Ideas for engaging faith communities strategically in tutor/mentor program growth

8/3/2019 Ideas for engaging faith communities strategically in tutor/mentor program growth

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www.tutormentorexchange.net

I wrote this in March 2008. I think it applies to the

year end religious holiday season as well.

Every faith has high holidays where people cometogether and celebrate. This is Easter weekend for the

millions of people who share the Christian Faith. It's atime for reflection for all of us, not just Christians.What do these religions, and these celebrations meanto us?

I think it's all about HOPE.

We live in a savage world where there is much suffer-

ing. To think that the human animal is superior toother creatures who fight to survive everyday, may beone of the follies that make us different from theseother life forms. Some of us have been more blessed

by where we were born, who our parents are, and whatgenes we have. But we all live in the same world, andare affected by the struggles of those who are far dif-ferent, or far distant, from us.

I was raised in the Christian faith and every day I sayThe Lord's Prayeras a way of giving myself hope andenergy to face my day. I think that the middle stanzas

of this prayer offer universal hope.

Give us this day, our daily bread.

To me this request is not a "home run" pitch. I'm not

expecting my God to make me rich, or cure my son ofa disease, or end hunger or warfare. I'm asking for theability to deal with these struggles. I'm asking for

more energy, more wisdom, a better ablility to com-municate, and just enough money to pay the bills, atCabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection, andin my own home and family life.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those whotrespass against us.I think this is one of the most important parts of this

prayer. I can't tell you the number of times I've criti-cized myself for a mistake I've made, or something Idid not do as well as I wanted to. I think in this part ofthe prayer God is giving us the power to forgive our-

selves. In the movie "The Lion King" there is a scenewhen the monkey hits the lion over the head and says"It's in the past. Forget it."

We need to learn from our mistakes, but not dwell onthem, which leads to the second part of this stanza. Ifwe spend time getting revenge, or being angry aboutwhat someone else did to offend us, or hurt us, what

good does that do? There are too few hours in eachday to spend them in this way.

- continued on page 4

Seasons of Hope, Faith, A Better FutureSince 2005 Ive written 34 articles with a faith-based, spiritual message. A few are included in thisissue. Search for faith based at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com to read them all.

The Rest

of the Story

These are a few of

hundreds of articleswritten since 2005 on

the Tutor/Mentor In-

stitute, LLC blog.

In each article a link

to the original article

is provided. Follow

these stories and

share them with your

network

Most of these articles

were written while

Dan Bassill was CEO

of Cabrini Connections,

Tutor/Mentor Connec-

tion (T/MC), formed in

1993. In June 2011

this organization split

and Dan created Tu-

tor/Mentor Institute,

LLC to continue the T/

MC mission.

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

December 2, 2011Volume 1, Issue 3

The Rest of The StoryArticles from Tutor/Mentor Blog Archive

Jesus or Martin Luther King, Jr. As CEO: Think about it.

Read these and follow the links at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com

I wrote this in June 2006 and themessage is as important in 2012.

A few years ago a supporter of theTutor/Mentor Connection sent methe book,Jesus as CEO, written by

Laurie Beth Jones.

It took me a while to get around toreading the book, but when I did it

became an inspiration that con-tinues to support me in my workto this day. It shows how much

impact a single person can havein this huge world. As I thinkabout all the challenges facing

kids living in poverty, I'mprompted to ask, "What wouldJesus do if he were CEO of the

business of helping every child bornin poverty be in a job, career, by age25?"

I've also been inspired by MartinLuther King, Jr.'sI Have a Dream

speech where he said, "I have a dreamthat my four children will one day



2/10

On November 3, 2011, the John

Fountain column in the ChicagoSunTimes was titled, In time of

crisis, where are the good shep-herds?

He starts out writing "I hear you,

man. . . . But the people perish.And yet, the clergy flourish." Heconcludes with "I pray, dear

pastor, that you will be part of

the promised wind of change andrestoration. For the people per-ish."

Between January 2008 and

March 2011, I was able to createa set of maps showing the loca-

tion of faith groups in the cityand suburbs. I have maps foreach different denomination.

