Care Journey | Rethinking Poverty
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Description
What does it truly mean to understand poverty from a human perspective?
This conversation with Marlo Fox, Executive Director of Think Tank, delves into the transformative power of the Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) simulation, designed to enlighten participants on the lived realities of families facing poverty.
We will explore how COPE fosters empathy, challenges preconceived notions, and promotes collective action. The discussion highlights the significant roles of community and churches in poverty alleviation, advocating for relational approaches over transactional interactions. As COPE expands globally, including its recent reach into Canada, Marlo and the hosts emphasize the value of building meaningful, human-centred connections, particularly through tools like CarePortal. They also outline the mission of Think Tank, encouraging churches to enhance their community impact by focusing on relationships rather than programs. Tune in for insights on reshaping our understanding of poverty and exploring practical steps for community engagement.
Time Stamps
[03:15] Founded think tank to address poverty holistically.
[08:05] Realized others' struggles; importance of community awareness.
[11:39] Rethink poverty focusing on human, relational approaches.
[16:25] CarePortal technology facilitates community care connections.
[18:38] "Cope simulates poverty, fosters community understanding."
[21:40] Bringing vulnerability and understanding to Canadian communities.
[25:51] Focus on building relationships within the community.
[28:18] Building relationships is key to making a difference.
Guest Links
Think Tank: https://thinktank-inc.org/
Other Links
Reach out to us! https://journeywithcare.ca/podcast
Email: podcast@careimpact.ca
Listen To Journey With Prayer - A prayer journey corresponding to this episode: https://journeywithprayer.captivate.fm/listen
or get both podcasts on the same RSS feed! https://feeds.captivate.fm/n/careimpact-podcast
CareImpact: careimpact.ca
About the CarePortal: careimpact.ca/careportal
DONATE! Help connect and equip more churches across Canada to effectively journey well in community with children and families: careimpact.ca/donate
Editing and production by Johan Heinrichs: arkpodcasts.ca
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Imagine the whole church discovering their passion to care,
Speaker:one small group at a time.
Speaker:You're listening to this special podcast series, Care Journey,
Speaker:from the Journey with Care podcast.
Speaker:Fixing trying to fix things is different than lightening
Speaker:someone's load. So what what do friends do? We don't go around
Speaker:fixing each other. But we do think about how can I lighten somebody's load right
Speaker:now? Yes. It's not about erasing everything
Speaker:that's here that's contributing it in from an individual level, systemic level.
Speaker:That's a recipe for paralysis. But if we can start to say
Speaker:how can I lighten the load? Is there anything I can do to come alongside?
Speaker:Is there a way that I can listen and learn? Then what happens is
Speaker:my next step starts to be unveiled.
Speaker:Welcome to another episode of Journey with Care. We are in the midst of our
Speaker:Care Journey series. If you haven't listened to our previous episodes,
Speaker:this series is highlighting some of the
Speaker:topics key for Care Impact, and we're just giving you a taste
Speaker:here what our small group course is like. If you want to get more into
Speaker:it, visit careimpact.cacarejourney
Speaker:and you can get on the waiting list there to make it part of your
Speaker:small group. Really encourage you to do that. We've had nothing but great
Speaker:feedback so far. Also, I wanna remind you that we have journey with
Speaker:prayer, a 5 minute devotional series to start off your week. That's on a separate
Speaker:feed, or you can find it at journey with care dot ca. You can get
Speaker:it early there on Friday, the same time this one releases. Otherwise, you get it
Speaker:Monday. So make sure you check that out. Today, we have a special
Speaker:guest on with us, Marlo Fox. But before we get into that
Speaker:conversation, I wanna remind you that we can only continue to produce great
Speaker:content because the generosity of our listeners, our donors
Speaker:of Care Impact. And if you wanna support our work in the community, if you
Speaker:wanna support the podcast, head over to journey with care dot c a,
Speaker:and there are some links you can click there to be able to support
Speaker:us and the work that we are doing in the community. Or you can just
Speaker:go to the show notes, and there's some links there as well. Wendy, you wanna
Speaker:introduce our guest? Absolutely. I'm delighted to
Speaker:introduce, our friend to Carry Impact, Marlo Fox. She
Speaker:comes from Ohio in the the USA and,
Speaker:works with an organization as the executive director of Think Tank.
