Definition: This collaborative work is grounded in beliefs and principles that sustain energy, motivation, and commitment to serving the collective good.
How does one recognize and build this?
- The values of sacred calling and meaning in the work are made explicit in the organizational and collaborative environment – when possible, prayer, devotion, mission made visible, etc.
- Diverse religious traditions are recognized and embraced and a mutually held commitment to caring for all people is intentionally identified.
- Caring for all people means an explicit and shared commitment to seeing and knowing the most vulnerable and those on the margins and acting on their behalf.
Case Example: Center for Faith and Community Health Transformation in Chicago
Our strong and large partnership network has a unique communication capacity with trusted messengers and translated, accessible, whole person health information. We collaborated with one of our partners, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, on the development of a flu prevention message that is framed by the commitments and theological perspectives of their faith tradition. It was distributed through their e-newsletter that has a reach of more than 9,000 readers.
FAITHFULLY PREVENT THE FLU
Purity and cleanliness is central to Islam. During each flu season, the vulnerabilities to great suffering, including potential hospitalization and death, remind us that our spiritual journeys demand attention to the messy world around us. Vast disparities in health conditions and access to health care resources result in vulnerable populations’ disproportionate suffering.
VIEW ADDITIONAL FAITH MISSION AS CORE DRIVER CASE STORY»
Definition: A shared investment in and with the community is achieved out of foundational beliefs in the capacity and self-determining agency of the community.
How does one recognize and build this?
- A willingness to invest in the community for mutual gain is cultivated by an invitation for all to serve.
- Community members and organizations know their voices and agency matter and their priorities drive the work
Case Example: Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare’s Center of Excellence in Faith and Health in Memphis
From day one, the health care system partners have taken seriously and acted on what the religious leaders consider priorities for the community. These leaders developed the founding covenant that guided the relationship between the congregations and the healthcare system through the Congregational Health Network.
Community priorities drive the work and the congregations understand they are an integral part of the community health system. Clergy were vaccinated first during 2009 H1N1 and named “First Responders,” which represented their true role in the community.
Definition: There is an unwavering commitment to find a way to serve the community that may risk or go beyond self interests.
How does one recognize and build this?
- An enduring and imaginative creative ability to see new resources, push the boundaries of conventions, and think outside the box is evident.
- There is a willingness to let go, reframe objectives, and find different solutions to new issues that arise in the face of changing policy or structural barriers.
Case Example: Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation in Los Angeles
“Tzu Chi” means compassion and relief. The Tzu Chi Medical Foundation in Los Angeles has a long partnership relationship with the county health department and strong connections to other faith-based organizations, school systems, community centers, and social service agencies. To address the needs of hard-to-reach populations, Tzu Chi has built itself to be agile for work when and wherever people are best served. This always involves mobilizing large numbers of volunteers and includes setting up clinics in proximity to homeless shelters during hours when people are there or near work sites for migrant farmworkers before and after work hours.
The public health department recognizes the foundation as an important part of the “public health system” and includes it in preparedness planning processes and coordination of community outreach activities.
Definition: All partners and participants seek to honor different beliefs, values, and worldviews when acting as translators, brokers, advocates, and co-learners.
How does one recognize and build this?
- Cultivate a culture where all partners feel they belong by fostering engagement with divergent perspectives.
- When navigating within and across diverse cultures and multiple sectors, there is continuous learning and teaching one another with recognition that we are never fully culturally competent.
- An intentional practice of individual and collective reflection is necessary to uncover personal and institutional biases and assumptions and their impact on the practice of assuring reach to vulnerable, at-risk, hard-to-reach, and minority populations.
Case Example: Center for Faith and Community Health Transformation in Chicago
Rev. Kirsten Peachey and Charles Williams, co-directors of the Center for Faith and Community Health Transformation, met with a group of leaders from Jewish health and social service agencies to explore ways that they might work together. They said to their hosts, “We use the terms ‘faith and health’ to describe our partnership activities, but don’t know what that means for you.”
In response, those representing the Jewish community said that the word “faith” was not what they would use to describe their work. What made more sense to them was “religious” as opposed to “faith-based.”
Peachey and Williams approached the dialogue recognizing their own biases and acknowledging that they valued learning from a different tradition.
