Nonprofit Performance 360 Issue 12

HUGH BALLOU Nonprofits that Work Together

Collaborative Thinking in Lynchburg, Virginia

When we were sourcing articles for this issue, we kept finding stories of collaborations and partnerships in the city where SynerVision Leadership Foundation has its home office, so we moved forward with letting some of the local organizations tell their story of what’s working and what’s ahead. These are by no means completed projects. Many of the following articles are the story of early-stage work in a challenge that’s too large to solve in any sense of current reality. Making an impact starts with now and is a continuing process. Many of these stories are about the ongoing work of government and non-governmental organizations working together to address the highest poverty levels in the Commonwealth of Virginia.There’s a lot more to these stories than feeding people and helping them get housing: it’s caring for the whole person. The organizations featured in this issue do not represent the entirety or even the majority of the work being done in this active and vital community of people who care for others.They do, however, represent

the spirit of cooperation in this very special community. The stories from Treney Tweedy, the mayor of Lynchburg, Finny Mathew, leader of the informal group Unity in the Community, Bill Varner, Executive Director of the United Way of Central Virginia, Bill Bodine of The Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, and Ray Buchanan of Park View Mission, a collaboration within its own walls, are representative of the kinds of initiatives that are making a difference in the lives of people working to get a leg up from where they are to where their potential lies. Not all of the work is centered on addressing poverty, however, it’s a part of our daily lives and a part of the work we are all doing. Consider submitting articles about the work you are doing in the community where your organization is based at SynerVisionLeadership.org/Interview to this magazine, the blogroll on the online Community for Community Builders, or The Nonprofit Exchange LIVE interview and podcast every Tuesday at 2:00 pm ET.

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