When everyone is in charge, no one is really in charge
Helping

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. Dr. Seuss

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
― Dr. Seuss

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

Frederick Douglass

http://www.patientadvocateforyou.com/

http://www.advoconnection.com/fees.htm

Fees for Patient Advocate Services:

When you request help from a patient advocate, you should expect the advocate to charge you for the services he or she performs on your behalf.  Health insurance does not ordinarily cover the cost of patient advocate fees, although some employers will assist with payment. Advocates use different kinds of fee structures, depending on the kind of advocacy services they perform.  Here are some ways advocates may charge you. Not all advocates will charge all fees.

• Initial assessment fees (to get to know the patient and to determine the scope of work and services needed) • Hourly rates • Deposit to an hours bank (when total amount of time needed will be unknown, patient will pay for a number of hours upfront, and amount will be reconciled throughout the relationship) • Retainers (a certain number of hours per week or month, depending on your needs) • Project fees • Percent of savings (example:  review of hospital billings)

Asking about the cost of services is part of your patient advocate interview process.  Be sure to get a good idea of what the work will cost before you hire your patient advocate.

Introduction  

No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care!

Sept 9, 2001 911 When the tragedy occurred, most people were fleeing the scene while "Emergency Responders" were seen rushing to the scene. 
When people observe a problem/negative situation, what are the options:

1. Nothing
2. Flee the scene
3. Report the problem
4. Observe
5. Approach to view better
6. Assisting safely
7. Risk their life, assisting

In a community/neighborhood situation, what are the options?

1. Nothing
2. Flee the scene (Move)
3. Report the problem (Call the authorities)
4. Observe (Spectataor)
5. Approach to view better
6. Assisting safely
7. Risk their life, assisting

The person needs help, getting help! Pastor Flick Grezel

Hurt people, hurt people.

No one thinks they are to blame "no single snowflake thinks it is responsible for the avalanche"

Too much time taken on administration, what is needed is more "boots on the ground" concept. Trouble is is that this type of work is dirty, and unpredictable and very difficult.  But,.. if we reassigned people for admin positions to face-to-face, more would be achieved. 

Trouble is, the "Big Picture' is too big for 99.999% of people. Is this poor management? We need a "the buck stops here" environment somewhere!

Why are Christians less effective that they should be?  Afraid to put Truth into action? 

Home Visits are key, hand-holders, whatever it takes! (WIT)

The disparity between good paying jobs and benefits are widening.

Bureaucrats might become "less in touch" with those they are serving if they don't understand what true needs are.  

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does”

 Margaret Mead

Needs to be created...

Improving our communities by looking at the BIG picture! 

Start with a vision, what do we really want? How do we get there?

Create major prominent "topics" or sectors, show how they can be conquered, what needs to be done by

Create the vision

provide basic research, present both sides, the criticisms, compare the effects of research and 

1- changing ones own lifestyle 

2- helping others

3- working together 

4- changing policy

Very few programs and initiatives are understood by those outside the social services or educational domains. If we really want "Common Sense" to prevail, we need to make them understandable by many more people. By definition, if our programs are understood and embraced by common people, then they must contain common sense. One statement often heard is, we do it that way because it's always been done that way. Let's change "that way" as soon as possible. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Identify Resources

Identify General needs

Identify individuals who have issues

Group them into categories or sectors (Agree on common terms such as what are the various sectors?)

Find out what certain overarching issues exist and why?  Maybe they can be solved with simple procedural changes.

Use technology and efficiency to assist, "One Stop" Resource

Realize and truly “BELIEVE”  that prevention is much less expensive than remediation. 

 Surround the client with assistance, “Whatever it Takes”.

Each sector has a varied function and mission.  They need to specialize, or else we’d all be jack of all trades”, master of none.  Hence, the name Kingdom Solutions and the logo, of a castle, turrets or “silos” conned together as by castle walls.  I don’t need to know everything you know, I just need to know you, what yor area of expertise is and how to best work with you.

Decide within a community, who does what best and support them.  (RBA 101)

Scalability is incredibly interesting , can or should this situation be resolved at this level, or a more intimate level or higher level?

 Poverty is the 800 pound gorilla and is hurting our communities.

