What Makes it Successful

Based on over 10 years of running the Joining Hands Program, we have found the following as key reasons the program has been successful.

1. Our Approach

We have found that the key to building enduring, meaningful relationships, which in turn leads to building trust and engagement, is built on approaching the residents with an unconditional attitude of service.  We believe it is important to not have another agenda at work in conjunction with the in service approach.  The residents are highly attuned to look for these competing agendas and will withdraw and not engage when they encounter them.  Our experience has shown that it best if the primary and exclusive goal is one of unconditional service.

This means there should be no agenda to spread the message of your church or religion as part of building these relationships, or as a condition of receiving the service.  You should not require they subscribe to your faith before you will start a relationship with them.  You should look to build relationships with people no matter what faith or beliefs they may have.  Your act of service should be unfettered by conditions and prerequisites. Your act of service should be for them, and them alone.  Only then will you be able to break through their resistance, to start to build trust, and to be truly engaged in a meaningful, caring relationship.

To build trust, you must be open and genuine in why you are stepping into their lives, in why you are being of service; to believe that it is the right thing to do, and that there is no other reason why you are there.  

2. A Champion

While the Joining Hands Program will take many hands to make it work, it requires a strong champion to get it going and to sustain it.  There is a degree of planning and coordination required to make the program run successfully.  A champion is required to lead the interaction with the communities and local governments, and to organize and mobilize the teams of volunteers to make the program come alive.  The champion is an individual, or a small team working together to build and maintain the program, sharing in carrying the weight of tasks.

3. A Commitment

In our experience, this effort of transforming communities never really ends.  It goes on over many seasons, as residents transition out of the at-risk community and new people come in.  Relationships need to be built over several years, and new ones started along the way.  Think of the Joining Hands Program as a Community Mission that should be sustained for as long as there are at-risk communities.

If you were to start the Joining Hands program in your community, you should expect it will take at least three years to start to see meaningful, enduring results. However, you will see some positive results in the first year if you make the effort to build relationships.

4. Best Fit

We have designed the Joining Hands Program based on what has worked for us across the communities we have served.  We have identified different activities that have been effective in the building of enduring relationships, and have summarized those on this website.  But we have also found that each community is unique in terms what works best for them.  We have identified four Core Activities that have proven to be the base minimum you need to run in order to effectively have an impact on a community.  The optional Additional Activities should be considered if you have sufficient capacity to organize and run these activities, and you should select only a few at any one time to run and test.