This one shows them all.

Staggering how many there areand we only mapped some of themajor denominations.

Our purpose was to provide atool that faith leaders might useto support the growth of mentor-rich non-school tutor/mentor

programs in high povertyneighborhoods.

Ive tried to show how thesemaps could be used. I created a

PDF guide for Faith Leaderswith the goal that one or morewould adopt it and set an exam-

ple that others would follow. See

this atwww.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/faith_communities_leadership_st

rategy.pdf

In 1999 I was invited to write anarticle for the Ecumenical Child

Care Network. I titled it "Getwisdom! Get understanding, ... "-

Proverbs 4: Verse 5.

See this at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/ecumenical_child

_care_network2001.pdf

If you're interested in becoming

an apostle who helps carry thismessage to the faith leaders,

please forward these articles andattend the conference we hostevery May and November inChicago. Find details at

www.tutormentorconfernce.org

The faith community has one ofthe most powerful communica-

tions networks in existence. Ifwe can encourage and nurturethe growth of learning circlesand study groups at different

churches, synagogues and

mosques those groups can takeownership of the Tutor/Mentor

Connection strategy and carry itto new levels of impact in futureyears.

I would love to enlist Mr. Foun-

tain to help me evangelize thismessage so leaders in differentfaith groups adopt it. Perhaps infuture Tutor/Mentor Conferences

he could give awards and recog-nition to faith leaders who beginto adopt this strategy. I'd alsolove to enlist the Cardinal and

other faith leaders.

There is a 'promised land' andwith the help of a few prophetswe can show others a path to get

there.

Read this article at

http://tutormentor.

blogspot.com/2011/11/where-are-good-shepherds.html

Where are the Good Shepherds?

Page 2

Volume 1, Issue 3

Read these articles at http://

tutormentor. blogspot.com

Every dot represents a faith based organization in the Chicago region.See more maps like this at http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com

Did St. Paul Have a

Map of the Road to

Damascus?

Read article at

tutormentor.blogspot.com/

2009/12/did-stpaul-have-

map-of-road-to-

damascus.html

"blogevangelism"

I searched Google on August 19,

2008 to see if any results werefound using the word

"blogevangelism".

I found 78 listings. Thus, am I partof a new trend?

I'm not sure that these folks areusing the term the way I am, tocreate attention for a social cause. I

first used this term today, in a poston the T/MC forum, where I en-couraged others to borrow fromideas that I and others post on T/

MC blogs, to create their own out-reach and "blog-evangelism" that

reaches people in their own net-

works. Thus, if you look at thegraphic Ive created (see page 5),

imagine yourself as the red ball onthe world's largest Ping Pong ta-ble. Every time you write abouttutoring/mentoring, and point to a

T/MC blog, you are encouragingthe people you know to spread themessage you are writing about. Ifthey pass this message on via their

own blogs and networking, it canquickly reach around the world.


From blog article written Nov. 3, 2011


3/10

This article was written onJanuary 29, 2011

With the Internet we are nowconnected to people living in all

parts of the world. With lan-guage translators available on

Google and other places we cannow interpret and understandeach others words.

Will this lead to future jointefforts to solve world problems?Is this possible?

I've been doing a lot of thinkingabout the Biblical story of the

Tower of Babel. I'm not a Bibli-cal scholar, so today I did some

searching and came up with aweb site that provides a numberof articles worth reading. Seehttp://ldolphin.org/babel.html

This is the text from

Genesis 11:1-9

"Now the whole earth had onelanguage and few words. And asmen migrated from the east, theyfound a plain in the land of Shi-

nar and settled there. And they

said to one another, 'Come, let usmake bricks, and burn them

thoroughly.' And they had brickfor stone, and bitumen for mor-

tar. Then they said, 'Come, let usbuild ourselves a city, and atower with its top in the heavens,and let us make a name for our-

selves, lest we be scatteredabroad upon the face of thewhole earth.' And the LORDcame down to see the city and

the tower, which the sons of menhad built. And the LORD said,'Behold, they are one people, andthey have all one language; and

this is only the beginning ofwhat they will do; and nothing

that they propose to do willnow be impossible for them.