Education is perhaps one of the best ways to escape the cycle of generational poverty but w/o proper conditions to "visualize" breaking free, attempts are often futile. Circumstances are often overwhelming for those in poverty to have.

the vision and focus on the "hope" of the escape of poverty. Education therefore isn't a simple attainable step when their daily lives are in turmoil. 

"JFK + Jesse Jackson quote" muck in the bottom"

We need to create the "conditions" of a better future and empower + support those attempting to progress forward and rise above their current situations..

Poverty is not just a lack of money, but becomes a culture that often holds entire families back. Resources to remediate current circumstances are often plentiful, but due to inefficient coordination of solutions are often applied inefficiently.

Access to assistance "seems" abundant but there is a regressive situation that develops due to the fact that the more a "client" is in need, especially for multiple streams of help, the more difficult navigating "the system" becomes. Bottom-line, we need to change the system. Instead of requiring the "client" to register once with one entity to help, we require them to connect with multiple agencies, each often wit multiple caseworkers.   

Many anecdotal experiences point out the necessity for such drastic reform of the social services safety net.  

Advocacy for the elimination of poverty are vital and need to be a major weapon in this fight. Without a strong push to improve public sentiment toward practical solutions for poverty, the "political will" will not be sufficient to make the necessary changes.

A form of prejudice + discrimination undermines many efforts to help those who need it. With the proper information being disseminated to the public at large.

and the agencies and most importantly the funders, a new paradigm can be created to battle poverty + it's effects. The bottom-line is that poverty is not only detrimental to those "in" poverty, but to the community at large. Diminishing fiscal resources and a less than rosy future outlook requires immediate attention to this arena.

The present system is wrought with abuse and waste, but the problem is so large and extremely complicated, that systemic change is viewed as improbable. Every part of it is so intertwined with every other part so there is resistance to change. This interconnectedness between these entities is both a benefit in some ways and the problem. Almost everyone involved is aware of problems and could make suggestions for change, but "the system" is so large and unwieldy that no single effort has taken on this vital mission, until now.

 Welcome to the extremely vital mission of "Kingdom Solutions" 

"Working toward a more efficient humane model for our social service needs"

Advocacy - to make the problems and solutions understood and embraced to shape future policies and standard operating procedures.

Technology - making the most efficient use if our resources so that less resources  need to be spent on basic administration + more resources on  helping those in need.

Coordinated - helping efficiently where needed.

Looking at the big picture.

Efficient -

Job Creation -

A 2020 vision - 

Community building

Dissemination of existing information into useful formats.

Perhaps a database of searchable information???

wisely utilizing existing resources with a focus on prevention and long-term solutions. A penny saved is a penny earnerd and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Volunteer coordination

Fair-Broker for existing competing entities and missions

Filling in the "gaps in service delivery to benefit the community as a whole

Acting as the Fiduciary agent/

Advocacy for issues that are often necessary but not "politically correct" or politically expedient. The old adage, "we don't have a dog in the fight". What's RIGHT is RIGHT. If no one else is brave enough to advocate for truth, Kingdom Solutions will!

Match needs with volunteers. 

Most not-for-profits have a mission statement that focuses on a specific problem for a specific area. They soon find out that success is not easy to come by and they have mission-creep.  They tend to go become fluid in their mission because their plans become outdated as new threats appear.  they continually require larger budgets to fund more programs and more staff. Without prevention being the primary purpose, the problem always will become larger. 

Since Kingdom Solutions mission is to serve where needed and fill in the gaps in service in each specific community, there will always more than enough staff and funding available because existing resources are sought after first.  Much funding is spent on dealing with immediate needs, Kingdom Solutions resources will be focused on preventative matters.  All partners will agree on a focus on prevention, but only K. S. will have that as their overarching mission

Frog in the pan of water

quantify and qualify solutions on a scale; good, better best

A Board of Directors and officers

An Executive Director to handle daily administration

many volunteers to assist in areas of interest.

What is the most efficient scale to work solutions for?

Individual

Family

Neighborhood

Community Town/City County

Metropolitan 

State

County

Region

Country

Continent 

World

Up River analogy - If you were to solve the issues for one geographical area, you would eventually draw peole from all over the region because you would have a better solution for problems.  "If you build it, they will come' syndrome.

