The SHN is helping AngelWorks develop a nonprofit that will market and manage a searchable, online database of volunteers, their talents and interests and home neighborhoods. The site is intended to link volunteers to charities, churches, and schools who need their help.

The SHN hosted a series of community focus groups to gather information used to develop planning themes. SHN then facilitated a community planning meeting were strategies were created for each theme area. These strategies are being used in a five-year plan to improve supports for caregivers, expand housing options, redefine retirement and community involvement for aging persons, better coordinate aging services, and address access to dental and mental health care for older citizens.

This group consists of Community members, USD 259 School District, County Corrections, Police Department, churches and other organizations collaborating to reduce minority contact with the juvenile justice system from within area codes 67208, 67214, and 67219. The SHN is helping the Advisory Group develop of a network of community assets and resources comprised of people, information and support services that will improve the quality of life and create the best possible future for children and families in the northeast community, thus helping to successfully prevent and reduce contact of youth with the juvenile justice system.

SHN facilitators conduct annual strategic planning activities and develop a calendar of activities to be followed by the Board based on these plans. SHN also meets for special “course correction” session with the Board to assess progress with plans and develop new strategies as needed.

The SHN is facilitating development of a management plan for the local adult criminal justice system. The Council is comprised of representatives from city and county court, law enforcement, government officials and administration, as well as criminal justice community partners. The management plan that is developed will provide the community with a comprehensive continuum of custodial care and community-based correctional programs, treatment, and supervision, as well as to develop proactive and innovative criminal justice practices, policies and processes through effective multi-system local and state partnerships.

Over at the past five years, SHN has helped SDSI listen to persons served, families, and service providers as this organization manages access to care and funding of programs and assures quality of services provided to persons with developmental disabilities in eighteen southwest Kansas counties. Each year, the SHN facilitates Board planning, completes a strategic plan for the area, and helps develop an internal staff plan to accomplish expected outcomes.

The SHN facilitated strategic planning designed to review and revise the current mission statement and develop a logic model and strategic plan with specific action plans for implementation over a three-year period. Special attention was paid to developing strategic partnerships to improve ongoing funding.

The SHN facilitated strategic planning with members of the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition, the Kansas Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Governor’s Mental Health Services Planning Council Subcommittee on Housing and Homelessness. This process developed a plan to improve statewide collaboration and avoid duplication of services.

This multistage strategic planning process will provide an opportunity for input from board members, staff, parents, teachers, students and volunteer to best determine how to work effectively with students with learning differences.

Compassion Kansas Capacity Building Workshop Series

As part of Compassion Kansas, the Self-Help Network initiated a Capacity Building Workshop Series. The purpose of the workshops are to provide Kansas FBOs and CBOs training on various capacity building topics, including strategic planning, fund development, leadership, board development and other topics relevant to FBOs and CBOs. Three initial workshops have been provided as described below.

Outcome Based Planning
The Capacity Building Workshop Series started with three workshops on Outcome Based Planning (i.e., Logic Models). The workshops helped participants focus their activities to achieve short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes. Participants drafted an outcome-based plan for one of their organization’s programs. By leaving with a draft plan, participants were in a position to utilize it with their staff, board, and volunteers.

Roadmap to Becoming a Nonprofit Organization
This workshop provided an overview of how to build organizations which qualify for IRS nonprofit status. Topics included characteristics of well-constructed charitable organizations, questions for prospective nonprofits, and a review of primary tasks and government requirements. Building shared leadership from the start of the effort was also discussed.

Fundamentals of Starting and Maintaining a Support Group
Two workshops on support groups will provide a better understanding of self-help groups and the variety available. Topics will include: starting and organizing a support group, involving community gatekeepers, maintaining group effectiveness, and effective self-help group leadership.

Direct Assistance to Awardees

Each year, Compassion Kansas makes awards to selected Kansas FBOs and CBOs. A review committee carefully studies grant applications from FBOs and CBOs to reach consensus as to who will receive awards. Awarded FBOs and CBOs complete an online Organization Assessment Instrument (OAI) and are provided a detailed Organizational Assessment Report (OAR) that details their strengths and needs. Based on the OAR, staff from the Self-Help Network develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that details the assistance to be provided by the Self-Help Network.

Self-Help Network staff have provided capacity building assistance in the following areas: strategic planning, board development, diversifying funding sources, needs/asset assessment, outcome measurement, public relations and awareness, and policies and procedure development.