Come, let us go down, and thereconfuse their language, that theymay not understand one an-

other's speech.' So the LORD

scattered them abroad from thereover the face of all the earth, and

they left off building the city.'Therefore its name was calledBabel, because there the LORDconfused the language of all theearth; and from there the LORD

scattered them abroad over theface of all the earth."

I highlighted nothing that they

propose to do will now be im-possible for them because thisis where I struggle in my think-ing.

Everything I've been trying to do

through the Tutor/Mentor Con-nection and Cabrini Connections

is get people to learn from acommon body of aggregatedinformation and apply that un-derstanding in efforts to make

programs and services availablethat help poor kids grow up bet-ter prepared for lives out of pov-erty.

Yet while the Internet gives usaccess to each other and anunlimited range of ideas, it also

creates a proliferation of places

with their own gravitational pull,making it more and more diffi-

cult to build the critical mass ofpeople involved in any single

place.

Is this just a continuation, or

21st Century version, of The

Tower of BabelStory?

I've much more learning andthinking to do on this topic.

What are your thoughts? Haveyou tried to bring people to-gether to solve a problem butyou seem to meet with resistance

in many different ways?

Read this article at

http://tutormentor.

blogspot.com/2011/01/collaboration-tower-of-babel-deep.html

Collaboration & Tower of Babel. Deep thinking.

Page 3

Volume 1, Issue 3

The role of network builder is one

with many challenges and little

consistent support. Is it possible?

We can build systems of support that con-

nect with youth when they are in elemen-

tary school and stay connected to them

until they are in adult careers.

Lets create an adult

learning system and

test them on what they

know about these

issues

Mrs. George Ryan, First Lady of Illinois and Paul Vallas, CEO of

Chicago Public Schools helped with Chicagoland Volunteer

Recruitment Campaigns between 1999 and 2002.


4/10

If I don't spend time agonizingover my own faults, or the faults

of others, I have much more timeto work on solving the problemsthat I can solve with the "daily

bread" that I'm given each day.

Lead us not into temptation, butdeliver us from evil.To me this reflects the daily urgeto yield to all sorts of things that

might get me into trouble. Thismay be eating the wrong food,spending time on something thatis not going to benefit my work,

or my family, or doing some-thing that hurts someone else or

breaks one of the laws of ourland. We all need a little help to

avoid the things we do to our-selves.

We also need some good fortune

to avoid the accidents of life wecannot control. I could walk outof this building today and slip onthe ice and be injured or killed. I

could live in a part of the worldwhere crazy people are shootingguns and killing each other. Justyesterday a 12-year old Chicago

girl was shot in the back by a 15-year old who was aiming atsomeone else....and missed. Eachday I pray to my God that such

an accident does not claim me,or someone I love.

So how are these prayers an-

swered?

As the leader of a small nonprofit, and parent of a 10-yearold and 17-year old, I'm con-stantly asking God for three

things. Give me more time, giveme more talent, knowledge and

wisdom and help me live longer.With these I can be a better par-

ent, and a better leader. I can domore to help make this a worldwhere God answers the prayersof all who ask for help.

I realized recently that my Godhas been answering me for the

past 30 years.

I get more time by involvingvolunteers who use their own

time to help me with the work ofCabrini Connections and theTutor/Mentor Connection. Eachyear more than 100 volunteersare directly involved, and count-

less others are indirectly in-volved. I get more time when myneighbors help me raise my ownkids. More than 2000 people

have sent contributions to sup-port CC, T/MC since 1993.

I get more talent, knowledge and

wisdom from the same re-sources. By unleashing the talentof other people, and the Internet,I expand the wisdom and abili-

ties needed to build the type ofprograms and non profit supportinfrastructure that I'm trying tocreate. We have volunteers help-

ing us in all sorts of ways, frombuilding web sites, creatingmaps and databases, to hostingworkshops at our conferences, or

leading sessions at our tutor/mentor program. We have the

potential of being joined by mil-lions of others as we focus atten-

tion through our web sites andour maps on all of the places inChicago and other cities where

people were born into poverty or

have fallen into distressed situa-tions.

