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REACH began serving in Roanoke, Virginia in the fall of 2010. It was first located inside the Salvation Army of the Roanoke Valley, in the heart of the Southeast community. REACH's first program Summer Service Camp kicked off in the summer of 2011 with 110 volunteers from groups of youth traveling from as far away as New Jersey, to experience the joy of service.
In 2015, REACH won the City of Roanoke's Neighborhood Community Partnership Award for their work connecting and engaging individuals and groups in the Southeast area. That same year, REACH began inviting groups to serve the community year-round with the addition of the Alternative Breaks program aimed at young adults and college students, launched in October of 2015. Continuing their service with the community's neighborhoods, REACH purchased their first abandoned home for their Neighborhood Revitalization program in November 2016. Later that month, REACH hosted their first event through their Community Connections program at First Christian Church, REACH's new home base. The following spring, REACH won the City of Roanoke's prestigious Neighborhood Community Partnership Award for a second time. REACH reached a milestone in August of 2017 by completing their 100,000th hour of service with the help of groups traveling from as far away as San Diego, Ca.. In 2019 they completed their first two Neighborhood Revitalization Projects and moved in two first time home owners. REACH than purchased two more abandoned homes and are currently 95% done on one and in the beginning phases on the second. That same year, REACH was recognized by the city for its hosting of neighborhood events at the two home renovation projects. In the fall of 2019, REACH began connecting in earnest with local corporations and businesses with their Corporate Volunteering program and their newly designed Escape from Poverty Room. 2020 was set to be a record breaking year with the completion of their 200,000 hour of service to the the Roanoke community and two more abandoned homes - but that will have to wait until 2021. |
Go to the people. Live among them. Love them. Learn from them. Start from where they are; work with them; Build on what they have. But of the best leaders, when the task is accomplished, the work completed, the people will say, ‘We have done it ourselves.' |
A Letter from REACH's Founder - Theory of Change
Before REACH, for over 25 years, I organized groups of youth and adults to go places to work on concerns of substandard housing, homelessness, hunger, environmental impact, animal care, at risk youth and children, older adult care, volunteerism, and assimilation of immigrants; because like most people, I wanted to make a difference in the world for people who didn’t appear to be as lucky as I am. During the final five years of these trips, I began to notice something. Our work ostensibly addressing these concerns was not bringing the long-term solutions I thought it should.
It became clear that we had been dealing with the symptoms themselves and not the underlying reasons for those symptoms. We were neglecting the fundamental issues. It seemed as though we were altering the surface of a community in need while the underlying issues were only being exacerbated by our approach.
While working on the original concerns, I discovered three principles.
It became clear that we had been dealing with the symptoms themselves and not the underlying reasons for those symptoms. We were neglecting the fundamental issues. It seemed as though we were altering the surface of a community in need while the underlying issues were only being exacerbated by our approach.
While working on the original concerns, I discovered three principles.
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The First
People caught in the middle of these situations tend to suffer from a loss of hope, feel like no one else cares, or are overwhelmed with helplessness. (In come cases - they suffer from all three) (In |
The Second
People who often give of themselves seldom suffer from these issues for very long, if at all. In fact, doing things for others without any thought of getting something in return generates a type of happiness for the doer 100% of the time. |
The Third
Very few people enjoy being on the receiving end of service; very few people enjoy needing to be helped. |
Taking my experience and new-found understanding of the issues, I returned to Roanoke and started REACH. My number one priority became helping people to understand and embrace serving others unconditionally, for I believe it is the way to happiness and transformational living. However, I realized that REACH could not dictate what form this service would take for each individual; not everyone desires to serve in the same manner. Because we all have different passions, skills, and strengths, it became REACH's goal to help individuals discover ways to serve. Additionally, I found that instead of serving one particular population, REACH was serving three:
Our REACHers were the most straightforward to work with, as they came to serve, and to experience the happiness it brings. All we had to do was come up with viable experiences where they could utilize their own skills and interests. Our staff was more of a challenge, as it was incumbent on us to demonstrate that serving others selflessly is a sustainable lifestyle and not only a workweek. Yet, our community members were still more challenging. Our first contact with them tended to be an invitation into their lives due to a need with which they were dealing, while remembering our third principle, people do not enjoy needing to ask for help.
So, we hypothesized and began a process. We, first, had to establish relationships and gain the trust of the community members before they would welcome us into their lives. We, then, had to lead by our actions before they would hear our words. These actions, or service projects (physical work), our REACHers did gave us an entry point into the community. The time we spent listening to their stories and getting to know them began to restore their hope for a better tomorrow, demonstrate to them that they are not in it alone, and empower them to make changes in their own lives.
Throughout our time here, REACH has fostered trustworthy relationships through our actions. We are welcomed in neighborhoods and communities. We've seen glimmers of hope, cooperation, collaboration, and encouragement. We've gained partners and dreamers. And still, we remain open to new opportunities and possibilities, and we are thankful for this community having embraced us and the people with which we have been privileged to serve.
I leave you with this --- it is not about what we can do for those we serve; it is about them realizing that they can do for themselves.
In service,
Tim Dayton, Executive Director
- Our REACHers (individuals coming to REACH to serve our community)
- Our staff (young adults who facilitate the service projects and programming for the REACHers)
- Our community members (those who are mistakenly referred to as "needy" because they live in the community wherein we serve)
Our REACHers were the most straightforward to work with, as they came to serve, and to experience the happiness it brings. All we had to do was come up with viable experiences where they could utilize their own skills and interests. Our staff was more of a challenge, as it was incumbent on us to demonstrate that serving others selflessly is a sustainable lifestyle and not only a workweek. Yet, our community members were still more challenging. Our first contact with them tended to be an invitation into their lives due to a need with which they were dealing, while remembering our third principle, people do not enjoy needing to ask for help.
So, we hypothesized and began a process. We, first, had to establish relationships and gain the trust of the community members before they would welcome us into their lives. We, then, had to lead by our actions before they would hear our words. These actions, or service projects (physical work), our REACHers did gave us an entry point into the community. The time we spent listening to their stories and getting to know them began to restore their hope for a better tomorrow, demonstrate to them that they are not in it alone, and empower them to make changes in their own lives.
Throughout our time here, REACH has fostered trustworthy relationships through our actions. We are welcomed in neighborhoods and communities. We've seen glimmers of hope, cooperation, collaboration, and encouragement. We've gained partners and dreamers. And still, we remain open to new opportunities and possibilities, and we are thankful for this community having embraced us and the people with which we have been privileged to serve.
I leave you with this --- it is not about what we can do for those we serve; it is about them realizing that they can do for themselves.
In service,
Tim Dayton, Executive Director
