Indian Creek Foundation is an organization focused on helping children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It has operated for more than 40 years and has provided a great service to the people living in its area of operation. However, currently, the company operates under an outdated plan that requires replacement. This paper will outline the fundamentals of the plan: values, mission statement, vision, and key stakeholders of the organization.
Values
The website states that the core values of the organization are compassion, mutual respect, and meaningful relationships. These values are said to be inspired by the connection of the organization to Mennonite churches in the area. Mennonites hold strong beliefs in helping people (Werner, 2017), and it is not unusual that an organization focused on helping people with disabilities would adopt a similar set of values (“Our history,” 2017).
The presented values are united into what the organization calls “Philosophy of Care.” This philosophy accentuates acceptance of people’s differences, the creation of meaningful relationships based on mutual respect, and the facilitation of a safe and nurturing atmosphere for all the individuals to empower them to create other meaningful relationships (“Mission and philosophy of care,” 2017).
These values are most aligned with social change. The Foundation is making a concerted effort to not only improve the lives of people with intellectual and learning disabilities but also to make them more accepted in the community. People are social creatures, and this fact creates a need for social interaction. Indian Creek Foundation is aiming to provide meaningful interaction and relationships, as well as to enable people with disabilities to create new meaningful relationships.
This goal makes the values of the organization highly beneficial to the group of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in the communities covered by the organization’s area of operations. The well-being of this group increases due to the Foundation assisting them in finding employment, providing meaningful relationships, and in general, working to improve their state of being.
The Mission
The Indian Creek foundation’s mission statement is “to provide opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live in and enrich the community throughout their lives” (para. 1). The mission statement is aligned with the core values of the organization. This alignment is represented with the focus on providing opportunities for people with disabilities, and the accentuation of the enrichment of their lives and community (“Mission and philosophy of care,” 2017).
The social change aspect of the statement is the most prominent. The group does not advocate any policy or movement, nor does it try to show the organization in a leadership position. However, most of the efforts of the organization are focused on the social change they can bring to the communities in its area of operation, with some attention given to advocacy. Just like the core values, social change is aimed at people with intellectual and developmental disabilities that usually have fewer opportunities for employment and relationships (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014).
The mission statement also provides evidence of how the agency contributes to the well-being of the target group. Although it is only vaguely stated, one of the major points of the statement lies in words “to provide opportunities.” The specific opportunities are not mentioned, but the organization is focused on providing a wide variety of help. Thus, the vague phrasing might be beneficial for the statement as it still reflects the actions of the organization (“Mission and philosophy of care,” 2017).
The Vision
Although the term “vision” is not utilized on the organization’s website, the previously mentioned section titled “Philosophy of Care” could be interpreted as the vision of the organization. This philosophy is based on the previously outlined core values of the organization, and therefore perfectly aligns with them. However, a new point is made in it that states that the people working at the organization accept the uniqueness of others as an essential part of their lives. This is a very thoughtful statement that reflects the understanding attitude created by the values of the organization (“Mission and philosophy of care,” 2017).
Even more so than the mission statement, the vision promotes social change for the group in question. It focuses on such human aspects as social interaction and the creation of a nurturing atmosphere that can lead to people creating more meaningful relationships in the future (Grünig & Kühn, 2015).
The vision of the organization shows the evidence of a more gentle approach to the improvement of the target group’s well-being. Unlike the opportunity-driven focus of the mission statement, the vision of the company shows that the company wants to enable the people of its target group to grow and flourish even after their involvement ends (Grünig & Kühn, 2015).
The overall consistency of the core values, mission statement, and vision of the organization are commendable. The organization has a clear focus and a working philosophy that perhaps allows them to operate without a current plan.
Key Stakeholders
Due to the community focus of the organization and its limited size, the key stakeholders are the individuals utilizing the services of the organization, their families, volunteers, and community as a whole. The individuals and their families are external stakeholders, and they provide payment for the programs organized by the Indian Creek Foundation. Their role is the recipient of services. As customers, they are an essential element in information gathering on the quality of the services that the organization provides. If a specific program is not functioning as it was designed and if the customers are interested in a new program, their feedback and wishes could be used to shape the future strategic plan (“Outpatient center,” 2017).
Other key stakeholders are volunteers. As it was mentioned earlier, the organization is small and has to rely on volunteers to help in the services provided by the organization. In the organization, they fulfill the role of the staff. Indian Creek Foundation could use the information provided by them to address the needs of the staff, such as scheduling of tasks, the number of staff required, and other questions regarding the staff role (“Volunteer opportunities,” 2017).
Lastly, the community that the organization works with plays an integral part in the work of the organization. The employment services that the organization provides the people with disabilities are enabled by the companies operating locally. Another community contribution comes from the donations that the citizens are free to give to the organization through their website. The information provided by the companies from the community could be essential to outline possible future partnerships in the strategic plan (“Overview,” 2017).
Conclusion
Indian Creek Foundation is a small but dedicated organization. Their core values are represented in their mission statement and vision. Over the last 40 years, they have provided a valuable service for the community with clear benefits for their target group. By gathering information from its key stakeholders, the organization should be able to create a new strategic plan.
References
Grünig, R., & Kühn, R. (2015). The strategy planning process. Berlin, Germany: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Hill, C., Jones, G., & Schilling, M. (2014). Strategic management: Theory: An integrated approach. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Mission and philosophy of care. (2017). Web.
Our history. (2017). Web.
Outpatient center. (2017). Web.
Overview. (2017). Web.
Volunteer opportunities. (2017). Web.
Werner, H. (2017). “Not of this world”: The emergence of the old colony Mennonites. Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies, 4(2), 121-132.