NYWRAC 24TH ADVOCACY TRAINING GRADUATION
Organizations and businesses know conveying and maintaining their image is vital to their success. Whether it involves influencing others in their favor, responding to public concerns or announcing new services, we depend on public relations techniques to convey the message and influence public opinion.
What is public relations? Public relations refer to a variety of strategies that strengthens a person’s or organization’s credibility, enhances its image, develops goodwill or influences public opinion.
Today is the 24th graduation of NYWRAC’s Advocacy Training. About three months ago, April 6 was not simply your first day as a NYWRAC trainee but was a “touchpoint” with The Empowerment Center. Today is the beginning of a new “touchpoint” and I hope you will keep the link in the continuing connection that forms our community.
Today, I am standing before you in what is a new role for me as I had the honor of being your teacher and had a chance to learn from you. I thank you graduates. I also thank Elaine Levin and James Rye for this honor.
In addition to having the honor of presenting three workshops to you, I received feedback about the new material I was presenting – The Scholle Model which is the backbone of the new Healing and Wellness Curriculum. Thank you for giving me permission to share your feedback. You will find it in three places – as part of a new resource pool of information being disseminated, in publicity materials for Movement to Change, Incorporated and as part of The Healing and Wellness Movement.
What were the workshops about? I stand before you with an explanation that I can give while I balance on one foot: Create healing and give kindness because without kindness there is no healing. The rest is commentary.
Tuesday, a couple of days ago, The Empowerment Center’s Board of Directors and Upper Management got together and reviewed The Empowerment Center’s new Mission and Purpose. Let me read it to you now:
The Empowerment Center’s Mission
To create community, opportunities and services based on common experiences, to promote individual and social responsibility, to affirm individual rights and dignity through advocacy, education and the development of healthier environments
The Empowerment Center’s Purposes
1. To maintain a vision based on expressed interest by listening and responding to the people we serve;
2. To demonstrate and achieve leadership grounded in respect and actuated with integrity extracted from experience;
3. To promote healing and wellness as an integrated system for individual and community wellbeing;
4. To provide what is necessary to meet the requests of the people we serve based on the vision and acted through the mission.
Members of The Empowerment Center, how does this sound?
I stand before you as the President and co-founder of The Empowerment Center. And relying on strategies from public relations, I pray that I have the strength and ability to lead in the conveying and maintaining of the image needed to help make The Empowerment Center successful to carry out its mission and purposes.
Members of the Empowerment Center, Graduates and Guests, let’s take the lead from public relations strategies: Pursue goodwill. Strengthen your credibility. Enhance your image. And be true.
Graduates, guests and members of The Empowerment Center, I invite you along, share your healing journey and find sustainable wellness, put your best foot forward as you convey your needs and hopes to others. And most importantly, pass smiles of kindness.
Thank you.
Eva Scholle
NYWRAC’s 24th Advocacy Training