I live longer by sharing my ideaswith others who adopt them in

their own work. I use a variety ofweb sites to share my thinkingwith thousands of people whovisit every month. I can live

forever through these ideas andthe way people keep them alive

in their own actions and inplaces throughout the world.

Maybe this is one reason somany people are sharing theirown ideas on the Internet. Withso much information, I think

what gets used, and what getsremembered will be that whichhelps those who are disadvan-taged, and that which helps solve

some of the complex problemsthat face our planet.

I have not become rich throughthe work I do, and Cabrini Con-nections, Tutor/Mentor Connec-

tion has been short of moneymany times over the past 15

years. Yet, when everything hasseemed hopeless, there has al-ways been some company, foun-

dation and/or donor who havestepped forward with justenough money to help usweather that storm and continue

our work.

To me this is the HOPE thatkeeps me going everyday. It's

what I'll be thinking about as wemove through this holiday week-end. I hope you can unleash thisHOPE in your own lives and

community services.

Read this at tutormen-tor.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-

is-about-hope-heres-what-this.html

Seasons of Hope, Faith, A Better Future

Page 4

Volume 1, Issue 3

While we pray for solutions to the prob-

lems we face we need to act in strate-

gic and innovative ways to make more

of our prayers come true.

Sharing what is learned - transforming others

See this graphic and 5ead article at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2010/08/sharing-what-is-learned-

Read these articles at http://

tutormentor. blogspot.com

Continued from page 1


5/10

If you network strategically,talking about things that other

people are thinking about, such

as volunteer recruitment duringthe "back-to-school time frame",then your blog can become fuelthat propels this movement for-

ward, resulting in more peoplebecome involved in volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring andother activities that help kids

move from poverty to jobs andcareers.

Are you doing

"blogevangelism"?

Read original article at

tutormentor.blogspot.com/2008/08/

blogavangelism.html

"blogevangelism"

Sept. 9 shootingSept. 9 shootingSept. 9 shootingSept. 9 shooting ---- "kid you would wish for""kid you would wish for""kid you would wish for""kid you would wish for"

SunTimes is another story, this

time about how students fromElmhurst College, in Elmhurst,

Il., " took to the streets" in theAustin neighborhood to pass outflyers for an "anti violence"ralley hosted By the Rev. Mi-

chael Pfleger and the BethelGreen Family Worship Center.This event was "organized as away to foster a sense of personal

responsibility toward the issue ofneighborhood violence," saidThe Rev. Ronald Beauchamp,

pastor of Bethel Green and di-

rector of Elmhurst College's

Nieburhr Center.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote

an article and posted some mapsshowing the Austin neighbor-hood. I wonder if the group atElmhurst or the faith leaders in

Austin have seen these.

We've written articles on ourblogs about engaging universi-

ties. You can read some at http://chrispip.blogspot.com/search/label/engaging%20universities.

If you read other articles on this

blog, you'll see that we view pov-

erty as the root cause of poorlyperforming schools and disaf-

fected youth who are willing totake lives without any form ofregret. We agree with the studentfrom Elmhurst College who was

quoted as saying "Am I mybrother's keeper.

Yes."

Continued page 7

I wrote this on Sept. 21, 2009

Page 13 of today's Chicago

SunTimes includes a photo ofCorey McClaurin, a SimeonHigh School student, who wasshot last Saturday as he sat in

his car. He was described as a"diligent, well-liked student."

This map shows where this

shooting took place. It alsoshows that there are a largenumber of poorly performingelementary schools in the area,

and no non-school tutor/mentor

programs serving junior high orhigh school students operatingnear Simeon High School or

anywhere in this part of Chi-cago.

We created this map using the

Chicago Tutor/Mentor ProgramLocator. You can use that siteto create your own map, show-ing poverty and poorly per-

forming schools in thisneighborhood, or any otherneighborhood of Chicago.

On page 14 of today's Chicago

Page 5

Volume 1, Issue 3

These graphics illustrate how one

person can share ideas on a regu-

lar basis that circulate around the

world. As more people pass on

these blog articles a growing num-

ber will adopt the ideas.