Awardee Conferences

Awarded FBOs and CBOs also participate in two full-day capacity building conferences each year that allow them to network with each other and share insights. Topics covered to date include:
• Strategic Planning
• Creating “Stories of Impact” for Public Awareness
• Initial Fund Development Plans, including being provided the Compassion Kansas “Grant Finder Binder”
In addition, participants are provided detailed information about their grant award, including:
• Reporting requirements,
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the technical assistance provided by the Self-Help Network, and
• Budget and budget adjustments.

Online Capacity Building Tools Created and Distributed

The Self-Help Network created an extensive online library of resources for FBOs and CBOs. The library includes easy-to-use materials on topics including:
• Community asset mapping
• Creating civic engagement
• Collaboration
• Conflict resolution
• Contemporary leadership within organizations
• Outcome-based planning
• Board development and leadership
• Strategic planning
These materials are made available to all FBOs and CBOs within Kansas and can be viewed at selfhelpnetwork.wichita.edu and clicking on “facilitation and leadership tools library.”

Compassion Kansas E-Newsletter

The Compassion Kansas e-newsletter is distributed to approximately 400 individuals working in Kansas FBOs and CBOs. The quarterly e-newsletter highlights upcoming activities for Kansas FBOs and CBOs, grant opportunities, and topics related to the development of FBOs and CBOs (i.e., board and leadership development, managing volunteers, etc.).

The team provides technical assistance through face-to-face and telephone consultations. This assistance builds the capacity of the organization and its leaders in areas of strategic planning; personnel and member relations; working with community partners; daily operations including budgeting, purchasing, policies and procedures, and implementation of activity plans; proposal development and fund raising, completion of reports, and more.

The team provides an annual Request For Proposal (RFP) workshop for all interested CRO applicants and a Leadership Retreat for CROs leaders and members of the Kansas Adult Mental Health Consumer Advisory Council.

Team members work with SRS funded CROs to establish improved lines of communication between programs, operate a website for Network members, develop joint programs, share educational activities, mentor and provide consumer-to-consumer technical assistance, and nurture mutual support opportunities.

The team develops workbooks and other tools to improve CRO operations.

Team members help CROs in Kansas build the capacity to access resources in addition to those provided by SRS.

The CRO team works with the Kansas Adult Mental Health Consumer Council to sponsor an annual Recovery Conference. This is largest conference of its kind in the United States providing opportunities for consumers and providers to explore and learn about empowerment and recovery issues and resources.

The team works with the SHN Research Team to identify and study best practices as well as individual and systems level impacts related CRO operation.

Team members work with the Kansas Adult Mental Health Consumer Advisory Council as they seek and maintain federal funding and provide services such as the Kansas Leadership Academy.

Coordinating the move to 328 N. Main

The move was a complex project that involved coordinating with university partners, contractors, and vendors to ensure that the building was furnished, and fully functional in a short amount of time.

Equipping and furnishing the new facility

While some of the equipment and furniture present in the old location was simply moved to the new location, more meeting rooms and offices creates a demand for more supplies. The I-Team has worked on procuring furniture and equipment to create friendly, functional meeting rooms and additional offices for new staff and students. The I-Team is also responsible for decorating the building.

Hiring front office staff

With growing demands for on-site meetings and support, the I-Team constantly evaluates staffing needs particularly for clerical and support functions. As a result, new student workers are hired as needed to keep operations running smoothly.

Coordinating special events

The I-Team coordinates special events like press conferences, open houses, parties, and staff appreciation and relationship-building events.

Managing the new facility

To keep the new facility in good working order, the I-Team handles concerns related to maintenance, custodial, and communications issues.

Communications

The I-Team manages public awareness and communication efforts such as the monthly newsletter, the quarterly Compassion Kansas newsletter, and the Local Heroes newsletter. Responsible for development and distribution, the I-Team also maintains listservs and databases for sending press releases and general information to stakeholders. The communications efforts include maintaining the SHN website and the CRO website and writing and distributing press releases and PSAs.

Publications

The I-Team is responsible for other publications like the Connections directory,
informational brochures and project specific notebooks, calendars, brochures, booklets, and flyers, and letterhead.

In 2002, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), SHN, and 20 Consumer Run Organizations in Kansas began a research partnership to:

• Better understand the nature, strengths and needs of Kansas CROs,
• Improve organizational functioning of CROs and their ability to positively impact members, and
• Document the outcomes of CRO members that result from participation.

