of social displacement, as well as to cultivate greater compassion. Our hope is that all who participate form a renewed imagination for how they will seek to be faithfully present to neighbors living through social displacement in their cities.
Here is a snapshot of the colleges, universities, and churches that have participated in a 3e Poverty Experience:
- Auburn University Christian Student Center
- Oklahoma State University Christian Student Center
- Williamsburg Christian Church Student Ministry
Our 3e Coaching Network provides organized wrap-around services which enable our neighbors and friends in need with the necessary life tools and vital resources to continue their journey toward holistic sufficiency. Our 3e Coaches provide those neighbors living through social displacement with the following resources:
- MENTAL HEALTH: licensed professional counselors provide counseling and therapy
- PERSONAL HYGIENE & DENTAL CARE: dentists provide evaluations and dental work; beauticians provide haircuts and hair styling
- PHYSICAL WELLNESS: occupational therapists, chiropractors, physical therapists, and nutrition experts provide holistic treatment for debilitating physical ailments
- JOB READINESS: business professionals specialize in job readiness and executive recruiting provide assistance with preparing a resume and training for job interviews
- LEGAL ASSISTANCE: attorneys provide specialized legal aid
- FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: financial counselors advise friends in need on the best financial management practices
This list is not exhaustive. We have 3e Coaches with the ability to offer auto repairs, interior designing expertise, speech therapy, and other services that could greatly benefit our friends in need. If you or your business have a heart for alleviating poverty in a holistic and relational way, please consider joining our 3e Coaching Network.
Check Out Our Latest Partnership: Column 15 Coffee Roastery
We are thrilled to have our own 3e blend of coffee thanks to the brilliance of Column 15 Coffee Roastery called, 3e Guatemalan Dark. It is a dark roast, bold in flavor with a sweet finish. When you buy these bags, 15% will go toward the work of community development for neighbors living through social displacement. Visit Column 15 at 701-R Merrimac Trail, Williamsburg, Virginia, or order online.
