BEAMING Inc.

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

Our programs include Saddle Up for Success (individual lessons), Dragons in Flight (advanced lessons) and Partners in Riding (a partnership with local school districts) for children with challenging physical, cognitive or neurological disabilities; LAUNCH (group classes) for troubled and hurting youth; Horses, Hearts & Heroes for veterans; RideStrong for those affected by trauma; and we are the second in the nation to offer Riding in the Moment, a program for seniors with early- to moderate-onset dementia, Alzheimer's or other forms of memory loss. In addition, we offer regular Equine-Assisted Memory Cafes which invite seniors in the community with memory loss and their caregivers to improve their quality of life by experiencing the benefits of equine-assisted services. We also hold two an

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

Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), 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?

The mother of three of our teen campers who attended our Hold Your Horses summer camp shared with us that the family's father committed suicide in 2019, and was thankful for how much the teen camp helped her children. Based on her input, we created a new program called LifeStrong to help survivors of trauma. Their family were the first participants in this new program, and it has been very beneficial to them.

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?

We gather both qualitative and quantitative feedback via in-person interviews and written and electronic surveys from our Riding in the Moment participants and their caregivers on a weekly basis. Their input has guided the changes we have implemented in the program as it expands. One idea we implemented based on input from nursing staff who attended with residents was to take our Riding in the Moment program on the road, bringing our horses and mind-body exercises and activities to the nursing homes to visit those who have limited mobility. We developed the Riding in the Moment Mobile program based on this input, and have been able to bring the benefits of equine-assisted services to hundreds of nursing home residents through this new program.

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, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,