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Values and Foundation

Values

As an organization, the Center for Hunger-Free Communities values and is committed to the following:

  • Honesty
  • Respect
  • Confidentiality, where requested or appropriate
  • Dignity
  • Community
  • Diversity
  • Equality and Equity
  • Human rights, especially the rights of women and children
  • Love for humanity

Hunger-Free Community

What exactly is a “hunger-free community?”

A hunger-free community is a place where no one, no matter what their age or social standing, is worried about having enough money to buy healthy food.

But a hunger-free community is much more than that. It is a place where:

  • Someone who is suffering knows they can get help, without feeling shamed or judged.
  • The agencies charged with helping those in need provide assistance with transparency and accountability, and always seek the meaningful participation and partnership of those who are struggling.
  • There is no discrimination
  • People are positively connected beyond the usual social boundaries of race and ethnicity, class, social status, disability, age and neighborhood.

A hunger-free community can be a workplace, a neighborhood, a network of people, a university, a hospital, a city. It can be any group of people that works together to ensure all families are economically secure and have a voice in policies that affect their lives.

These ideals form the basis of our work at the Center for Hunger-Free Communities. If a person is involuntarily hungry and has no money to feed themselves or their family, they are not free.

Theoretical Foundation

The Sanctuary Model®

The Sanctuary Model was developed by Sandra Bloom, PhD, as framework for creating a trauma-informed organizational culture and approach for providing clinical care in mental health settings. The Center has adapted this model to fit our organizational setting and research to ensure that we maintain an environment that is supportive, healing and safe as we work with participants and families, many of whom have experienced trauma and violence. To this end, the Center commits to the seven core promises of the Sanctuary Model in our work (both in and out of the office setting):

  1. Non-Violence
  2. Emotional Intelligence
  3. Social Learning
  4. Open Communication
  5. Democracy
  6. Social Responsibility
  7. Growth and Change