Speaker:Welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Wendy. It's so good to be here with
Speaker:you. Can you tell us a little bit about Think Tank?
Speaker:We've really appreciated the work you've done, but tell us what a little bit
Speaker:more about it. Yes. So think tank just turned 18
Speaker:years old. I can't even believe it. I'm one of the cofounders
Speaker:of think tank and have had the joy of working
Speaker:with, teams all across the United States. So as you
Speaker:mentioned, Wendy, our work originated here in Southwest
Speaker:Ohio, and our mission is to equip groups to rethink
Speaker:poverty and to partner directly with people
Speaker:that are affected for change in community.
Speaker:And so, with that, my own journey started
Speaker:out previous to this role. I was, in social work. I worked
Speaker:in workforce development. So in that role, I,
Speaker:got to know people in my community that were
Speaker:struggling to get into the workforce and actually have a
Speaker:living wage job. And so I was working day in and day out
Speaker:with families, right here that were navigating poverty.
Speaker:And what I learned through that was, you know, our answer, certainly in the
Speaker:United States, is the answer to poverty is just get a job and make more
Speaker:money. And as I got more deeply acquainted,
Speaker:and involved in people's lives, you know, work's important,
Speaker:and that was very rewarding. We were designed to work, right,
Speaker:to create, to contribute to our community, to other people's lives, and
Speaker:yet there were, you know, numerous barriers, that people were encountering
Speaker:just to get into the workforce or stay in the workforce. And all of them
Speaker:was this kinda complex interconnected web to poverty. And so
Speaker:I had the privilege to be able to found think
Speaker:tank, with the idea that we needed to work more holistically rather
Speaker:than in our silos. That meant doing a lot of capacity
Speaker:building and equipping work with groups that were on the ground,
Speaker:interacting with people, navigating different aspects of poverty,
Speaker:and to work to be a convener to bring those, groups to be more
Speaker:effective in their work and to build solutions with people that were
Speaker:navigating poverty instead of to them or for them. And so we've been at this
Speaker:for 18 years, and I'm sure we'll talk about how that's evolved, but that's a
Speaker:little bit of our history. Yeah. And while I've sat in through some of your
Speaker:sessions and your curriculum and even as you've been creating some of the and
Speaker:been a guinea pig, and I just have really appreciated the content
Speaker:that you have delivered, your team has created.
Speaker:And what I find interesting is you're right. Like, when we think of
Speaker:poverty, we're thinking of how do we, problem solve for the
Speaker:people that are in poverty. What I've really
Speaker:appreciated about your team is that you're working with people
Speaker:that are in poverty saying, how do we build capacity
Speaker:for those who wanna care? And you're really building the capacity
Speaker:of not how to get a job in the sense, which there's places for that
Speaker:as well. There's a need for that. However, you're building capacity in the
Speaker:local church. You're building capacity in the local community. How do we
Speaker:respond? How do we interact with that? Because poverty affects us all,
Speaker:but we're just not all as vulnerable. But how do we contribute? How do we
Speaker:neighbor well? And, I've really appreciated that you're
Speaker:working with people and not just for them. You
Speaker:shared a little bit, Marlo, about what got you started
Speaker:in think tank and and why there was a need for this
Speaker:organization. But what led up to that
Speaker:beforehand, before you were working? What were those moments? You
Speaker:were having an ordinary life, but did you grow up
Speaker:desiring to to be in the space of poverty alleviation and capacity
Speaker:building, or were there these moments that got you there?
