Published in the Telegraph Herald, Dubuque, Iowa
A collaborative program recently launched in Dubuque seeks to provide long-term support for individuals overcoming crises. Dubbed Layers of Love, the program is a partnership between the Dubuque Sisters of the Presentation and nonprofits Resources Unite, Presentation Lantern Center and Dubuque Dream Center.
Aimed at individuals committed to growing personally, building skills and achieving specific goals, the program provides a weekly counseling session with a Resources Unite staff member and at least monthly meetings with a trained companion.
“This is about friendship, connecting with somebody you don’t know,” Resources Unite Executive Director Josh Jasper said. “The people that we serve oftentimes have no one to go to.”
Program participants work on goals specific to what they need for long-term success. That could include getting a better job, buying a car or saving money.
Resources Unite staff provide participants with emotional support and are knowledgeable about local resources to which they can direct their charges. Companions can help connect participants to resources but also provide general support in their day-to-day lives.
The program has been in the works for two years, but the wheels started turning when the Sisters of the Presentation hired a consultant to help them navigate ways to continue their mission of service.
Sister Carmen Hernandez said the process determined Dubuque has a strong network of nonprofits offering crisis services, but there is a gap in services for those no longer in crisis but still in need of support.
“We imagine a world where women and children are loved, valued as equals and feel safe wherever they are,” Hernandez said. “We tried to find organizations that could relate to that.”
Jasper said nonprofits often focus on crisis services such as providing immediate housing and food, but few have the ability to focus on wraparound support.
“When you think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, nonprofits usually live firefighting at the bottom of the pyramid, but we need skill-building, connections and networks in the middle of the pyramid,” he said.
Jasper said once someone’s immediate needs are met and they are no longer in crisis mode, Layers of Love can provide them with a supportive companion to lean on as they continue working on professional and personal goals.
He said three individuals are already immersed in the program and are seeing successful results so far. He said there is no set limit on the amount of time one can spend in the program. The goal isn’t to serve as many people as possible, but to maximize the support given to a few at a time.
Racquel McClellan, Dream Center development director, said each of the organizations involved was doing long-term supportive work in some way, but the partnership will only strengthen its success.
“Each organization is already doing this work. We’ve been doing the work,” she said. “It’s not a new concept — it’s the formalization and the partnership that is new.”
Sister Rita Menart said each organization involved was grappling with how to bring individuals from crisis into resiliency, so there was already a framework in place to create a program based on relationships and support. “We need relationships as we try to better our lives, and we are trying to do it in a slightly broader way,” she said.
Lantern Center Executive Director Megan Ruiz said many students at the center — immigrants improving their English skills and preparing for the U.S. citizenship test — don’t have much of a support network, if they have one at all.
When life gets overwhelming and students need support to get them through a tough time or to navigate local resources, the nonprofit has had volunteers willing to help, Ruiz said. The new program will only make that process easier.
“We will have a larger volunteer base that we can match people to who will be local friends to these people. Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient community — one relationship at a time,” she said.
