Individual and Community level well-being are inseparable. As one increases so does the other. That is why every second chance matters -- not merely to the individual in need but to the community at large. #Chattanooga #SecondChances #IntegrativeJustice
Vision
We are striving for a day when legitimate second chances are accessible in Chattanooga.
Mission
Everyone deserves a second chance. However, second chances can be hard to find for former offenders and their loved ones. Through grassroots efforts and community initiatives that are restorative in nature and that provide realistic hope for those who have been affected by the criminal justice system, Chattanooga Endeavors creates second chances for men, women, and their loved ones to overcome the stigma of incarceration, to regain purpose in their lives, to become contributive members of the community, and to build a better tomorrow for all.
We do this by providing the resources, services, and support needed to assist individuals in prison become financially sustainable in the community.
Core Values
The values that originally formed Chattanooga Endeavors and that guide our actions every day come from a deep and abiding belief in second chances.
- Human Dignity. We believe in the inherent and absolute dignity of the human person and make a conscious effort to treat everyone we encounter with not only extraordinary respect but with extraordinary expectations as well.
- Subsidiarity. We believe that unbridled help undermines human dignity and must be guided by the principle of subsidiarity to prevent accidental humiliation and to encourage the natural abilities of those in need.
- Integrative Justice. We believe that true justice is a whole-system collaboration that disintegrates when it is divided among its various parts in a zero-sum game but that serves everyone’s best interests when striving together for a higher purpose.
- Community Reengagement. We believe that private citizens have a singular role and responsibility in the culmination of justice by creating second chances where they otherwise do not exist.
- Stewardship. We believe that we have an obligation to act in the best interests of those we are serving and to use the resources entrusted to us in a way that creates the greatest value for our shared community.
Common Factors
Our core values are expressed in the context of a model that is based on our 36-year of experience collaborating with former offenders, compelling evidence-based practices from the field, and nearly a century of research on the common factors of effective helping programs. Whether a helping program work has little to do with what distinguishes one approach from another. Instead, what makes them effective is almost all about what they have in common:
- They routinely address external influences that otherwise interfere with the helping goal.
- They build strong helping alliance between those in need and those working for a program or service on their behalf.
- They foster positive expectancy that the help being received will make a difference as promised.
- They use an effective model that achieves its stated goal.
In determining the relative important of each of these four common factors, researchers have concluded that external influences contribute approximately 40% to the variance in outcomes, helping alliance contributes 30%, expectancy contributes 15%, and the model a program or service uses contributes 15%.
In other words, hope has as much to do with change as the program advertising it — and of far greater consequence is the efficacy of case management and the quality of the relationships between those in need and those seeking to help them.