Use the Chicago Tutor/Mentor

Program Locator at to make your

own map views. Copy and past

them into blog articles you write to

mobilize volunteers and donors.

http://www.

tutormentorprogramlocator.net



6/10

I wrote this in October 2008following a commentary I read

in the Chicago Sun Times.

Dawn Turner Trice wrote a col-umn in the Oct. 23, 2008 Chi-

cago Tribune with the headline

shown above. You can read herearticle at arti-cles.chicagotribune.com/ 2008-10-13/

news/0810120194_1_wall-street-crime-bill-crime-issuesalong with about 160 comments.Since the comment I posted on

the SunTimes web site is num-ber 157, I doubt that many peo-ple will read it.

Thus, I'm posting it here, too:--------------------

Dawn, thanks for letting your

anger show, but I wish mediapeople would try to find a way towrite about this every day, not

just when they decide to.

I've been writing about this since1992 when Dantrell Davis waskilled in Cabrini Green. When I

write about it I point to wayspeople can become tutors/mentors in non-school programsoperating in some of these

neighborhoods. You can readone of my articles at tutormen-tor.blogspot.com/2008/09/7-

year-olds-death-at-cabrini-requires.html

I don't claim to know all of theanswers to this problem, but I've

been building a library of infor-

mation that anyone can learnfrom, to support their own think-

ing and actions. See this at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org

I believe in volunteer-basedtutor/mentor programs not be-cause they are a magic solution,

but because the connect peoplewho don't live in poverty withkids who do. As a volunteermeets with a youth each week,

often for several years, it's hardnot to become angry, or to be-

come personally involved.

Until we get more people be-

yond poverty personally in-

volved, not much will change.

Finally, I use maps to help peo-ple understand where povertyand poor schools are located, and

where tutor/mentor programsoperate, or are needed. In thesemaps I create overlays showingchurches, hospitals, universities,

and business operating in theseneighborhoods, who would

benefit if the poverty and vio-lence were reduced. These are

the groups who need to be strate-gically involved.

I also have mapped a few politi-

cal districts, such as those ofState Senator James Meeks. I dothis to provide a tool these lead-ers might use to convene people

who will make more and betternon-school tutoring, mentoring,learning and workforce develop-ment opportunities available in

their districts. Hopefully they'lluse these and show the peoplewho vote for them how they arehelping such programs grow in

all parts of the district wherethere is a need. You can seethese maps at http://

mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/

I can create all of this, but if no

one looks at it, I'm a crowd of

one. It's up to you in the mediato connect your stories to infor-

mation that people can use tolearn more about the problem

and to get involved in the solu-tions. If you do this once a week

for the next ten years, maybeothers will follow your exampleand they will help us put more

programs in these areas to help

parents, and compete with gangs,for the attention of kids.

It's also up to faith leaders, busi-

nesses and others to use their

own communications to connectpeople who want to solve these

problems with places where theycan learn, and where they getinvolved.

It does take a village. But the

village needs a plan, a map, andneeds to stay involved for manyyears if we're to change what

took many years to create.

Read this blog article at

http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/

2008/10/market-woes-should-pale-next-to-local.html

Market woes should pale next to local carnage

Page 6

Volume 1, Issue 3

I wrote this in October 2008

Mapping a Faith Based

Tutor/Mentor Strategy

Illinois State Senator, the Rev. James

Meeks has been leading a publicity

campaign intended to draw more state

money to fund public schools. Most

recently was a boycott on the first day

of the 2008-09 school year, and a

picket line outside the Cubs game at

the first round major league baseball

playoffs.

This is great publicity. But it needs to

accomplish more.

Read rest of t his story on page 9

Read these articles

at http://

tutormentor.

blogspot.com

See more maps like this at http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com

NOTE TO READERS

The links from this PDFdo not automaticallyopen new web pages.You need to visit theoriginal blog articles tobe able to follow all ofthe links I point to inthese articles.


