V a l u e s

 
The following values guide and inspire our efforts to help individuals and families to transform their challenges into opportunities:
 
We Value:
 
Respect and Empathy:
We are committed to treating everyone with whom we interact with the same dignity and consideration that we would want ourselves. We value each individual's unique personal, cultural, and professional qualities and contributions.
 
Excellence:
We are committed to upholding the highest level of ethical and professional standards in our dealings with the people we serve, our partners and communities, and in our work with each other. We are constantly engaged in self-reflection and a quest for improvement, and seek to apply the best available practices in our fields. We reward creative approaches to challenges, at both the personal and organizational levels. We are committed to providing opportunities for staff and clients to grow personally and professionally.
 
Integrity:
We value personal and professional integrity, which enables us to build relationships upon credibility and mutual respect. We are committed to being honest, ethical, moral, and lawful in all of our activities—to do the right thing, even if it is not the easy thing to do.
 
Strength-based, Holistic Approach:
We realize that problems rarely appear in isolation, and work to identify the social, emotional, intellectual, financial, and spiritual needs of our clients, which can sometimes include mental health, addiction, family systems, housing, trauma, physical health, and nutrition issues. We identify a person's strengths, and use them as a foundation from which to meet their challenges. We are committed to helping both staff and the people we serve find, recognize and build upon their internal and external resources. We believe that staff must model the self-care that we advocate for our clients and be healthy, responsible, and respectful. We value youth as vital community resources, and encourage people to find new ways to bridge the gap between youth and adults.
 
Diversity:
We seek and respect a diversified staff. It is our belief that diversity promotes appropriate responsiveness to community needs, provides representative role models for all clientele, and in numerous ways improves the quality of service. In order to provide culturally-sensitive service, we recruit staff, leadership and Board members to reflect the diverse population of our community.
 
Commitment and Passion:
We value passion, because it is the driving force of the work we do. Our staff is united in a strong commitment to give back to the community and help those in need, and takes great pride in their work.
 
Teamwork and Collaboration:
We encourage staff and leadership to communicate, cooperate and respect each otheršs needs in order to reach our common goals. We foster collaboration and partnership between and among departments, programs, functions, as well as with other agencies, funders and partners.
 
Accessibility and Flexibility:
We are committed to being available to the community we serve by providing 24-hour services as necessary, fostering relationships with clients, responding in a timely manner and showing that "what happens to you matters to me." Our staff is available to each other for encouragement, self-reflection, input and listening. We strive to meet the people we serve "where they are," both physically and emotionally. We are aware that nobody is perfect, and that everyone has a different path. We honor small steps and incremental progress.
 
Accountability:
We help the people we serve to meet the goals they set for themselves. We respect the commitments that we make to our funders and partners by collecting appropriate data, providing timely and complete reports, and ensuring that we meet our goals and objectives.
 
Fiscal Responsibility:
Careful management of our financial resources demonstrates our respect for the government agencies, foundations and other donors who make our work possible. We are committed to ensuring that we have adequate resources to meet our commitments, and finding creative ways to finance our vital community programs in an environment of economic uncertainty. We will set appropriate fees for our services, and will set appropriate boundaries in requiring payments from clients.