Floor moppers versus knob-turners - Some people are quick to start cleaning up the "mess', other look up to see that the water faucets need to be shut down ASAP 

This was not an easy concept to grasp until various , very specific "issues' were studied.  Then it became apparent that you can't alleviate a problem in a specific area if it's gains volume from outside the geographical area you are proposing to address. To illustrate this point, let's look a a few specific issues

Homelessness - The current situation

Hunger

Fatherlessness

Pros

Cons

This was one of the first pieces of graphic design I worked with.  The castle represents perhaps the most successful forms of government, a monarchy. A benovolent Monarch is often said to be the best form of government.  A Good King would protect his people from all external threats and allow them to live thier life in freedom.

The castle is where the monarch lives, but not where his people live.  They live outside the castle walls and are free to enter the castle to conduct business, to have a "appearance" before the king or his administrators. This approximates the differences in our political parties at this time in our history.  

One side claims that government interferes with our rights too much and taxes us to only take away our per4onal fortunes and then they re-distribute it to those who aren't as enterprising or heaven-forbid just plain lazy and willing to live on the public dole. They think of the government as "Big Brother" always spying on us and trying to take away our God-given rights and liberties!

The other side believes that government does have to be our "Big Brother" and has the Biblical duty of being our "brother's keeper" in many matters. They need to watch out for us and protect us provide services for those who are unable to do for themselves.

Even many in the faith-communities have a wide varying degree of  "political" animosity toward those with the other viewpoint. For this reason, it might not only be more prudent, but perhaps necessary to work to open the dialogue of the varying points of view.

One side believes that government has gone way past it's role and made America a nanny state, and one side beleives that the goverment has only filled in when and where the traditional social service providers such as the faith-community and the community organiztions have pulled back form serving and opened the door, in fact invited the government in.

There is a belief, perhaps  

.

O. J. Simpson Trial

Busting silos

The rainbow was a sign mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible and represents the Creator's covenant with us.

Brian Motola
Bryan Flint
Michael Purcaro
Phil Pietras
Laurie Morrison - Crossroads Church
Ann Scharin - Vernon School Readiness Council
John Zavetchin, Rich Diebolt, Roy Brendle, ,  - Rockville Church of the Nazarene
"The Rock" workers
Todd Schneider - "The Rock" Rockville Church of the Nazarene
Barbara Tyszka  - "The Rock" Rockville Church of the Nazarene
Chris Van Scoy  - "The Rock" Rockville Church of the Nazarene
Laura Corliss - School Psychologist @ Maple Street School
Mark Summers - CNC Software
Michelle Arn - 
Gary Moore - Men on A Mission
Area Churches -

Former profession, visited a lot of elementary schools and was bothered by the discrepancy between the physical resources.

The most critical thing a child can do to improve their chance of success in life, is to carefully choose the right (family to be born in.) set of parents to be born to."

I used to go to 20 meetings, now I go to 20 collaborative meetings!

To facilitate programs with other entities that might not be in the position to create a new non-profit 

Acting as the Fiduciary Agent for other charitable groups

(A more extensive and detailed version of this discussion appears in Chapter 14 of The Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers for Sector Switchers. That chapter and this shorter version were both written by Idealist staff member Putnam Barber.)

The world is in the midst of what one observer has called an "associational revolution." New nonprofits are being formed for every sort of purpose on every continent at the fastest rate in history. If you are thinking of joining this vast worldwide movement by starting—or helping to start—a nonprofit, here are some crucial things to think about.

Tip #1: All nonprofits are local. Even the globe-spanning, household-name organizations that operate in hundreds or thousands of places must learn about, and live with, complicated rules that differ greatly from place to place. Almost certainly, the second thing you will do when starting a nonprofit is to register with the local government agency that handles new "nongovernmental organizations" in the community where the organization will operate.

For advice about which government agencies will be involved in the U.S., try a nearby nonprofit support organization that you can probably find using the advice in the page that offers ways of looking for one. In other countries, there may be similar organizations or you may want to talk to an established nonprofit organization about the rules and the agencies that enforce them.