Speaker:Yeah. I appreciate that you said moments because I think for
Speaker:most of us, it's not a lightning bolt revelation. There are lots
Speaker:of things that happen in our lives that continue to
Speaker:build into our calling and reveal, truth in our lives. And so
Speaker:I think I would say the same was true for myself. I did
Speaker:not personally grow up in poverty, but I became
Speaker:well acquainted with poverty as a young adult. I married somebody
Speaker:that did grow up in poverty and then began working in this
Speaker:space. So I think that perhaps my journey
Speaker:is similar to others who have taken
Speaker:that road, maybe gone into a vocation wanting to help
Speaker:based on maybe certain faith callings or skills
Speaker:or or gifts and care. And then realizing
Speaker:as I got into it that I thought I could help, but,
Speaker:actually, I also got helped, if that makes sense. And
Speaker:so I think that was, again, a series of moments
Speaker:based on maybe some faulty or incomplete paradigms
Speaker:is that I feel like so often we see
Speaker:the responsibility for poverty alleviation setting on the
Speaker:shoulders of those who are in poverty, and it's,
Speaker:them that need to change. And very quickly,
Speaker:I realized, oh, I need to change. And this is an
Speaker:ongoing process and will be for the rest of my life, but I think
Speaker:there were a number of things along the road
Speaker:that contributed to those awakenings for me. Some
Speaker:real concrete story. Initially, when I get into workforce development,
Speaker:part of what we were doing, we were offering GED classes. So in the US,
Speaker:that's, the equivalent of a high school diploma if you drop out of school.
Speaker:And I actually came back from college. I had gone out of
Speaker:state, came back to my hometown. I was working in the school district
Speaker:where I grew up, and we had people coming to
Speaker:our GED class that I had grown up with. I had no idea they had
Speaker:dropped out of high school. And so this revelation of, like,
Speaker:wow. Was I in a tunnel? Like, how were these people
Speaker:invisible to me? You know? And so just
Speaker:that, just realizing my own maybe, isolation
Speaker:or my own focus on myself and how I needed to be alert
Speaker:to parts of my community that were invisible to me and the pain that was
Speaker:invisible to me. So just a number of things like that. The
Speaker:other thing, again, I was in the position as a social worker
Speaker:to help others, so I there was a power imbalance there. Right? I was the
Speaker:one that was supposed to have the answer as a young person. You
Speaker:know? And then I found myself in conversations with people that were
Speaker:my clients, and they were pouring into me. They were giving me some
Speaker:answers for things that were going on in my life. So this, like, this
Speaker:idea of, again, doing 4 or the helper has
Speaker:the answer solution to more relationships
Speaker:and mutuality, which is, I think, a much healthier place to
Speaker:be as helpers or as just people that wanna come
Speaker:alongside neighbors in good ways. So, yeah, it was a number of those things,
Speaker:Wendy, that have shaped me and and continue to shape me in how I think
Speaker:about this work. See, Marlo, this is why I love you. There's so many good
Speaker:nuggets there, and I hope our audience has paid attention to those. It's just
Speaker:so true, and it shows in the curriculum and
Speaker:the resources that you are producing that it is created with, and
Speaker:and the people going through poverty become our professors. They're actually
Speaker:contributing to the solutions. It is so much more complex than the
Speaker:individual's bank account. And you're right.
Speaker:Poverty is hidden in plain sight. We don't know what
Speaker:poverty looks like in the day to day, and I think the individualism
Speaker:and the privacy of people's, lives in
Speaker:our society contributes to that. It doesn't it doesn't
Speaker:alleviate poverty when we we sit in our silos. There's so
Speaker:much more than meets the eye. Let's talk a little bit of
Speaker:poverty. What are the things that you have learned? Surely, poverty is
Speaker:more. You've alluded to it. Is more than just not having money or
Speaker:a a job. What are the ways that we could all identify with
Speaker:areas of poverty that we might be even be impoverished and
Speaker:not realize? Yeah. I mean, I I do think
Speaker:that just the recognition that our our
Speaker:brains, I think, shut down to complexity a lot of times. We
Speaker:wanna make it about that one thing. And the deeper
Speaker:you get into learning about people's lives, there is a lot of
Speaker:complexity there, but I think at the core,
Speaker:we understand because we are in bodies navigating
Speaker:a real physical tangible world, and we have a
Speaker:spiritual dimension to us and a physical and emotional and a
Speaker:mental dimension to us, and, that that's true for all of
Speaker:us. And so I think when you look at our work, think tanks work,
Speaker:that's why we center it on the human impact of poverty so that we
Speaker:can take a human centered approach to alleviating
Speaker:poverty. Right? And so there are these very
Speaker:tangible, realities of physical
Speaker:needs. You know, we have housing insecurity and food insecurity
Speaker:and, you know, all these things are undergirded
Speaker:by economics. Right? But there are numerous
Speaker:things that keep us maybe from
Speaker:being economically stable. And so as I mentioned, when I was
Speaker:doing workforce development and I got involved in people's
Speaker:lives and and would help open up opportunities perhaps to
Speaker:affirm their gifts and to get into a job, there were those tangible
Speaker:things that we often think about, such as barriers like
Speaker:transportation, childcare, you know, housing, food, and security, and all those things
Speaker:come out and cope. But, also, what happens is
Speaker:this individualism you talk about, Wendy, and and even scarcity
Speaker:mentality that we carry around, I think that has created
Speaker:isolation that compound those factors. Right?
Speaker:And so there's an emotional dimension to that. There's
Speaker:trauma that comes into that. There, are a number of
Speaker:things that contribute to our well-being.
Speaker:And so as we look at rethinking poverty from
Speaker:our standpoint, it's really anchored on centering on the
Speaker:human impact and taking a relational approach. So no
Speaker:matter what issue you're gonna work on, I would say if we can
Speaker:be grounded in those things, how can I see this through a human
Speaker:lens, and what can I do to take a relational approach?
Speaker:The other thing I think we get ourselves into is we want a quick fix,
Speaker:and we oftentimes wanna step into
Speaker:poverty alleviation in very episodic ways, you know, or transactional ways. So, you know,
Speaker:hopefully, I I can challenge myself and we can challenge our listeners here, Wendy, that,
Speaker:you know, I think if more of us think about, like, where maybe is god
Speaker:calling me to make a longer term commitment,
Speaker:longer term relational commitment. Again, if we think about our human experience, where have
Speaker:we been changed? What we've been changed where people have made a long term relational
Speaker:commitment in our lives. And that often starts with just one step and an
Speaker:openness to what's right in front of us, really. And I
Speaker:think it's easier than people think than what we fear.
Speaker:Yes. Like you and I having a conversation, we find things
Speaker:in common. Our prefrontal cortex is predisposed
Speaker:to to find that connection, that relational capacity, but sometimes when
Speaker:we think, oh, no. They are maybe in a different economic status or they
Speaker:don't have a job. Somehow, we've gotta fix or we we freeze up.
Speaker:That's the amygdala talking, and we can actually relate well.
Speaker:But if we could only human to human like Jesus did with the
Speaker:Samaritan woman or the the the high officials to
Speaker:the disciples, he was human to human no matter their
Speaker:status, but could we relate? And we have to address that
Speaker:fear that prevents us from actually being able to
Speaker:to connect in a meaningful way, but it's easier. It's accessible.
Speaker:People actually can do that. Right. But we have to reframe.
Speaker:I have to pay attention. Where is fear setting in when I'm sitting in
Speaker:front of a person. Is there fear? Because that actually is gonna inhibit my
Speaker:ability to have a meaningful connection
Speaker:regardless of if they wanna talk to me or not. It's not about forcing a
Speaker:relationship. That's right. It's about the posture. People know
Speaker:when they're a project or when they're a friend to be with.
Speaker:Absolutely. And I think our nature, again,
Speaker:because we do at our core want to alleviate pain and
Speaker:suffering, our nature is to go to fix, particularly
Speaker:if we're in a position where we have resources and we're compelled to help and
Speaker:all of that. And yet, as you say, Wendy,
Speaker:sometimes our best approach is just taking time
Speaker:and creating space to listen. Yeah. It's that withness.
Speaker:It's not about fixing. And I think sometimes we wanna
Speaker:ease their discomfort because, actually, we're discomforted by
Speaker:it. We want that we want that discomfort, that that that pain to
Speaker:go away. We don't wanna see that suffering because we can't handle
Speaker:that. It's very true. It's hard to set, and and we understand this
Speaker:intuitively, right, because we've been through our own grief, and we've gone through
Speaker:grief with others. You know, when there's a death, it's really hard to sit
Speaker:with that. Right? But presence is mostly what people need. And
Speaker:so, again, I think it's like you said, when there's that fear, it's like,
Speaker:what can I go back to that's relatable about being human? And I and
Speaker:I also think fixing trying to fix things is
Speaker:different than lightening someone's load. So what do what do
Speaker:friends do? We don't go around fixing each other. But we do think about
Speaker:how can I lighten somebody's load right now? Yes. And, again, that's just
Speaker:a way to simply lean in and take a next step. It's
Speaker:not about erasing everything that's here that's contributing it
Speaker:in from an individual level or systemic level. That's a recipe for
Speaker:paralysis. But if we can start to say, how can I lighten alone?
Speaker:Is there anything I can do to come alongside? Is there a way that I
Speaker:can listen and learn? Then what happens is my next step
Speaker:starts to be unveiled. And and that's
Speaker:where I love the utilization of the care portal care
Speaker:sharing technology because that's where social workers and case workers
Speaker:who are walking alongside, and they know where the needs are in the
Speaker:community. They're working with them in their distress, and they're
Speaker:able to work with and we train the social workers to work with the
Speaker:families and the youth and the the vulnerable sector and saying, what
Speaker:are those things that you need to lighten your load to
Speaker:that aren't being resourced anywhere else, but if you could have a
Speaker:relational intervention, what would that look like? And they get creative
Speaker:together, and that's where those stories come up that that we put onto our website
Speaker:with through the care portal, and that's how churches can meaningful so we take
Speaker:that guesswork out, and, again, we keep having to push
Speaker:back, against that transactional understanding. Oh, if I only
Speaker:get that bed and and we just, like, drop it off and go. No. Actually,
Speaker:this is a connection point. They've said yes to community when they put that their
Speaker:story out there. They've said yes. I'm I'm willing to have that
Speaker:meaningful connection, and this is simply a
Speaker:tool to help bridge that. Now you've been working with Care Portal.
Speaker:We've been working with Care Portal, and you've developed this amazing
Speaker:cope experience, cost of poverty experience. I can't wait to I think we got a
Speaker:segue there because we're actually good news, Canada. We're
Speaker:we just got it through customs, and we're bringing it to Canada. But can you
Speaker:tell us about this cope cost of poverty experience that you have
Speaker:developed with your team? Yeah. So I did mention the
Speaker:first part of our mission is to equip groups to rethink poverty through that
Speaker:human lens. And so one of the I we have
Speaker:found one of the most effective ways to do that is by
Speaker:inviting people into the stories of others. And so
Speaker:the other thing that, Wendy, I know Care Impact creates a lot of
Speaker:resources and training and equipping tools for churches and community groups.
Speaker:And so what we understand then in this space about
Speaker:adult learning, you know, how we do learn and change and grow
Speaker:and become more effective is we have to
Speaker:immerse ourselves. It has the information has to be relevant.
Speaker:It's gotta be more than stuck in the head. We've gotta embrace it emotionally,
Speaker:and we've gotta be able to apply it. And so that's why I think cope
Speaker:has been so effective is that it is a simulation, and so it
Speaker:it is a 2 and a half hour experience that invites
Speaker:people to take on the role of families much
Speaker:like families in their community that are navigating poverty day in, day
Speaker:out, and to put themselves in the shoes of their
Speaker:circumstances and to make some decisions about how they think they
Speaker:may navigate those circumstances. And we don't just leave it there at the
Speaker:simulation, so we simulate 1 month in the life of those families,
Speaker:broken down into, you know, 4 weeks. But we don't stop there,
Speaker:then we have a conversation about, you know, what insights did
Speaker:this give you and, what does this mean for us
Speaker:both individually and collectively. And so what that
Speaker:experience is like is we've actually interviewed families
Speaker:all across the United States now. We started with a group of families in Ohio,
Speaker:and then we recently updated this experience to interview families all
Speaker:across the United States to just hear their stories in
Speaker:their own words about kinda some of their presenting
Speaker:challenges, about their family dynamics, about the
Speaker:way in which they told their own story or kind of made sense
Speaker:of their own story. And so what it does is it gives us a chance
Speaker:to think about poverty through the lens of that individual, but to also
Speaker:see what the community system looks like and and where the
Speaker:community system, inclusive of the local church, is an asset and an
Speaker:ally to families that are navigating these hard times and where
Speaker:there may be barriers that collectively we could come together, to
Speaker:resolve. Well, and that's what I appreciated about the COPE experience. The church was at
Speaker:the table. They were a literal table there, a presence there, and we're really
Speaker:it really drives on the point of collective impact that there you're
Speaker:right. We try to simplify, poverty that we just need a
Speaker:job table, right, or we just need an whatever social
Speaker:services table, and then, like, they should fix it. And yet
Speaker:you're brought into this immersive experience, and there's a variety. Just
Speaker:like a community, it's represented there, and people in these roles
Speaker:that you were needing to interact with. And when I went through it,
Speaker:now I've walked with a lot of people in poverty. I am that foster and
Speaker:adoptive mom that it's not new to me. I have worked with
Speaker:my husband worked with the incarcerated. I have worked with anti human trafficking,
Speaker:and yet when I put myself in that immersive experience,
Speaker:Marlo, I'm not proud of this, but I tried kidnapping
Speaker:my virtual daughter so that I could keep my rent
Speaker:and that I could keep everybody safe because I had one job. I wanted to
Speaker:keep everybody together. And that mama bear instinct, I'm
Speaker:like, woah. I know the rules. I I work with social
Speaker:services, and yet it really simulated that, and it made me, like,
Speaker:what are my choices? And and it it it created that
Speaker:dynamic, and not everybody had that same experience. But for me, I just, like,
Speaker:actually, this becomes a viable option right now.
Speaker:And and then we went into a debrief, and we could share about those
Speaker:experiences. It was really powerful to hear and and to kinda drop
Speaker:that vulnerability curtain, I think, is so necessary
Speaker:within the community, within the church that we could talk
Speaker:about it, that it's not just about pathologizing those
Speaker:going through these actual situations, but what was going
Speaker:on? What were the barriers? What were those blind spots that were like, oh my
Speaker:goodness. I can't believe I held on to this. We don't know what we don't
Speaker:know. Right? It's at Johari's window, and it really helps
Speaker:people understand a little bit better. It's not gonna be
Speaker:everything, but it puts us on that pathway, and we're so excited
Speaker:to bring that to Canada. You are training one of our staff, and we're
Speaker:hoping to have more staff across Canada and a kit that is being prepared
Speaker:here, and we're so excited to bring it here that we could actually go
Speaker:into different cities, different churches, different organizations.
Speaker:Why? Not just so that they have this poverty experience
Speaker:debut, but it's like this can be a stepping stone,
Speaker:a catalyst for being that human to
Speaker:human, being that relational presence in community. And so,
Speaker:yeah, we're excited that you are letting it come to Canada,
Speaker:first time over the border, and it's faith inclusive. It really
Speaker:drives some of the point of care portal, and we couldn't be more excited
Speaker:to partner with your team, you and your team, to have
Speaker:this experience up in Canada. Well, thank you. We're excited
Speaker:to learn with you. And just to affirm your experience,
Speaker:Wendy, for your audience, I would imagine that,
Speaker:there would be a number of people that could attend or be invited to
Speaker:or attend this experience that come from a whole
Speaker:spectrum of lived experiences. And so you might have thought, like you said, I am
Speaker:immersed in this. I know this. And so we can be proximate, but,
Speaker:again, not necessarily see through certain eyes, and everybody's experience
Speaker:is unique. And so, whether you're proximate or
Speaker:you're isolated or we've even had some, individuals that have grown
Speaker:up in poverty and have some lived experiences, and they
Speaker:got some insight as well. Maybe they had a kind of a bigger picture
Speaker:view of what was maybe driving certain factors for their own
Speaker:family, or they were in the role of someone that may have may have
Speaker:had different kinds of dynamics. And so no matter where your starting point
Speaker:is, I think if you come open, there's something here for you. I'm
Speaker:just gonna jump in here as someone listening to this conversation
Speaker:to remind our listeners that we have our Decadent Care
Speaker:Summit coming up where we are actually running a cope on the Saturday
Speaker:morning. So if you wanna get in on that, you wanna get in on that
Speaker:very quickly because there's limited seating, so you wanna head over to
Speaker:decadentcare. C a and register. Make sure you're in for that.
Speaker:Yeah. And it's gonna be a lot of fun. Only a 120 spots. So if
Speaker:there is still a spot, I would say get that weekend pass. We're giving it
Speaker:to a 120 people for the weekend pass for decadent care.
Speaker:So sign up at decadentcare.ca and be part of this
Speaker:immersive experience. And not only that, we're gonna follow that up with
Speaker:actual opportunities to serve the community. So people will be put into
Speaker:teams and be able to respond to real care portal needs across
Speaker:the city. Gonna be working in small little teams and gonna be
Speaker:blessing families across the city of Winnipeg as
Speaker:in a way for people to experience what it could look like in their
Speaker:cities, in their communities, and so we want to invite you
Speaker:warmly into the city of Winnipeg for this experience.
Speaker:For those of you that cannot be part of this experience but do wanna,
Speaker:experience it in their your own city or in your church or
Speaker:organization, if you wanna catalyze people in your community to
Speaker:talk about poverty, experience it in a new way, we invite you
Speaker:to contact us. Go to our website or or contact us at
Speaker:info at careimpact.ca. We'd be happy to to
Speaker:bring our team to you and, serve you in this way.
Speaker:Marla, let's talk about the local church. What what are some
Speaker:words of encouragement or some advice that you would give for local
Speaker:churches who are wanting to make an impact, wanting to grow in their
Speaker:capacity, to walk alongside those
Speaker:experiencing poverty? Yeah. I think the
Speaker:encouragement I would like to give the local church is that
Speaker:one of the strengths, you know, I had the great privilege of growing up in
Speaker:a local church and when I think about how formative
Speaker:that that was for me and the way that the local
Speaker:church helped me grow in my understanding of being a
Speaker:disciple of Christ, I didn't think about, or I
Speaker:don't think about great youth programming or an awesome
Speaker:children's choir or the Christmas event. You know? Those
Speaker:are just containers. And so my
Speaker:encouragement to the local church, I think a lot of times we apply this program
Speaker:mentality poverty alleviation. You know, we've gotta come up with some
Speaker:program or 10 different programs or and
Speaker:there's some great programs out there and they can be great
Speaker:facilitators or containers. But the
Speaker:question I think local churches have to ask themselves are,
Speaker:more closely aligned with the strength that they have, which is
Speaker:relationship. And so what context do we have?