To date an extensive review and analysis of quarterly reports and archival data sources have been completed, data on CRO needs for technical assistance obtained, satisfaction with technical assistance evaluated. In 2004 the SHN conducted a study on the organizational health of CROs. Surveys about the organizational characteristics of CROs and how members benefit from participation were administered to 250 CRO members. Results suggest that participation in a CRO improves social network size, and leads to a variety of other positive outcomes. The past three years of research activity has started to demonstrate the effectiveness of CROs, their impact on members and how and why these organizations work.

One of the key aspects to providing capacity building assistance is to assess the organizational capacities of faith and community based organizations (FBOs & CBOs). To this end, we have made available a web-based organizational assessment to Kansas FBOs and CBOs at no cost. From the assessment, FBOs and CBOs receive an Organizational Assessment Report that details the strengths and needs of the organization along several dimensions:

• Adaptive Capacity: the ability a nonprofit organization to monitor, assess and respond to internal and external changes
• Leadership Capacity: the ability of all organizational leaders to create and sustain the vision, inspire, model, prioritize, make decisions, provide direction and innovate, all in an effort to achieve the organizational mission
• Management Capacity: the ability of a nonprofit organization to ensure the effective and efficient use of organizational resources
• Technical Capacity: the ability of a nonprofit organization to implement all of the key organizational and programmatic functions
• Organizational Culture: the organization’s history, language, organizational structure, values and beliefs

Started in 1999, the Kansas Community Leadership Initiative (KCLI) has been a major initiative among the Kansas Health Foundation’s recent efforts to promote leadership and improve the health of all Kansans. The KCLI initially involved over 40 community leadership programs (CLPs) in rural and urban Kansas communities. The KCLI consisted of a series of capacity building workshops about 21st century leadership conducted by Contemporary Consultants. CLPs have traditionally been “meet and greet” leadership programs, providing participants: (a) tours of local industry and business, (b) presentations about community strengths and problems, and (c) networking opportunities with other leaders. The basic idea behind the KCLI was that CLPs would learn new 21st century leadership skills and concepts and use those skills and concepts in a variety of settings.
The primary aims of the KCLI were to examine:

• The extent to which CLPs emphasize a networking/orientation model vs. a skill development model
• The extent to which the KCLI learning objectives outlined in the original strategic plan were achieved, including:
• CLP directors’ abilities as master educators and curriculum planners, and their knowledge of leadership
• Board members’ ownership and responsibilities in CLPs
• CLPs’ collaboration across the state
• Community representation in CLPs
• CLPs as a catalyst for collaborative efforts improving the lives of children
• The extent to which participants were satisfied with the training
• The incorporation of a class project to improve the health and well-being of children

As part of the Hutchinson Community Foundation’s Capacity Building for Nonprofits Initiative, the Self-Help Network is providing selected, local nonprofits in Reno County, assistance in developing outcome-based plans. These plans are based on logic models for programs and services so that staff, volunteer, and board efforts can help achieve short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.

An Examination of Setting-Level Capacity Building on Kansas After-School Programs

Three-year project submitted to the W.T. Grant Foundation

State Implementation of Consumer Operated Programs in Kansas

Three-year project submitted to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Community Reintegration via Mutual Support Organization

Three-year project submitted to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Evaluation of the Kansas Community Leadership Initiative

Three-year project funded by the Kansas Health Foundation (KHF)

Compassion Kansas Initiative

Three year project funded by Department Health and Human Services (DHHS) - Administration for Children & Families (ACF)

This strategic alliance is working toward the goal of ensuring all children enter kindergarten ready to learn at the kindergarten level. Alliance strategies include: 1) Identifying reading deficiencies early and helping Birth - K parents and teachers with programs that result in each child being ready for kindergarten; 2) Improving access to Birth – K programs, including Headstart, educational daycare, etc.; 3) Including programs for parents and children to address language skills and social development of Birth – K within the community; 4) Providing more qualified pre-school teachers in daycare and Birth – K programs.

This strategic alliance’s aim is to create an awareness of the Wichita MSA as a college mecca and learning community by: 1) Increasing the number of students in all area colleges and universities; 2) Providing graduate level education with a world-class faculty and research facilities; 3) Providing curriculum, programs, and research that support the Wichita MSA employers’ high paying targeted job sectors; 4) Increasing research grants; 5) Identifying future technologies that can be developed in the Wichita MSA; and 6) Providing the research and incubation for commercialization in the Wichita MSA.

