We are aware that homelessness is a problem.  It is a problem for the homeless individuals. It is a problem for their family and friends.  It is a problem for society. And, it is not a simple problem.

 

A large segment of the homeless want to work, yet they lack employment or they lack adequate pay.  In essence, the problem is poverty.

 

Poverty is a result of ineffective behaviors.  Effectiveness is the degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result.  Or as Stephen Covey puts it, the essence of effectiveness is that you get the results you want today in a such a way that you get even better results in the future.  Ineffective behaviors don’t produce the desired results, the produce ineffective employment, ineffective pay and ineffective career paths.

 

Effective behavior solutions to poverty begin with shelter as an essential first step, then behaviors around education, family formation and work.  Effective education is built around life skills, trade skills and/or professional skills. Effective family formation is built around effective relationships at home and at work.  Effective work is built around skills, abilities and attitudes.

 

Our purpose is to conduct a pilot program in collaboration with Colorado Homeless Families.  Conducting a reproducible program where CHF provides the shelter while we provide their population training in effective behaviors to strengthen their capabilities in education, family formation and work.  Effectiveness is transformational for both personal and professional lives. If you begin with principles of change, changing ineffective habits to effective habits, effectiveness will enhance everything else done to overcome poverty.

 

FranklinCovey is the world leader in helping organizations and people achieve results that require lasting changes in human behavior.  Their The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was developed through years of research and is proven to improve effectiveness.  It offers a framework to transform attitudes and practices from dependence to independence and interdependence.  Beginning at the roots it develops character, self-sufficiency and mastery of self via;

●        Habit 1, Be Proactive, the habit of personal responsibility, aligns with the paradigm of choice, the principles of responsibility, accountability, initiative and resourcefulness.

●        Habit 2, Begin With the End in Mind, the habit of personal vision, aligns with the paradigm of clearly defining vision and purpose, the principles of vision, commitment and purpose.

●        Habit 3, Put First Things First, the habit of personal management, aligns with the paradigm of importance, the principles of focus, integrity, discipline and prioritization.

Character is personal leadership that leads to effective independence, and is a stepping stone to interpersonal effectiveness and effective relationships via:

●        Habit 4, Think Win Win, the habit of mutual benefit, aligns with the paradigm of abundance, the principles of mutual benefit, fairness, and abundance.

●        Habit 5, Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, the habit of empathic communication, aligns with the paradigm of understanding and influence, the principles of respect, mutual understanding, empathy and courage.

●        Habit 6, Synergize, the habit of creative cooperation, aligns with the paradigm of something better, the principles of creativity, cooperation, diversity and humility.

Effective relationships, personal and professional, leads to effective interdependence.  Then tying it all together is the final habit:

●        Habit 7, Sharpen the Saw, the habit of daily self-renewal, aligns with the paradigm of taking care of self, principles of renewal, continuous improvement and balance.

 

 

It works for hundreds of thousands of employers worldwide, including corporations ranging from Shea Homes to McDonalds, from The City of Henderson Nevada to The Gaylord Opryland resort, from Sony in Japan to Sanofi-Adventis in Israel.  Studies show that after implementing the 7 Habits training, participants reported significant functional improvement in;

●        Workplace satisfaction

●        Communication between employees

●        Teamwork

●        Organizational goal focus

●        Conflict management

●        Organizational resilience

These are transferable skills and what employers want.

 

The 7 Habits works in the educational system.  Studies have shown that each of the principles taught in the 7 habits are aligned with educational practices that are well documented as effective at improving student achievement in an educational setting.

 

“The 7 Habits changes lives, even in the most difficult of places to live or work in the world.”  It has been effective in the prison system, reducing recidivism by more than 40% and reducing incident reports 86%.  If it changes live in prison, it will change lives in homeless populations.

 

The 7 Habits will work for anyone; it is intuitive that anyone could benefit from being more effective.  The catch is, this training is not generally available to the disadvantaged, impoverished and marginalized. The end in mind is the achievement of employment results that require lasting changes in their behavior

 

We are developing a program to provide the training and enhance it with entraining.  It is a 5 week program to train participants in the 7 Habits. Concurrent with the training is the entraining (a term borrowed from chemistry that focuses on participants absorbing the material and putting it into action), weekly review, commitments, intentional practice and accountability meetings.  This is followed by 7 weekly intentional practice and accountability meetings. For the final 3 months there are monthly accountability meetings. This is 6 months of living the 7 Habits and applying them to all they are doing to overcome homelessness.

 

It  is obvious that ending homelessness benefits all society. Yet, the goal to end homelessness is more than that. It is motivated by compassion and empathy, because we are not as different from the homeless as we might think[P7] .  Brene Brown writes; “We are ‘those people.’ The truth is… we are the others.  Most of us are only one paycheck, one divorce, one drug-addicted kid, one mental health diagnosis, one serious illness, one sexual assault, one drinking binge, one night of unprotected sex, or one affair away from being ‘those people’...”  “Those people” are disadvantaged, minimalized and impoverished. “Those people” have eternal value, value to themselves, their families and their communities. “Those People” are often in their resultant circumstances because of ineffective behaviors, ineffective paradigms, practices and habits which have led to poor choices and bad results.  “Those people” do not have access to the best, if any, resources for lasting change to effective behavior. FranklinCovey is the world leader in helping organizations and people achieve results that require lasting changes in human behavior.

 

We provide access to FranklinCovey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People training to “Those people,” N.Able-ing them to realize their value to themselves, their families and their communities.