Strengthening Collaborations Within Your Community

Introduction:

Economic empowerment programs require strong collaboration with community resources and organizations. Strategic partnerships can be developed with a range of local, state, and federal groups that can complement or enhance programming. Partnerships with other organizations can allow victim service providers the opportunity to provide a broader range of services to participants, beyond what the victim service agency can provide. In addition to introducing survivors to additional community resources, engaging in these partnerships can also preserve limited funding, staffing, and time of victim service agencies.

Does your program offer opportunities for program participants to engage with other community organizations and resources?

Have you considered how current partnerships with other community organizations could be strengthened?

Self-Assessment Tool:

Building Collaborations with Community-Based Partners

Related Resources:

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Template

This document contains a template for partners to identify shared goals, expectations and responsibilities for a partnership between an economic empowerment program and local organizations that can meet programmatic and participant goals.   

Toolkit for Memorandums of Understanding: Industry & Community Workforce Partnerships

This resource lists national directories that support the identification of local education, employment, financial education, small business, and public benefits resources.

Guides for Pitching Partnerships to Key Community-Based Providers

These resources are for organization and/or program leaders administering economic empowerment programs and program staff who provide direct services. They may be useful in both crisis intervention and long-term services.

Resource Map Directory Worksheet

Once you have identified local providers using the Economic Empowerment National Resource Directory, use this worksheet to document information about local providers. This list can be utilized to make participant referrals and to identify potential strategic partners.

Community Resource Mapping Toolkit

This toolkit, developed by Futures Without Violence, is for service providers to identify potential community partners and explore opportunities to improve services through collaboration strategies.

Economic Empowerment National Resource Directory

This resource lists national directories that support the identification of local education, employment, financial education, small business, and public benefits resources.

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