Tip #2: Local supporters are necessary. No one starts a nonprofit alone. No nonprofit operates in isolation. All "outside funders"—foundations, government agencies, corporate contributors, major donors—will want to see evidence that the community is involved in, and supports, the plan for the new organization. Big gifts and grants get a lot of buzz, but even in the countries where organized philanthropy is a major factor in the nonprofit sector, big gifts and grants amount to less than 15 percent of the funding that supports nonprofits' work. So, the first thing you will do when starting a nonprofit is to identify the circles of friends who know your work and develop a strategy for earning income from people who can help pay for the services they receive.

There are a lot of different ways nonprofits raise money. See a list with some hints about which method fits best in various situations.

Tip #3: Nonprofits can be — in fact, have to be — "businesslike." If "businesslike" means keeping good records, watching revenues and expenditures carefully, and being committed to thoughtful planning about when and how to grow, then every successful nonprofit has been businesslike at the heart of its operations – alongside its dedication to the community and to the people and causes being served. Without financial and service records, it is impossible to provide the community and other stakeholders with reliable information about the scope and value of the organization's work.

For an introduction to these questions, check out the
Nonprofit Management 101 discussion.

Tip #4: Often not starting a nonprofit at all is the best way to serve. In many communities, a full range of nonprofits are already hard at work. Finding a way to extend and support the work already being done may well yield greater benefit more quickly and at lower cost. The details will be different, of course, but spending time thinking about alternative paths toward the goal is an essential part of the planning for any new organization.

In some places, there are organizations devoted to fostering community service work by providing shared administrative services. In the United States, "fiscal sponsors" help out in this way. Wikipedia offers an explanation of how it works; one way to find out about similar arrangements in other countries is to ask existing NGOs for advice.

Sometimes the best idea is to find an organization whose work you admire and volunteer to help extend it. Idealist's Volunteer Center can help.

Tip #5: Plan for the long term. If your goal is to do something that can be done quickly, that's all the more reason to avoid creating a new organization (see Tip #4). Providing a permanent service or tackling a big problem, though, will require an organization that can be sustained for years, even generations. It's essential to have a clear plan for how the work will be carried on once the initial enthusiasms, and founding organizers, are no longer on the scene. This plan must include both solutions to governance questions (Who will be on the board? Who will lead the staff?) and management issues like where the money will come from and how new services will be designed and implemented. Answering the question, "But what would happen if you were hit by a bus?" isn't fun, but it's really necessary.

A brief sketch of the "nuts and bolts" of starting a new nonprofit organization in the U.S. is at Startup Nuts and Bolts.  http://www.idealist.org/info/Nonprofits/Startup2

Clear mission statements and good strategic planning are the foundation for long-term success. There's advice about these topics at What should a mission statement say? and The basic idea of strategic planning.

And the warning: In every part of the world, nonprofits are subject to regulation, scrutiny, and sometimes outright hostility. Great things have been accomplished by people working together to solve problems, meet community needs, and create valued institutions. But rivalries, suspicions, and limited resources have blocked many a good plan. After the initial difficulties have been surmounted, of course, there are further challenges involved in keeping an organization going. Even under the most favorable conditions, nonprofit leaders are often discouraged by how much of their energy is drawn away from "program work" into the tasks necessary for running an organization—any sort of organization—and dealing with external pressures and demands. In spite of the gratitude we all owe to the people who have built the nonprofits that sustain and enhance our communities, there are no general sources of assistance for that work and no guarantees of success.

The decision to found a nonprofit organization is not one to take lightly.

If you do decide to proceed, we hope you will find the offerings at Idealist.org a big help. You can list your organization for free, announce events, seek volunteers, describe publications, and recruit interns and staff (organizations in the United States pay a fee for job announcements). There are lots of ways to link up with supporters and draw on networks of colleagues and advisors. You can also use Idealist to identify other organizations working in your community, who may be tackling related issues or working toward complementary goals. Idealist's Resource Centers (see list at the bottom right on this page) offer discussions of many of the pressing questions you will encounter; they also point to many rich online sources of information, advice, and techniques available on the Internet. Good luck from all of us at Idealist.

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