Step 6: Expand Your COIN to Include Service Providers, Businesses, and Others Who Work With, Represent, and Belong to At-risk Populations
An overarching organization is the lead organization that might partner with or provide funding to many direct service providers. The service provider organizations are a more direct link to the populations they serve. You first contacted overarching organizations and government agencies in the “define” phase. These organizations can now serve as a link to service providers, providing detailed information and saving you time and resources.
If the overarching organization is unable to provide the requested information about its member organizations, you might have to contact the service providers directly to get the information you need. In such cases, an important way to build trust is to build upon existing relationships. Many CBOs and FBOs are already involved in public health initiatives to reach at-risk populations to eliminate health disparities. Reach out to these programs to enlist their help to reach the partners for your network.
At the local level, small FBOs such as missions, ministries, or individual congregations can provide informal community outreach through programs that visit sheltered-in populations or provide after-school mentoring. By asking general questions about such programs, you might locate some of the at-risk populations in your community.
As you expand your list of organizations and contacts, the following tips might be helpful:
- Many of these organizations are listed in telephone directories or can be found online through a keyword search on the Internet, using words such as “disability,” “blind,” “deaf,” “developmental disability,” and “mental health.”
- People might self-select into groups based on their particular disability or need:
- University students who have mobility impairments often form organizations that provide support and advocacy.
- People who belong to various cultural and ethnic groups might form close bonds with other individuals in the same groups.
- People who speak a common language, share a common country of origin, or a common religion might join together in informal ways. The church, the mosque, or other houses of worship are often the places where community needs, political opinions, and employment options are discussed. In some ethnic populations, community storefronts are the gathering and information centers.
- These groups might not show up on an official list as they do not have national charters or oversight and are usually informal and private, often without scheduled meetings or agendas. Leaders of these groups, whether they are the matriarch of the family, community elder, religious leader, or the club president, can provide pertinent information about the groups they represent. These leaders also serve as valuable links in the process of building a network of collaborators and sustaining community engagement.
- You might locate these affinity groups by asking the representatives of the overarching organizations if they are aware of any of these types of unofficial groups in your community. Be sure to ask for names and best ways to contact the leaders.
If there is a college or university in your area, you can contact the student affairs department to ask for information. Often a person belonging to the group will be the best source of information.
After identifying those organizations most appropriate to locate at-risk populations, you can begin to discuss the roles of your department and the other network members to locate and reach everyone in your jurisdiction, regardless of individual or community barriers.
