Polis Institute

Home

State of the City

Research

2011 Event

2010 Event

Community Building

Training

Partners

Dignity Serves

CityWise

Program at a Glance

About

Story

Donate

improving well-being in the city

Dignity Serves Weekend

Join us Friday, March 16th (6:00-9:00pm) and Saturday the 17th (9:00am-4:00pm) at NewCity in Orlando and experience this life changing training.
Click here for more info or click here to register (cost is $50 per person which includes food and all materials).





11/5/11
The November 3rd, 2011 event at Rollins College was a huge success. Thank you for coming and for all the volunteers that made it possible.

Congratulations to the guys at Central Care Mission for receiving this year's City Champion Award for their "Project Garden" program!!!


7/15/2011
CityWise

POLIS Institute is proud to introduce CityWise :: A 12 month Intensive focused on Community Development. 
Starting October 1st we will welcome our first official class of students who will devote a year of their life to studying and experiencing the thrill and challenges of serving in distressed communities.  With a focus on dignified interdependence, this Intensive will produce knowledgeable and experienced Community Developers.  If this sounds intriguing to you, click here for more information about how to apply.


5/23/11
Dignity Serves -
First United Methodist Winter Park

A group of 32, including senior leadership, experienced the Fri-Sat format of the training on 4/1-2. It was a particularly rich training given the experience level of the group and that they had a context in which to apply the training: their new South Street Ministry. The group was led by Phil Hissom, Dan Crain, and Dan Sherfield. 

Carol Smith, the lay ministry director for the church, recently had this to say about the training: "I have to tell you that in our discussions with various groups since our Polis training we have thought differently, prayed differently, listened differently thanks to our weekend we had learning and studying how we need to look for assets in the communities we are serving with. So it's been amazing and everybody has been talking about it often. It's become part of the culture of missions and outreach. Thanks so much."


4/15/2011
Jay van Groningen

We had another great Polis Community Forum with Jay van Groningen on April 12th at Compassion Corner. Jay is the Executive Director of Communities First Association (CFA) and lives in Michigan. Dan Crain was also recognized for completing his year long internship during the lunchtime event. Dan is relocating to South Atlanta on 5/1/11. He will continue to work for Polis while learning from and helping the FCS ministry family.

Jay shared about the idea of "abundance," saying "when God created the world, he put the seed of life in everything." So the key to community building is - how do I recognize the abundance of God in every place?

·         Ask Questions: 

o   If you were to wave a magic wand, what would you make better in the neighborhood? 

o   What do you care deeply about? 

o   If others were to join you, can we count on you? 

o   What's something you know more about than other people? 

·         Realize that neighborhoods get better by harnessing the assets.

·         Understand the true cost of professionalizing services - it takes away from the capacity of a neighborhood to respond to its own needs.

·         Pay attention to real outcomes - in after school programs we have just divested the parents. 

·         Believe that God has put into a distressed neighborhood what it needs. 

·         Adopt the role and the heart of a steward: uncover what is there.

·         Learn the difference between a neighbor, a good neighbor, and a great neighbor - a great neighbor takes responsibility for the neighborhood. 


3/9/2011
Dignity Serves - Kensington Church

A dedicated crew from several churches in Winter Garden met at Kensington Church over a six-week period. Here's a few comments from the group (led by Rebecca Lujan Loveless):
-  Dignity Serves completely re-wired the way I relate and look at people in every aspect of my life: family, job and ministry.
-  DS helped me see that there is a way to actually transform lives.
-  DS gave me a better understanding of Christ's design for serving others.
-  I learned that I need to let God change me as I interact with the poor.
-  I learned that the poor need to serve others too with their God-given talents.


2/9/2011
Bob Lupton

The inaugural Polis Community Forum was held over breakfast with author and community developer Bob Lupton. The group was asked "What has to change (in our efforts to help the poor)?" Bob said "To be a recipient of charity is to sacrifice some human dignity." He went on to say that sometimes it's worth the sacrifice, in the case of emergencies, but it is always helpful to recognize the sacrifice so that it tempers what you do and how you do it.

What has to change?

