| Community Impact

The value of any organization must be measured by its impact on its community. How do we make a difference? If we ceased to exist, would it matter? What would be different in our community if Not By Bread Alone went out of business?

These are the questions we asked ourselves and these are also some of our answers:

1) … to educate

More than any other purpose, education is our number one priority and our greatest impact is through our monthly breakfast forum. These breakfast forums tackle the widest array of topics from mental health to business basics to public policy to child abuse. Our monthly breakfasts target 3 general areas for discussion 1) family 2) community and 3) business in an effort to begin dialogue with all our community neighbors. We’ve also planned the creation of a pilot project for mentoring our youth and have explored expanding our reach to as many seniors as possible. Our membership and our programs are designed to educate the general public about the role daily life choices play in in our families, communities and businesses.

Education also comes in the form of providing information and current data to our community officials and legislators so decisions they make are enlightened and supportive of good community improvement and good citizenship.

2) … to promote

Education alone is not sufficient in impacting our community’s over-all wellness. The health of our families, our communities and our businesses must be actively promoted. Good holistic well-being does not just happen. Getting the message out that, like physical health, taking care of one’s family, community and businesses are critical elements to total wellness. Our programs promote self help and direction to a wide variety of populations, from pre-school to our growing elderly population. Our work with community leaders promotes collaboration for the common good of our communities.

3) … to improve perceptions and attitudes

Change is our goal, which includes improving the individuals’ family, community and business systems. Breaking the barrier of stigma is at the forefront of our community impact – and it is a tough task that we are ready for!

4) … to assess and monitor

The data we collect through our surveys is critical in our continual monitoring and assessing who and what topics need to be discussed and delivered. Satisfaction surveys as well as information gathered through our referral and volunteer support groups keep us current with the actual delivery of relevant information.

Our role in the development, assessment and presentation of topics impacts our community in what programs and populations are prioritized.

5)… to collaborate

Not By Bread Alone is the umbrella of all other human service organizations – it touches every agency from the library system, to the Y, to Office of Aging, Children and Youth, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Headstart, Drug and Alcohol, Hispanic Outreach, and the V.A. By moving our connections around the community from agency to agency we not only keep our community’s needs at the forefront, but we also highlight the impact these agencies can have on the total wellness of the communities we serve, through our collaboration with them.

6) … to impact the system

We can work to prevent family, community and business illnesses; we can strive to reduce stigma; we can collaborate to highlight a specific issue; we can promote resilience and recovery in our individuals and our families; we can assess plans and programs. But, second only to education in community impact, is our ability to change and improve the system, to highlight underserved populations, to challenge outcomes through factual data, to provide passion, energy and vision to the communities we serve for a better world in which we continue to promote, not “Why?” but “Why not?”.

Not By Bread Alone knows that one person or one organization can’t improve the community alone. We educate the entire community about local issues and seek out partners that can make a positive impact.

We identify the needs of the community…