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Social service organizations, like nonprofits and foundations, love resiliency! In their world, resiliency means a person’s ability to bounce back after a crisis. A person might come to them during or after a time of need, like the loss of a job, a family member, or a home. But these organizations don’t do well with ongoing or chronic concerns. A community food pantry does a great job of getting someone enough food for a few days. A rental assistance program may cover someone’s rent this month but not forever. Job training programs teach someone a skill once in the hopes that it gets them a higher-wage job. No matter the setback, these programs believe that a resilient person can overcome it and move on.
But it’s hard to be resilient. A rubber ball can bounce back as many times as a person is willing to throw it. But gravity isn’t so kind on humans. Pretty much everyone can handle only a limited number of bounces in one lifetime.
the cost of resilience
Most organizations rely on resilience to keep demand down. But who does that harm? What does that food pantry do when you need more food? What happens if you still can’t cover rent next month? What if you took the skills class but nobody’s hiring?
Stress on a body is cumulative. Research shows that stress when you’re young can plague you throughout your life. Society relies on the fiction that success and prosperity aren’t rigged. Michael Redhead Champagne believes that personal resilience lets systems off the hook. He puts it this way in an essay titled The Resiliency Trap: “When we focus on the resiliency of individuals, we too often overlook the systems and situations that have led to that person being harmed.”
when can resiliency make sense?
Resiliency is a fact of life. Most of us have no choice but to get back up after we fall down. It may hurt—whatever throwing out one’s back means in this metaphor. What kinds of resiliency can we actually prepare for?
The ability to be self-sufficient. Think of a micro-grants program that helps people build up their own nest egg for emergencies. Or a movement that addresses root causes so they don’t stand in anyone’s way.
The kind that is optional. People shouldn’t need to be resilient to have value or even survive in our world. The mentality of, “if I can do it, so can you,” is harmful. It ignores the fact that each person has their own privileges, entitlements, and abilities.
The kind that offers complex support. People facing the same problem may need very different solutions. People are resilient in different ways and under different circumstances. We need programs that understand those differences and respond to them.
demanding resilient systems
Why do organizations do this? Nonprofits expect turnover within their client base. No organization can handle endless growth. As Michael Redhead Champagne says, it’s the system itself that should be resilient. What could that look like?
Meet people where they are. Some programs, like the food stamps system, are difficult to access on purpose. It doesn’t matter whether this is due to moralizing elected officials or funding cuts. If we want people to bounce back, we need to give them the support they need to do that. Create systems where people don’t have to jump through hoops or navigate bureaucracy.
Create long-term plans for sustainability. Don’t pull the rug out from under people. Some funders pay for pilot programs to launch services that a community needs. After a few years, the funding for that program disappears. This is business as usual for many companies. But it’s destabilizing or even catastrophic for the people who rely on that service.
Incorporate feedback. Lots of programs still treat community engagement and evaluation as afterthoughts. They get better only with the involvement and creativity of people with direct experience.
stop robbing the resilient
We already know the reason why we need systemic resilience. White supremacy will steal the legs off your chair and then say it’s your fault you can’t sit down. Generational wealth is a major factor in a household’s ability to move past a setback. Brentin Mock writes in Bloomberg about the financial part of resilience. Mock cites a McKinsey report that names four factors at the heart of the racial wealth gap: a family’s wealth, their income and savings, and their community’s assets. These components help keep rich families rich and poor families poor. We also already know why it is this way.
Many families’ generational wealth come from centuries of enslavement and stolen land. This is the rotten heart at the center of foundations and organizations that rely on major gifts. Entire industries exist to dole out small fractions of stolen wealth and call it charity. Instead of asking why some people just can’t get ahead, we need to remove what’s dragging them down.
josh
my name is josh martinez. i have always loved trying to understand systems, and the systems that built those systems. i spend a lot of time thinking about how to get there from here.
i own and operate a consulting practice, Future Emergent.
say hello: josh[at]bethefuture.space
