By Sandrine Espie, Founder at RESCAPE, a restoring space for social service workers, community organizers and environmental activists
Slogans promoting the integration of well-being and wellness practices into the workforce are flooding our media. However, in this seemingly well-intentioned political and media context, we know that the successful integration of these concepts is challenging for most nonprofit organizations or anyone working in the social change sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the rudimentary need for accessing capacity-building opportunities, nurturing work environments, and personal restorative strategies. Nonprofit organizations haven’t yet received suitable financial and human resources to reassess their priorities and deepen their understanding of their organizational culture.
Organizations have been denying themselves to serve others. How could staff, including Directors, take some “me time” when resources are scarce, work overload, and shame or guilt for doing so paralyzing? While agreeing on implementing underfunded programs and services they have been, in the process, exhausting their dedicated staff. Some funders have been denying the potential of organizations based on criteria and impact measurement techniques that are biased by the desire to support unrealistic goals. The funding system has also created a toxic, unproductive competitive environment that doesn’t foster collaboration. Organizations are too often working in silos, duplicating programs instead of combining complementary strengths and skills (i.e strategic planning, fundraising, community building, innovation, research, and evaluation, etc).
Amid ongoing unpredictable social and environmental issues, nonprofit organizations and actors from the social sector are trying their best to be responsible by offering their knowledge and professional competencies but also their goodwill, passion, vision, and hope to create adapted programs or services. This nurturing movement could progressively vanish if the ones that generate it are not supported enough. Concretely, social workers, environmental activists, or community builders need to access descent, reachable, tolerated, and respected ways to restore or take a break before losing the drive and willingness to commit to social work and activism. To incorporate sustainable and adapted wellness practices, organizations need to have the capacity to integrate small shifts into their strategic development planning. Director and staff, should not shy away from claiming this need.
Neglecting self-care at a personal and organizational level is detrimental to the growth of an organization and consequently to the communities they serve.
Despite the chaotic work environment in which most nonprofit organizations evolve, there are viable and realizable solutions out there. This essential need for individual self-care and for preserving organizations’ prosperity, can be fulfilled wisely, progressively, collaboratively. Simple steps could be implemented, i.e setting up a peer support group for staff, creating individual wellness assessments, launching online guided meditations tailored to the needs of social workers, and led by community leaders such as spiritual guides from indigenous communities, or accessing uplifting activities through art, music, etc.
Our generation is craving meaningful careers. By offering a healthy, uplifting and viable work environment, the social change sector has the potential to attract new talents and the ability to develop more effective solutions for our communities.
Is your organization offering ways to support your physical, spiritual, and mental health? Do you have any ideas, suggestions, hopes? We would love to hear from you. RESCAPE, supported by FLOW Society, is co-creating virtual and in person spaces for social service workers to regenerate, be inspired and connect with others facing similar work challenges. Contact us to exchange ideas: heartandsolnes@gmail.com