7/10

Sept. 9 shootingSept. 9 shootingSept. 9 shootingSept. 9 shooting ---- "kid you would wish for""kid you would wish for""kid you would wish for""kid you would wish for"

Elmhurst is one of the Associ-ated Colleges of Illinois, where

there is a strong liberal arts cur-riculum. Many of the schools,were started by faith based or-ganizations, such as Illinois

Wesleyan, North Park, andWheaton College, and continued

various forms of faith basedlearning. Some strong. Othersless so.

Our "scripture" and "learningcurriculum" is the informationwe host in web libraries at http://

tinyurl.com/T-MC-Library anddiscuss in blogs like this.

We need people to be reading

and reflecting on this every day,just as much as leaders of faithcommunities, and universities,want people to read and reflect

on their material. We need peo-ple to be using maps, diagrams,and other visual tools to createunderstanding, and to distribute

attention and resources to all ofthe poverty neighborhoods, not

just one or two.

I know I am a voice in the wil-derness on this. However, everytime a youth is shot and the me-dia print a picture and tell howthis was a "kid you would wish

for" we are reminded that weneed to do more than wish tosolve this problem.

Read article at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/09/sept-9-shooting-kid-you-would-wish-for.html

However, until people who don't

live in poverty are engaging inan on-going way with informa-tion that helps them understandwhere and why kids in poor

neighborhoods need more help,and teaches them that solving

social problems requires a life-time of involvement, not just aweekend visit or a semester of

study, not much will change.

Furthermore, until people whodon't live in poverty look in the

mirror at the beginning of eachday and ask "where can I givesome of my time, talent anddollars" to help someone work-

ing in a poverty neighborhoodhelp a youth connect with anexpanded support system, in theschool, and in the non-school

hours, we will never have theconsistent flow of resources inAustin, or the Simeon HighSchool neighborhood, or any

other high poverty neighbor-hood, to build and sustain pro-grams that change the future forthe kids living in these areas.

What a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program offers is a placeto connect, and stay connectedfor many years, with the kids

who live in poverty, and theknowledge that they need tounderstand in order to have agreater personal impact, and a

greater impact on others whoneed to be involved.

Page 7

Volume 1, Issue 3

Maps like this show relationship of acts of violence and poverty and

emphasize the need for more non-school learning, mentoring, en-

richment and jobs programs in these areas.

See how maps can be integrated into your own

communications so you can tell the rest of the story

from you own blog and web site.

http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/maps

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC web sitesTutor/Mentor Institute

http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

Tutor/Mentor Connection

http://www.tutormentorconnection.org

Chicago Program Locator/Maps

http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net

Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference

http://www.tutormentorconference.org

Tutor/Mentor Forum

http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com

Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/TutorMentorInstitute

Twitter @tutormentorteam



8/10

I wrote this article in November2005 yet it is still relevant.

This morning as I drove to workI listened to a segment ofRele-vant Radio, a broadcast thatsupports the beliefs of the Catho-

lic Church. The President ofRelevant Radio was discussing

business social responsibilityand the role Catholics in busi-

ness have in encouraging greaterbusiness responsibility.

This is the Monday following

Thanksgiving. I just spent thepast three days thinking ofThanks and Giving. Over thenext four weeks we'll be bom-

barded by messages of holidaycheer, as well as holiday shop-

ping. Thus, today'sRelevantRadio stimulated this blog post.

What will it take to mobilize

an army of believers into a

force that helps end poverty by

providing youth living in pov-

erty with the consistent adult

support needed so they stay in

school, stay safe in non-school

hours and are starting jobsand careers by age 25?

Religion can be more relevant to

me, and maybe many others, iffaith leaders connect people witheach other, and with information

that helps them solve every dayproblems. While Im sure there

are thousands of people in faithcommunities who meet on theInternet, in their churches, syna-gogues, temples and mosques,

and in their homes and officeswith a purpose of helping people

in poverty, Im not sure thatthese people are united in a long-

term vision that makes their helpconsistently available in every

poverty neighborhood in Amer-ica for the next 20 years.

A way to test this premise is tolook for charts that illustrate thegoal of an organization. A pic-

ture is worth a thousand words,so a chart that illustrates jobs/

careers as the goal of a socialenterprise, would more clearlycommunicate this goal than doz-ens of sermons or politicalspeeches.

