Blog

Springboard To Opportunities has always emphasized the importance of direct service work paired with policy and systemic change. Good policy cannot exist without the voices and stories of those in communities and direct service work only has lasting impact when strong policies, informed by the real lives and experiences of those historically most marginalized and overlooked, back them up. This important interplay has been especially central for us in these past few weeks.

Jackson has been experiencing an ongoing water crisis following the winter storms in February that froze the aging water system for several days. Even after the ice thawed, continued shifts in the ground caused water main breaks, delaying water restoration efforts further. While most parts of the city have water again, almost everyone remains under a boil water notice. Bottled water has been difficult to impossible to find and boiling enough water for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, and other needs for a family is overwhelming.

We immediately leapt into action as families expressed their water and food needs, and we are thankful for an incredible community response by so many. Alongside several partners, we were able to distribute over 1,100 cases of water to families and more than 1,500 hot meals over the last several weeks.

It has been amazing to witness the way the community came together to support families during this time, and we are grateful for new and continued partnerships that made this possible. But we also know without systems-level changes and major infrastructure upgrades that will require cooperation and support from all levels of government, this will likely happen again. And we know it is important for all members of the community, especially those in the hardest hit communities, to be included in this conversation.

On a national level, we are also seeing how critical the connection between direct services and policy can be. The landmark legislation of the recently passed American Rescue Plan has the possibility to reshape our social safety net system in remarkable ways, including expanded access to food, healthcare, and housing supports that center people as opposed to organizations. But perhaps most exciting for us was the expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which provides additional cash to low-income families without work requirements or restrictions on use. Instead of coming in one fell swoop as the current tax credit comes, it will come at regular intervals, most likely monthly, essentially providing families with a guaranteed income based on the number of children in their home.

It was not lost on us (and hopefully not on you!), how similar this policy is to our guaranteed income program, The Magnolia Mother’s Trust. The intent of our program was always to produce research and analysis that could influence policy on a federal level. While we recognize our program has been life-changing for so many women, we know the problematic systems that entrap families across the country in poverty cannot be solved by one program alone. Though the provision in the act is temporary, we believe there is a real opportunity to move toward permanent legislation and reshape the social safety net as we know it.

This policy makes our work regarding guaranteed income even more critical. As we announced a few weeks ago, we are embarking on our third iteration of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust with another group of 102 women. We will be continuing with a robust evaluation of the program to understand the experience of the mothers throughout the year. We will be able to show on a human and community level how a guaranteed income and policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit can be life-changing for families. We will have data to show the effects on work, healthcare, children’s school performance, and the ability to care for one’s own family. And most importantly, we will have mothers whose stories and expertise can be utilized to ensure permanent policy is shaped by their voices, creating inclusive policies that support all people.

As always, our commitment is to centering the voices of our families, and we trust them to know what they need both in programs and services and in supportive policies. We feel very hopeful about the possibilities that exist for the next 12 months, and we look forward to working alongside them and all of you to advocate for systems and programs that center trust and dignity and bring about real equity and opportunity for all families.

It is hard to believe 2020 is almost over. In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that we were making decisions about closing our offices, postponing meetings, and figuring out what we had to do to pivot as an organization to best support our staff and families given the changing world.

We quickly saw that this pivot was not going to be for a few weeks or even a few months. We are in this for the long-haul, and our world has fundamentally shifted into a new reality. We can no longer pretend that the development of a vaccine or effective treatment will allow us to just flip a switch and return back to “normal.” All of our lives and realities have fundamentally shifted and that requires a fundamental shift in how we operate as an organization and as a staff.

One of those fundamental shifts is the recognition of the importance of caregiving and caregivers in our world. Many of our residents are professional caregivers, home health aids, daycare workers, and certified nursing assistants. Our staff works as caregivers for family, providing supportive assistance and services. Both our residents and staff care for their own children, family members, and neighbors. Without the traditional support structures, like school systems or healthcare facilities, we are recognizing that the title of caregiver belongs to all of us.

Our partners at The Holding Co just released their Care 100 list, highlighting those working to re-imagine and re-humanize our care system. I am honored that Springboard’s work and The Magnolia Mother’s Trust are recognized on this list, highlighting the important role cash can play in caregiving. But what I particularly love about this list is the wide variety of leaders and sectors that are represented. It reminds us that we need a bigger definition of caregiving that goes beyond the traditional categories. And it reminds us that not only are we all caregivers, but we are also all the recipients of care, as well.

As an organization, we are doing our best to find ways to support our families in both of these roles. Many of our Magnolia Mother’s Trust recipients have been participating in a new Leaders in Community Fellowship program, an opportunity for them to learn leadership development and community building skills. Over the past few months, they have built relationships and  developed strategies for self and community care. But they are also being equipped with these skills so that they can share them with other members in their community, including new Magnolia Mother’s Trust recipients, in the future, and step into the caregiver role themselves.

This is just one small way that our thinking and responses have shifted in recognition of our new reality. While there is so much that has been hard in the past 7 months, I am grateful to have had the space and time to think about the different roles we play and what it means to be a healthy and responsive caregiving organization. It is my hope that each of us will spend more time recognizing our own roles as caregivers and giving thanks to those from whom we receive care.

We have been talking a lot lately about cash. Between the launch and expansion of the new cohort of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, our Emergency Cash Disbursement Campaign, and the newfound energy policymakers and other community leaders have had around conversations concerning cash disbursements, it is no surprise that this is what we have been talking about.

