STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE FAMILIES IN POVERTY

STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE FAMILIES IN POVERTY

In every poor community there are those who, despite the difficulty of their own lives, are natural leaders. They have the potential to help move their communities toward a better quality of life and yet they need help themselves in order to realize this potential fully. Though skilled and successful in their own family lives, they may hesitate to intervene in the lives of others. They may lack some of the information they need to effect change in the community. They need reinforcement of their own attempts to help.

In the Master Teacher in Family Life Program, a professional educator functions as the mentor to these natural community leaders. The educator acts as a role model to the Master Teacher and funnels information to the Master Teacher. The educator is also there to listen when the Master Teacher encounters problems in the community.

Conversely, the natural leader is there to educate the professional educator (and, indirectly, the mainstream community in general) about the poor community. Natural leaders know which strategies work and which do not. They know the needs of the community. Perhaps the most important task of the professional educator is to make natural leaders aware of just how much they do know and to encourage them to follow through on their own beliefs.

If you become an educator in this program, the following specific strategies which focus on encouragement will help you be effective: 1. Respect the Individuals You Work With. Families in poverty wait for everything: social workers, welfare checks, buses, housing repairs. Make sure you have the time to give to this program so you can fulfill your responsibilities in a timely fashion. Be prepared and on time for meetings. If you say you will "find the answer," find it - or admit you took on a task that you could not accomplish. Inconsistency and unkept promises give the discouraging message that you do not really take this program or the needs of the clients seriously. 2. Recognize Efforts. Do not wait until a trainee comes to five training sessions before noting his or her dedication to the program. Comment on the creative ways program participants have discovered to get babysitting or transportation - let them know you are aware of their efforts. When a trainee becomes a Master Teacher, do not withhold praise and encouragement until he/she has made a major achievement in turning around another's life. Notice each step of the way - the building of trust, the consistent support....Remember that when Master Teachers help others, they are giving a part of their emotional self away; that missing emotional part can be replenished by the educator through encouraging remarks. 3. Display Effective Communication Skills. In the skills part of this manual (Workshops 2 and 3), Master Teachers are taught effective ways to communicate with their clients (e.g., how to talk openly with people rather than talking to them). As the first link in the mentoring chain, you must display the skills that really keep communication open. 4. Maintain Confidentiality. Communication will remain open only if sensitive issues are kept confidential. Poor families fear that shared personal problems may become a matter of public record. Once group members begin to speak frankly, maintain their trust. 5. Keep Expectations Realistic. Don't expect to change the world overnight. It will take helpees a long time to learn and practice new skills. Some barriers to change will never completely disappear. Some goals - for example, those related to high levels of employment - may be totally unrealistic given the political and economic realities of the community. Be patient. By noticing and praising even small positive change in trainees and clients, you will encourage helpees and also feel encouraged yourself. 6. Project Faith in Your Trainees. Try not to give all the answers, even though it is very difficult sometimes! Remember, the more an individual is encouraged to rely on the educator, the less internal control he or she feels. Work with others to find solutions relevant to the community. Admit readily that you do not know the answer if you do not. If you have never lived in poverty, do not pretend that you know how it feels - you do not. Families struggling with limited resources find such attitudes patronizing and discouraging. 7. Find the Strengths in Each Trainee You Work With. Remind them of their strengths frequently. These people may be unaware of how powerful they are. The discouragement of poverty causes many to deny their talents and abilities. When trying to identify positive aspects of the Reagan cuts, Rev. William Payne said, "...it may enable us to rely on our own strengths which lay latent, like a sleeping giant." There are aspiring, talented artists in situations of poverty who have not been able to use their talents appropriately. There are caring, talented human service providers who have been told to take clerical courses or (in one case) lose their food stamps. By helping each trainee discover his/her talents, you will be creating a powerful community. 8. Find as Many Positives in a Negative Situation as Possible. To those in poverty, many barriers seem insurmountable. If the educator, the trainee, or the client gets stuck on the negatives of the situation, there will be no movement - only discouragement. Find the solutions that do work, and use each as an encouraging sign to keep moving upward. 9. Be Prepared with Programming, Resources, and Answers to Questions. The more prepared you are, the more the trainees will trust your sincerity in wanting to make a difference. 10. Get to Know the Neighborhood in Which You Are Working. In every neighborhood there are individuals who view themselves as the leaders. In some cases, these leaders are caring individuals who want a good quality of life for all. In other cases, the leaders are survivors who control situations within the community, often to their own benefit. Understanding how the formal and informal leadership in a community operates is essential. If the trainee associates you, the trainer, with a local power structure (for example, the housing or government authority) that they view as oppressive or corrupt, your effectiveness will be severely undermined. Even if the local power structure is popular, you will want to define your independence from it. In general, powerful community leaders can be useful in helping you begin a program, but be careful not to present them as key to the program's success.