Technical Assistance | Employment & Career Development | Organizational & Systems Development | Personal Empowerment & Leadership | Technologies for Independence & Control
Personal Empowerment & Leadership . . .
Personal Planning (often called Person Center Planning and Life Coaching) is a set of tools and a way of helping a person take charge of his / her life by helping to make a plan to accomplish otherwise "unattainable" goals. There are many styles, formats, and ways of doing this - all designed to gradually change the perception we have of ourselves, to see the control we actually have in our lives, and to ultimately change our future life by placing ourselves in the drivers' seat!
This is something we naturally do at times of transition in our lives... or when others close to us are contemplating major change. Sometimes it is suggested, or requested, because we are dissatisfied with our current situation, sometimes because others are at a loss with how to help us further, and sometimes because it's just time to really listen to ourselves rather than continue on a path of relying upon professional or other judgments.
Personal Planning brings together with the person those who matter most, to help gradually craft a picture of who this person truly is, what really is possible, and how with real support that future vision could be achieved. All is based upon the wishes, hopes, dreams, and needs of the person and from their perspective... with the idea that with support it's quite amazing just how close we all can get to our "dreams" and that all of us are leaders in many ways.
Why Networks? . . .
Principle staff of Networks were instrumental in the birth, use, and growth of Person Centered Planning throughout Pennsylvania beginning with training sessions about Personal Futures Planning (one of the earliest and fullest styles of Person Centered Planning) offered in Philadelphia in 1987. From these sessions and the interest it spawned, Networks' staff initiated a small demonstration project for the use of Personal Futures Planning with Case Managers in Philadelphia in 1989, the first project of its kind in Pennsylvaia or anywhere.
Since this time, Networks has been committed to assisting people with disabilites to live very different lives by encouraging others to believe, support, hold sacred, and actively work towards making real their wishes and dreams. This has become a fundamental part of Networks and all our varied activities hinge upon this mission... to assist others to live more inclusively in their work, social, and living situations. And from this, more inclusive communities are promoted for everyone.
Through this we have seen the power of assisting all of us to dream, dare to express it, pull together our own "Circles of Support", and plan a course of action...
after all, dreams do come true!
What We Can Offer . . .
While our history with Person Centered Planning has been primarily in assisting people with disabilities, we have learned well the importance of incorporating not only these powerful tools but more importantly the underlying philosophy of personal planning in many other situations. We have learned well how to implement these tools in our own lives to reach toward lofty goals in business, education, love, and fulfillment. We have also assisted others, from all walks of life, to dream and plan, plan and dream... and design whole new futures! The following are offered as just some examples of what we offer in this area:
- Both large group and team training in the history, styles / formats, and use of personal planning.
- Direct assistance to help people use personal planning to make changes
in their life. This is applicable for anyone, at any time, for example:
- young children with various medical or other issues and their families to better plan and coordinate help and belonging;
- students, their teachers, and peers to plan how to be more included in academic as well as social events;
- students preparing to graduate school to contemplate and plan for life after school;
- adults looking to make changes in what they do for work, leisure, home life, or any other area of life;
- seniors needing to make decisions about their health, living conditions, and how to stay actively involved in life.
- Mentoring or co-facilitation with others in Person Centered Planning and Life Coaching to better their skills, confidence, and expand their use of the styles / formats available.
- Consultation and assistance to people to more fully realize their expressed dreams and wishes. This sometimes means helping them to negotiate systems issues, conflicts, or “stuck patterns” that we all often fall into.
- Assistance to organizations, government offices, or other large systems to develop and utilize personal planning as a method to change policies, procedures, and practices to bring about a more consumer-based and customer-driven system.
- Helping others using personal planning to find ways to embed the underlying principles and philosophies in more common and natural ways in their work and life, to practice these more fully in all they do.
- Assist people with longterm support needs to establish Microboards as independent organizations for true and lasting self-determination.
- Assist people to decide what supports they need to live more fully, advertise for these supports, hire, train, and supervise them.
To request Technical Assistance, complete a Training and Technical Assistance Request Form, email Jill Gromen, or call 1-866-683-3651.
