Dear Kiantha: Nonprofits can help make community connections so individuals know they matter

Dear Kiantha,

I am an executive director of a nonprofit that helps teen parents. We at Glow Children Early Learning Center provide child care and other important resources so they can finish high school and plan for their next steps in life, such as going to college or starting a career.

This is hard work that requires a village. Our teen parents think people don’t care about them, but I know they do – I know you do, Kiantha! How do I use the limited time and resources I have to connect two incredible groups of people and get some heart work done? – Katie Jessop

Dear Katie,

One of the most traumatizing experiences known to human kind, in my opinion, is feeling as if people don’t care about you.

For the teen parents your organization supports (who are often living in poverty and from under resourced communities) this is particularly nuanced.

In order for them to move their lives in the direction of self-sufficiency – they depend on people caring and organizations like yours being there for them in some of the most critical moments of their lives.

Community connections are the lifeline to nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit organizations are the lifeline to healthy families.

Connecting community, corporations and funding sources to young families through organizations like yours is the only way to demonstrate to these teen parents that they and their children matter.

I have had the privilege of spending time with and supporting the families at Glow Children Early Learning Center, and I know firsthand the light that exudes through those parents’ eyes when they genuinely feel supported.

My hope for you as the busy, over extended executive director is that someday your role becomes less about making connections and instead shifts to that of the village “welcomer” of all who reach out to you to support those young families and your work.

Soul to soul,

Kiantha

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