Journey Outreach provides tools for empowerment through emotional healing to help people re-engage in-life, find purpose, and blossom in their own authenticity. Simple tools and techniques are provided through workshops and one-on-one work that allow healing to begin from within individuals and extend throughout organizations and communities. The focus is freedom from debilitating mental and emotional blocks, traumas, limiting beliefs and negative thought patterns that hold back natural potential, innate genius, and leadership abilities - changing lives and the life of the community forever. Part of the uniqueness of Journey Outreach workshops is that they fundamentally teach people to work with each other as they work through their own blocks - building internal, sustainable capacity.

Independent evaluation will look at anticipated shifts in levels of self-reliance, social environment, cultural environment, levels of happiness and self worth, and personal and organizational productivity.

Success of the program is centered on creating partnerships and supporting the success and leadership growth of individuals and non-profit, private, and government sector organizations striving to improve conditions in the Lakota community. Key individuals and organizations will be included as stake holders for participation in workshops and in tracking results. With definitive evaluation results and successful outcomes, the value of the work will become evident to all involved.

Problem

Millions of people around the world have lost hope in life and belief in themselves. They are stuck in pain, trauma, loss and victimization from war, natural disaster, disease, hunger, abuse and repression. Those who have lost hope are more likely to be unemployed, become violent, join gangs, and/or engage in other unhealthy behaviors. They don’t have the tools to dig themselves out of the hole they find themselves in. When we open the vaults of enormous human potential that are locked in pain we will find new hope and see that the best solutions for a bright future lie within the hearts and minds of those affected. In the past two decades over 40,000 studies have been published in the area of social-emotional intelligence. It is becoming well understood how the impacts of social and childhood trauma affect emotional and physical well being. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, from CDC and Kaiser Permanente, is one of many studies that are very helpful and thorough in detailing the causes and effects, and in providing a scientific and medical foundation for understanding why Journey Tools are effective (www.cdc.gov/ace). Living conditions in the Lakota community are as challenging, if not more, as any impoverished country. A history of cultural repression, discrimination, and adverse experiences in boarding schools puts the Lakota people at high risk in the ACE study for conditions that many in our society can't understand how they came about or why they persist.

Solution

Journey Outreach challenges the linear assumptions of Maslow’s Hierarchy. What is needed is balanced support on all levels in the hierarchy of needs. The world is facing a “‘Time-Bomb’ of unemployed young”(Univ of Toronto). The focus on food, water, shelter, health, safety, and even education and employment opportunities, is important. Yet, without addressing the root emotional pain and mental blocks that hold many people back, the result has been a continuing trend of unemployment, and in many cases non-supportive, unhealthy behaviors and a slow and perpetual cycle of reliance. The proposed program provides Journey Outreach workshops and support for the Lakota community, as well as the non-profit, private, and government sector organizations working to create positive change on the Lakota reservations – taking full advantage of existing opportunities and creating new ideas and possibilities. Communications with individuals and organizations within the Lakota community indicate that there is a large desire for this type of program, and for the work to become self-sustaining within the reservations. Part of the uniqueness of Journey Outreach workshops is that the tools are simple and they fundamentally teach people to work with each other as they work through their own emotional and mental blocks. Key individuals and organizations will be included as stake holders for participation in workshops and in tracking results - building understanding and support for the work.

Example

Journey Tools have been through two decades of refinement from internationally-shared best practices of Journey Practitioners, including M.D.s and Ph.D.s. Extraordinary results involving ordinary people in over 35 developed and developing countries – including successful business persons, government personal, teachers, children and youth, prison inmates, medical professionals and health-care workers, people with life-threatening diseases, and people living in poverty – have been documented in hundreds of testimonials and in a soon-to-be-published book, compiled by two Ph.D.s, called "Living the Journey." Journey Outreach has been working with Aboriginal peoples throughout Australasia and Africa since 2004, and in North America since 2007. Studies in 2004 and 2007, involving a total of over 5000 South-African school children, were completed by the University of KwaZulu Natal and Transnet Foundation and showed 50% improvement in pass/fail rates. Journey Tools are now used in over 2000 classrooms worldwide and we continue to experience similar results with children, including: greater interest in academic work; significant improvement in relationships; more respect for one another and no more bullying; calmer, more resourceful; better problem solving and learning skills; and reduced rates of absenteeism and tardiness. A government official in Western Kenya shared with us that he doesn't want support for more food or clothing or building materials. He doesn't want to create another generation of dependency. He said the people of his district need to learn to get those things for themselves, and what really helps is more of the work that the young Journey Practitioners are doing - creating new possibilities for people to be empowered to take care of themselves! Program implementation for the Lakota community will be supported by twelve 1st Nations Journey Practitioners from Canada, including three workshop presenters. Colorado State University Ft Collins will support the implementation and evaluation of the program, headed by Dr. Kathleen Pickering Sherman, Professor and Chair, Dept of Anthropology. Dr. Pickering Sherman has 20 years of experience working with the Lakota community she has over 20 grant awards totaling $1.7M, and over 30 publications. Quantitative and qualitative impact studies for this program will include the people and organizations involved in the training, and look at anticipated shifts in levels of self-reliance (housing, livelihood, health, etc.), social environment (reductions in abuse, suicide, family dysfunction, etc.), cultural environment (education, spiritual life, community engagement), levels of happiness (feelings of self satisfaction, empowerment, self worth, etc.), and personal and organizational productivity. Within the first six months of initial implementation, we anticipate improvements for program participants, including improvements in productivity for partner organizations.

Marketplace

Journey Outreach is open to including and blending effective social-emotional tools from all modalities that can be easily taught and learned by large groups in a supportive environment. A successful program implementation and evaluation will open the doors for this type of work for communities in need throughout the world.