Good In The 'Hood

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

We have more than 25 host site food shelf programs with each one having local community representation and leadership. Each year we survey both the client participants and the host site leaders to gain insight and feedback regarding our efforts to serve the community and how we can improve and be more culturally appropriate. Our goal is to serve the community with those who are from the community and look like the community they are serving.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Suggestion box/email,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

We became more proactive in appointing local leaders that were from the community. In addition, we became more intentional to interview for hire those representing minority populations for our job openings. Finally, we have been mindful to consider and add members to our board of directors who embrace wisdom, expertise, shared values, and those that represent the communities we serve.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

Asking for feedback has provided us with an increased sense of buy-in or ownership for the direction we are going. We have more active and engaged stakeholders.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection,