All of us can use an EMPOWERING hand.
We often hear about lending people a helping hand. Helping hands are really important. I need helping hands all the time! I often say that most of my job as a community leader is asking other people for help, connecting people to help each other, and looking for wise and reasonable ways to give help out into the community. Help is important and we ALL need it at one point in our life or another.
When we look past the idea of helping and dig deep into what the heart and soul of community development and what organizations like BOSS plant their roots in, we can see that help is great in many situations but EMPOWERMENT is the long-term goal.
Empowerment means compassionately lifting someone up high enough that they can learn to fly on their own. It means not overstepping boundaries and doing something FOR someone but doing it WITH them so over time a skill is acquired and a person or family experiences the thrill or mastery – or the satisfaction of knowing they are on their way.
Empowerment is interdependence – INTER – which means it’s neither dependence nor independence. Empowerment doesn’t require anyone to be independent it acknowledges that we all need help but, the kind of help we want is an empowered kind.
As we move deeper into fall and embrace the change of the season, let’s commit to empowerment in all its awesomeness. Let’s turn to each other and ask; how can I help you learn? How can I lift you up? How can you and I together make your world – our world – a safer place?
Community = Empowerment.
Be Well,
Kim and the BOSS Team.