The Community Identity Alliance has been formed to support the plan of Visioneering Wichita by developing an image/brand that will position south central Kansas internally and externally. Specifically the task is to: 1) Develop a brand that will position the Wichita MSA internally and externally; 2) Involve many organizations in developing the brand that will be authentic and inspiring; 3) Use the brand to retain and attract jobs, visitors and workforce; and 4) Market the brand and the Wichita MSA’s competitive advantage internally and externally.

This strategic alliance is focused on a goal to develop a regional comprehensive recreation plan that will help to connects activities, parks, natural resources and – most importantly – people. The efforts of this strategic alliance help to achieve the Visioneering Wichita’s Quality of Life Foundation goal to “be a healthy, safe community that has a vibrant recreation, entertainment and arts focus that embraces diversity and builds pride.”

Entrepreneurs and Small Business

This strategic alliance is focused on creating an entrepreneurial and innovative mecca for the development of direct, value-added manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs among small to medium-sized businesses in the region.

This strategic alliance is focused on a goal to develop a regional comprehensive recreation plan that will help to connects activities, parks, natural resources and – most importantly – people. The efforts of this strategic alliance help to achieve the Visioneering Wichita’s Quality of Life Foundation goal to “be a healthy, safe community that has a vibrant recreation, entertainment and arts focus that embraces diversity and builds pride.”

Healthcare

This strategic alliance is focusing on increasing the accessibility and quality of healthcare while lowering the cost by: 1) Encouraging healthy lifestyles, wellness, fitness and education programs; 2) Improving dental health for all ages; 3) Promoting and strengthening free and/or reduced cost clinics as a substitute for emergency room use for indigent healthcare and promote awareness of these resources; 4) Encouraging physicians and nurses to provide services to the Wichita MSA indigent patients; 5) Dramatically increasing the use of technology in administrative functions; 6) Advocating for tort reform; 7) Having comprehensive coordinated medical care (including mental, dental and health) for all people regardless of ability to pay and provide easy access to services; 8) Promoting disease prevention; and 9) Ensuring the availability of qualified nurses.

Mentoring

This strategic alliance is working to ensure that the Wichita MSA is a mentor-focused community with programming in both school and community settings which will provide every student who needs a mentor with one through parents and the community at large, including businesses, faith-based institutions, civic clubs, retirees, older students and other organizations.

Older Adults

Partners in the Older Adults Alliance want to bring new retirees to the region, and take care of those already here. Their strategies include: 1) Attracting and encouraging high-income retirees to relocate to or stay in the Wichita area; 2) Embracing older adult citizens as a community resource for history, education, employment, and other aspects of community life; 3) Providing and maintaining safe and affordable housing for older adults; 4) Providing better healthcare resources or optional healthcare resources for senior citizens; 5) Increasing services for older adults and marketing them effectively; 6) Continuing support for senior employment programs; and 7) Providing ways to get mature adults more involved in the community. The Alliance works on multiple fronts, but essentially plans to make south-central Kansas a welcoming place for older adults. The focus of the Alliance ultimately is to protect and improve the quality of life of older adults – by promoting their strengths as workers, educators, mentors and keepers of the region’s collective history.

This strategic alliance is working to ensure that the Wichita MSA understands, celebrates and embraces all cultures and racial diversity and makes it evident in all community efforts. This strategic alliance is also focused on helping to encourage interaction among all people and break down barriers by: 1) Creating thriving neighborhoods that are both ethnically and racially diverse; 2) Reducing the earnings gap between minorities and non-minorities; 3) Increasing graduation rates; 4) Closing the achievement gap; 5) Encouraging employers to be committed to a racially diverse workforce; 6) Promoting the integration and inclusion of immigrants into the community and workforce; and 7) Encouraging a commitment to racial diversity, opportunity and harmony among the efforts of the six strategic alliances and efforts of Visioneering Wichita overall.

This strategic alliance is developing a process by which a south central Kansas unified legislative agenda will be generated. The creation of the unified legislative agenda is driven by community will and key issues identified for the region. Once developed, the strategic alliance will also actively work in partnership with regional legislators to promote its implementation. The unified agenda will represent what a broad cross section of south central Kansas organizations support and expect of legislative action.