Our Vision

Our Vision: What Does a Caring Culture Look & Feel Like?

This question was posed during our first set of assemblies in the summer. The overlap in dreams and shared visions of a caring culture were tremendous! Many of the responses below were repeated several times over throughout the different assemblies.

Below are the compiled responses to this question which have been broken down into two categories; personal , which is addresses our individuals visions and hopes for our own behavior and collective / institutional which is about a shared dream for our community.

Read through the responses and chime in with your thoughts, feelings and additions and help shape this discussion further.

What does a caring culture look and feel like?
Personal
• Compassionate and integrated. People are valued and accepted (despite imperfections)
• Strong sense of inter-connectedness. Emphasize “we” over “I”
• Individuals, communities and institutions are creative and willing to take risks to change their relationships to develop mutuality with others
• Everyone has a voice and story to tell and all have ears to listen
• Inclusiveness and knowing who your community is
• Self-awareness and awareness of others
• Acting from love not judgment
• Accepting problems or needs as they are (not pushing them away)
• People are equally comfortable giving as they are receiving assistance. Less shame associated with asking for help
• Living with the idea of abundance not scarcity
• Embracing opposite views
• Trusting
• Replace materialism/consumerism with higher values
• Caring is personal, it’s not about treating everyone equally, its about each person having what they need to equally thrive
• Caring culture is like gardening: can’t be done theoretically, you have to get your hands dirty, and you must take care of each plant individually for the whole garden to survive
• Hopeful and optimistic
• Listening, sharing and responding to others not just in times of great need
• Sense of shared responsibility
• Affection, hugging, eye contact and smiles
• Desire to continually strengthen the community
• Imagine a life without the need for human services vs. our profession
Collective / Institutional
• Where unique needs and gifts are recognized and pieced together
• Transforming the idea of wealth from monetary to happiness and connectedness within our communities
• Expect more from institutions and government. Institutionalization of care
• People engaged in creating an environment where everyone feels no fear, is valued and feels welcomed
• Distribution of resources and shared resources
• Human based, not bureaucracy systems that support what people need
• Equal access and equal voices
• All children have hope
• Less disparity
• Equality
• Where all needs are met