Here's what I mean.

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute

www.tutormentorexchange.net .In it you can read illustrated PDFwith titles like Theory ofChange, Tipping Points, Creat-

ing a Network of Purpose, etc..Another is titled T/MC use ofGIS Maps. The charts and mapsin these essays illustrate a long-

term commitment to helping kidsreach careers.

Note: In October 2011 I began

to post these on Scribd.com

I encourage you to read theseand share them with leaders of

your own faith and business/civic networks.

If members of faith communities

begin to take ownership of theideas in these presentations theywill make religion more relevant

by connecting people who can

help with young people whoneed consistent help for manyyears if they are to move from a

birth in poverty to the first stagesof a job and a career by age 25.

To me, the faith leaders whoconnect members of their con-gregation with information that

helps them build stronger com-munities, and help the most dis-

advantaged in our society, maketheir religion more relevant to

their members. In the same way,a politician who connects hissupporters with places in thecommunity where they can help

is a much more relevant leader tome than one who only uses thevolunteer and donate but-tons on his/her web site to recruit

support for his own electioncampaign.

Over the next four weeks, amidthe holiday reflections, I encour-age faith leaders, political lead-ers and business leaders to use

the T/MC Map Gallery and T/MC Program Locator Databaseto build connections betweentheir followers and volunteer-

based tutor/mentor programs inbig cities like Chicago. Further-more, I encourage them to meetin the T/MC on-line discussion

portal ( at http://tutormentorconnec-tion.ning.com ) to lead discus-sions of strategies they can use

to support constantly improvingtutor/mentor programs in Chi-cago and other cities.

This is a time of sharing. Its atime when those who have been

blessed by birth, opportunity,mentors or just good luck to

reflect on those blessings andfind ways to help others havesimilar opportunities and goodfortune. While many will spend

time feeding the hungry onChristmas day, Im hoping somewill lead strategies where thehungry and the poor get the help

they need every day of the year,not just on the holidays.

Read Article at:

http://

tutormentor.blogspot.com/

2005/11/making-religion-

relevant.html

To support the Tutor/MentorConnection and Tutor/MentorInstitute, LLC send gifts to:


Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303Chicago, Il. 60654

NOTE: Due to changes in 2011 to

the organization structure, this is

NOT a 501-c-3 charity and dona-

tions are not tax deductible.

Making Religion Relevant

Page 8

Volume 1, Issue 3

Read these articles

at http://

tutormentor.

blogspot.com

Graphics like the one above communi-cate a long-term goal of helping kidsentering first grade today be entering

jobs 15 or 20 years later more clearlythat sermons or political speeches.

Maps like these could be used by faithgroups to show where they are in-volved with youth tutoring/mentoringas a provider or as a resource mobi-lize. See more like this at http://

mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/search/label/faith%20group


9/10

But as I've written many timesbefore, just doing a march does

not draw volunteers and donorsto places in a neighborhoodwhere kids can get help neededto stay safe in non-school hoursand be better prepared for

school.

We've been creating maps toshow how leaders in govern-

ment, faith groups, hospitals anduniversities could mobilize re-sources to support the growth ofvolunteer-based tutor/mentor

programs. Today, the MappingFor Justice blog has a series ofmaps, like this one, showing theIllinois Senate district of Rev.

James Meeks, along with theneighborhood around SalemBaptist Church.

These maps are intended to serveas tools for leaders like the Rev.Meeks. While it may take yearsto build the public and political

will-power to put more money inschools, it only takes the com-mitment of a few people tolaunch a tutor/mentor program in

neighborhood. In this area thereare two groups trying to start

programs. We helped the SONFoundation start a blog last

week. Kids Off the Blockhasbeen struggling to find resourcesto expand for a long time. You

can search the Chicago ProgramLinks to find information for

other groups working with youthin this area.

Our goal is that leaders point to

these programs when they aregiving sermons, or press inter-

views, or doing advertising, sothat people who listen to their

messages are encouraged tovolunteer time, talent or dollarshelping existing programs growin the mapped area, or learning

ways to create new programs inplaces where none now exist.