  • Churches posture towards the poor
  • Types of opportunities
  • Level of understanding of things that damage the poor among those who have resources
  • The way people view poverty
  • Stop using the word "homeless" - some people who just don't have addresses
  • That each person has value/worth
  • People being able to see their own poverty
  • Churches getting out of just service to the poor and building reciprocal relationships


12/20/2010
2010 Year End News

One of the best things that happened at Polis Institute in 2010 was the addition of Rebecca Lujan Loveless to the team. She is pictured on the right learning to crochet from Janice in the field office. The key POLIS principle is inspiring others to serve, especially those who have come to be viewed as needy. No one is better at this than Rebecca. She is an amazing leader, teacher, and advocate and we are truly blessed that she is contributing her immense talents to empowering others.
Our Success is Linked to the Success of Our Partners

Rock Orlando

· One of the most inspiring movements to emerge in 2010 was Rock Orlando. This is the little church with the big vision and even bigger heart. The Rock is reaching out to the "least, last, and lost" in very tangible ways.

· POLIS is providing volunteer training about which one volunteer said, "I definitely used to have a cape on when I went to help people. The training removed my cape and gave me a heart - one with patience and understanding."

· We have also created an Asset Mapping and Evangelism Strategy for the Rock, guiding teams each week. Join us on Saturday!

· The Rock has invested out over 3000 volunteer hours since August ministering to children and families in Parramore. Every week people commit their lives to God, receive vital care, and give of themselves for the benefit of others.

· POLIS is also providing referrals and ministering directly at the new transition house for men.

Summit Church

· Average attendance at volunteer events (niceSERVE) has grown from 300 to over 1500 since POLIS has been consulting with Summit. We'd like to take all the credit, but we can't. We will take a little and will say, "Awesome job."

· "The best volunteers in Orlando come from Summit," has been voiced by many in Orlando this year. We help train the volunteers.

· Directly attributed to POLIS training: improved attitudes towards people in poverty and Biblical understanding of service, increased commitments to God and serving others.

· Dignity Serves curriculum is now a key part of discipleship at the church. Bill Behr has become the resident guru of service for Summit and has led three large classes through the materials this year. Three cheers for Bill!!!

· POLIS director co-taught a workshop at the annual Christian Community Development Association conference with Summit's service coordinator Rene Vazquez called "From Service Projects to Development."

Compassion Corner

· Dan Crain, POLIS intern, is one of the most gifted teachers you will ever meet. We specialize in asking good questions, and Dan is quite skilled. He has been regularly teaching the Bible study this year, working through the Parable of the Lost Sons and the Lord's Prayer.

· Phil Hissom, POLIS director, has taught the Bible study to over 1000 homeless individuals in 2010 and provided one-on-one counseling to nearly 200 clients.

· POLIS developed the "Service First" model where the homeless are connected to service opportunities where they serve alongside the non-homeless. Use of this approach has resulted in improvements in 100% of participating clients - no kidding. Phil presented the model at the 2010 Global Health Missions Conference in Louisville.

Jobs Partnership

· The Jobs Partnership is one of the best positioned non-profits in Central Florida to make a difference. They not only help people get jobs, they help widen vital social networks, build character, and inspire people by the hundreds. They are currently exerting a positive influence in 50% of the distressed neighborhoods of Central Florida.

· POLIS created a new suite of measurement tools and remediation strategies that will help improve their impact dramatically in 2011.

First Presbyterian Church Orlando

· POLIS is providing guidance for the leadership of the new mission department that will result in more focused partnerships, greater mobilization, and more dignifying and effective service efforts.

· The church is using the Dignity Serves curriculum to train volunteers and disciple congregants. POLIS is also helping them create a regular Serve Day. Orlando Initiative

· The POLIS field office is housed at this collaborative ministry site. This once violent and crime riddled location is a now virtually crime free and becoming a more attractive place to live.

· POLIS staff have received hundreds of visitors in the Resource Center which is used to find jobs, apply for social services and connect with family. Staff assist and counsel residents.

· Site also has a small Chapel that is used for a weekly prayer meeting and other ministry efforts.

· POLIS directly helps the property management by providing volunteers that assist with property maintenance.