And while we’re grateful and excited for this new energy around cash, we also know that at our heart, Springboard To Opportunities is a resident service provider trying to reimagine what resident services can look like for families living in low-income housing through a radically resident-driven lens. But what does it look like to provide services to families when we must be six feet apart? What does it mean to be radially resident-driven when hosting community conversations and listening sessions is no longer an option? How do we respond to needs like education support and finding jobs when traditional after school programs and career services are no longer safe to implement? 

While these questions are on their surface daunting and overwhelming, we are also excited for the opportunity to be answering them. It is easy to just try to do more of the same – try to offer our normal slate of programming virtually, try to maintain some normalcy until this is all past us – but what if our job right now is not to just maintain until all of this goes away? What if our job is to do the hard work of really looking at our organizations to understand how our work and mission fits into the new reality that we are all living in?

This summer, we have delivered over 5,000 boxes of food to families in need and brought 9,000 meals on site through feeding partners to children in need in our communities. We have been helping those who have lost work or hours apply for unemployment benefits and identify local resources to help with rent and utility payments. We have utilized social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to share our summer camp videos for families to watch and participate in activities through. We’re checking in with families as they make decisions about the upcoming school year and are asking them directly how we can be supportive in terms of virtual learning and finding support from other parents in their community. We are researching and trying out new programs around mental health and self-care, particularly to support single mothers in this time. 

It is very different than what a normal summer with Springboard To Opportunities looks like and there are still a lot of new things we are learning and figuring out, but we knew it was our job as an organization to adjust to the needs to families, not the other way around.

The truth is none of us know when the pandemic is going to end and even when it does, there will be no returning to what we once understood as normal. All of us will be continue to feel the trauma and anxiety of this time, and for our families, who in many ways have been hit the hardest by all the consequences of COVID-19, the effects will be serious and long-lasting. We have to be asking hard questions about what we need to be doing to shift in order to maintain our mission as an organization. The needs of vulnerable families are shifting rapidly and it is our job as organizations and policymakers to be innovative and creative and shift accordingly to best serve those who need it most. It should not be our expectation that families just trying to survive will shift to accommodate us. 

As the world continues to change, we will keep exploring these questions and continue to be as creative and innovative as possible. We are trying new things, some that work well and some that need adjusting, but our commitment is to be an organization helping residents reach their goals in life, work, and school, even in the midst of a pandemic.

It can be hard right now to find the right words to say. As we’ve watched protests break out around the country regarding racial injustices of all kinds while continuing to grapple with the reality of a global pandemic that disproportionately affects African Americans, there is so much that could be said. As an organization both the residents we serve and our staff are majority African American, and the severity of these issues is not lost on us.

However, we also know that these issues are not new. Disparities in healthcare, police violence, inequities in education, the failures of our social service system are all long-term consequences of racist structures and systems that have been codified into our laws and policies since the founding of our country. Racism affects our families, our staff, and our organization on a regular basis. The truth is if you really want to be anti-racist, you will be outraged all the time.

Which is why right now, we are not talking about our anger. We are talking about joy. Because in the midst of so much pain and oppression and anger, joy is a revolutionary act. Joy does not mean that we ignore the pain of the world around us, but it does mean we are grounded in a deeper understanding of who we are and our inherent worth. While systems and policies may devalue black lives and experiences, grounding in joy and care reminds us that our lives are worthy and important and should be celebrated. Taking care of ourselves and honoring our bodies is its own form of rebellion in a world that tells us our lives are expendable.

Starting Monday, we are kicking off our Virtual Summer Programming series (You can follow along, too, on Instagram (@STOProgramming) and Facebook (facebook.com/STOProgramming)). Continued social distancing measures mean that we cannot have our normal crowded community rooms filled with excited kids for Super Summer Camp. Instead, our staff quickly pivoted, creating a Virtual Super Summer Camp series that will go out each weekday on Instagram Live and be shared on multiple social media platforms. Each day will follow a different theme, helping our kids ground themselves in mindfulness practices, creating art projects as a family, taking nature walks or performing science experiments around their homes, and participating in dance fitness classes, just to name a few things. As families continue to grapple with the long-terms effects of all that is going on in the world, we hope these daily activities will provide important moments of joy and connection.

In addition, our partners at The Holding Co. reached out to us about creating a self-care series, specifically designed for our residents, that we could release on social media. While many self-care practices are grounded in consumerism and try to convince individuals that they need to buy a lot of products to care for themselves, we wanted to help our residents create self-care habits that didn’t require additional money or items by providing small daily exercises to help participants connect to themselves, their families, and their communities for strength and care. Most importantly, we want to remind them that they deserve to carve out time for their own care, joy, and gratitude.  

Finally, we are ensuring that our staff also has opportunities to build their self-care habits. We have transformed our weekly staff meetings to make sure we have opportunities to connect with each other at the beginning of the meeting about how we are feeling and what we are experiencing and spend the second half in a virtual yoga session, allowing us to connect to our bodies and our breath, both as a means of grounding ourselves and releasing anxiety after what are often long weeks of caring for others. As an organization, we know we are in this fight for the long-haul, and we can only sustain the needed energy if we are taking care of ourselves.

There is so much in our world right now that should make us angry and sad, and I hope that we never stop decrying injustices that we see and challenging systems that perpetuate inequality and harm. But, I also hope we are taking care of our bodies, our minds, and our spirits – especially in the midst of chaos – and ensuring that we are sustained and prepared for the long journey toward justice and equality. This fight is not for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years, and committing to joy and care is not only a way to sustain us in the fight but is also a reminder that we are worth fighting for.