In addition, our goal is that faithleaders like the Rev. Meeks,

encourage learning circles toform within the congregation, sothat people are discussing theresearch and maps found on the

Tutor/Mentor Connection website, and in the links on this blog,

so that they grow more and moresophisticated in understanding

poverty and poor schools as a

complex problem that does notget solved by just making moremoney involved, but by gettingmore people from business and

community and colleges in-volved.

Faith leaders have been pointingcongregations to scripture for

thousands of years, and coaching

the understanding and actions ofpeople on a daily, weekly andmonthly basis. If they form

groups focused on helping kidsmove safely from poverty tocitizenship and adult careers, theactions of congregations can

actually increase the number ofpeople who are involved, andwho vote to support policychanges to support their involve-

ment.

The Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLCwould be happy to meet with

your group to help you under-stand how to use these maps, andto coach you on building supportfor tutor/mentor programs. We'll

host a conference every May andNovember and hope you'll at-tend, and begin this learning

process. The web site is

www.tutormentorconference.org

As you meet in your own con-

gregations this weekend, orgather with friends and familyfor sports or other activities, Ihope you'll think about ways youcan support the growth of such

learning circles, in the Chicagoregion, or in any other part of thecountry.

This October 2008 article is oneof many that show strategiesleaders in can take to supporttutor/mentor programs in Chi-

cago and other cities.

See this article at

http://tutormentor.

blogspot.com/2008/10/take-care-of-your-own-field-before-you.html

Mapping a Faith Based Strategy

Page 9

Volume 1, Issue 3

While we share these ideas freely on

web articles and forums our goal is to

become a part of your on-going learn-

ing and strategic planning. Invite Dan

Bassill to speak on these ideas with

you and members of your leadership

team.

The Church: The Greatest Force on Earth

Read article at

http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/ 2008/08/church-greatest-force-on-

earth.html

See graphics like this at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com



10/10


Tutor/Mentor Connection

Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303

Chicago, Il. 60654

Phone: 847-220-2151

Fax: 312-787-7713

E-mail: [email protected]

During 35 years of leading a volunteer based tutor/mentor program

serving inner-city youth in Chicago Dan Bassill has learned much

about how to connect youth and volunteers in on-going non-school

tutoring/mentoring activities. He also has learned much about what

does not work well, and what might be improved to support individ-ual tutor/mentor program growth in all poverty neighborhoods of a

big city like Chicago.

The ideas shared at tutormentor.blogspot.com and through essays

shared atwww.tutormentorexchange.netare Dans opinion based

on a lifetime of experience. If youd like to have Dan meet with

your planning team, speak to a local leadership group or be part of

a conference you are organizing email [email protected]


live in a nation where they will not be judged bythe color of their skin but by the content of theircharacter. "

What if Dr. King were the CEO of the busi-

ness of making this dream a reality?

Walk with me on a little mental model. Imagineyou are in the first planning meeting with Jesusor Dr. King and they are introducing their visionand strategy. What would they say that inspired

you to work to accomplish the goals they out-lined? How would they have presented this infor-mation? Two thousand years ago tools like

power point, animation, electronic white board

and visual brainstorming were not available. Idon't think they were even available 50 yearsago.

Jesus or Martin Luther King, Jr. As CEO: Think about it.

Connecting people and ideas

to help inner city kids

The work we do to support volunteers and

youth once they join a tutor/mentor program

is what determines the long-term impact on

the lives of youth and the adults who become

involved.

Learn more at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

Yet today we have many technologies thatsupport business planning, brainstorming

and visioning. I've listed a few below.

So, imagine that Jesus and Dr. King haveweb sites, and have access to power point,

animation, auto cad, etc. Can you imaginehow they would have presented their visionusing these tools? What types of graphicswould have been used to convey Dr. King's

vision? How would Jesus have communi-cated a 2000 year timeline and expansionstrategy?

Read the rest of this article at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2005/06/jesus-or-martin-luther-king-jr-as-ceo.html


Documents

Ideas for engaging faith communities strategically in tutor/mentor program growth