Speaker:Where are places where we could hang out with people that we don't
Speaker:normally get to hang out with in our community? And, you know,
Speaker:maybe that's through our partnership with Care Impact and Care Portal that that gives us
Speaker:a proxy to hang out with people or meet people we don't normally get to
Speaker:meet, or maybe it's a basketball court,
Speaker:you know, in our parking lot, or maybe it's a grill that we can fire
Speaker:up and, you know, grow some hot dogs on the weekends. I don't know if
Speaker:you guys grow hot dogs on the weekends. I can't believe that. But
Speaker:I I think we're oftentimes asking the wrong questions.
Speaker:It's not what's the program we need to develop to fight poverty. It's like,
Speaker:where are the places where we can meet people? Yeah.
Speaker:And then just be willing to show up and be
Speaker:willing for God to nudge you in that one next step.
Speaker:And that may be individually, something I'm being drawn to in a
Speaker:one next step. Maybe maybe I do need to be open to a relationship that
Speaker:could foster and grow. And maybe it's that one next step
Speaker:corporately. You know, something that we learn or hear that we can partner on
Speaker:as a church to bring power and
Speaker:community. So that would be my encouragement to the local
Speaker:church. Don't create any unnecessary barriers or think that
Speaker:you have to be on your own or the hero. Yeah. Just look for places
Speaker:you can show up because the community desperately needs you and the hope of Christ.
Speaker:Well, that smell is a lot like Jesus.
Speaker:Showing up at the well, at the lake, in a fishing
Speaker:boat, in the places where people hang.
Speaker:And if you are a community leader or a person
Speaker:sitting in the church saying, how can I make a difference? How can I actually
Speaker:make a difference? It might be easier than you think. And
Speaker:yet, also in Canada, we it might be more difficult than we think because people
Speaker:don't know how to people well. It's countercultural at this point
Speaker:often to to sit with people, and let us
Speaker:know. We're having amazing conversations with leaders from
Speaker:across Canada, different cities that are paying attention to a care portal could do
Speaker:because we can help take the guesswork out of that compassion and say, actually, here
Speaker:are some opportunities. And now pour yourself rather than looking for programs
Speaker:and and projects. Pour yourself into these relationships.
Speaker:We're gonna bring it on a Monday morning, a Thursday evening, a Saturday
Speaker:afternoon. This isn't a program. These are people to
Speaker:walk with. They're inviting you in, and these are
Speaker:opportunities to do so. But you're right. It might that
Speaker:well might be a basketball court, and so it might
Speaker:be easier than we actually think. Well, Marlo, I am so
Speaker:excited that we can journey this with you. I'm so appreciative of
Speaker:the the resource of the the cost of poverty experience that we get
Speaker:to now share with Canada. We wanna hold it with a lot of integrity,
Speaker:the the the work that you've put into it, and we know
Speaker:that this experience will help, that conversation
Speaker:will help move the needle along for the church to be in these
Speaker:places in meaningful relational, humble
Speaker:ways, and we wanna thank you for 18 years ago
Speaker:saying yes to think tank to doing this venture,
Speaker:and for continuing it on with the resources. We can't wait for what god is
Speaker:gonna do in the future. Thank you so much, Wendy.
Speaker:Thank you for joining another conversation on Journey with Care,
Speaker:where we inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith
Speaker:and living life with purpose in community. Journey with Care is an
Speaker:initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity dedicated to
Speaker:connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in
Speaker:community. You can visit their website at careimpact.ca or visit
Speaker:journeywithcare.ca to get more information on weekly episodes,
Speaker:Journey with Prayer, and details about our upcoming events and meetups.
Speaker:You can also leave us a message, share your thoughts, and connect with like
Speaker:minded individuals who are on their own journeys of faith and purpose.
Speaker:Thank you for sharing this podcast and helping these stories reach the
Speaker:community. Together, we can explore ways to journey in a good way.
Speaker:And always remember to stay curious.
