Columbia Industries offers new one-stop resource center | Guest Opinion

On December 4, Columbia Industries celebrated the launch of its latest mission enterprise, Empowerment Place, and with it a whole new approach to serving the needs of the Tri-Cities community.

Columbia Industries is pursuing a bold new charter from its Board of Directors, one that involves a significant expansion of the services it offers and the needs that it serves. Empowerment Place is both the cornerstone of that mission growth and the new face (literally and figuratively) of Columbia Industries.

In 2017, the Columbia Industries Board of Directors indicated its concern over what seemed to be a stagnant, even declining, profile of the company and gave a broad and aggressive charter to a new CEO and senior management — to put CI back on a growth path in order to significantly increase the positive impact of CI on the Tri-Cities community.

After conducting a detailed strategic planning process, management presented the board with not only a new vision statement but also a bold plan to address a wider range of needs than it had performed historically; and to address them not only among its traditional base of clients (persons with disabilities) but among a much broader cross-section of persons with needs and challenges.

Columbia Industries even changed its definition of “success” — adding to employment the concept of meaningful community interaction and the notion of potential “personal success,” which might differ widely among those in need. Empowerment Place is the direct and emblematic manifestation of that new, bold strategic plan.

Empowerment Place owes its creation and specific business approach to two significant realizations unearthed in the company’s strategic planning process.

The first is fairly obvious and simple: Over the years, Columbia Industries had been frequently approached by people who fell outside its rather narrowly defined area of focus — serving the employment-related needs of persons with disabilities. It was clear that there were significant unmet needs across a spectrum of groups with differing challenges.

The second realization, perhaps more profound and compelling, is that most people who request help for one issue are struggling with — and held back by — any number of additional challenges or needs. A related observation is that the ultimate success of one’s journey to have critical needs met is hugely impacted by getting off to a good start — which means properly identifying the core challenges and needs, clearly and specifically locating the best resources by which the needs can be addressed and making sure that the person requiring help is able to access the resource(s) identified.

Empowerment Place is, as a result, structured as a very wide-reaching, highly networked hub, or portal, where people with a wide variety of “challenges” (disabilities, mental health issues, low income/low education levels, substance abuse problems, prior incarceration, etc.) can be meaningfully assisted with a whole spectrum of needed resources.

Benefit programs, funding, transportation, housing, health insurance, employment and/or vocational training, childcare, literacy or translation help and food assistance are just a few of the many prospective needs to be addressed by the Empowerment Place team and facilities.

In order to “meaningfully help” those requesting assistance, a thorough intake and assessment process will be implemented. The facility will offer computers (and help learning how to use them) to be used in the resource search process.

And perhaps most important of all, Empowerment Place has done extensive outreach to hundreds of other non-profit and charitable entities, government agencies, community/service groups, businesses and individuals to learn about available resources and areas of interest/focus in order to create excellent working relationships so that referrals are productive, appropriate, and easy to navigate.

Empowerment Place is committed to helping those in need of aid to find the best and most responsive resources available, regardless of whether that resource resides within or outside of the Columbia Industries organization.

Columbia Industries expects that network of providers to grow closer and ever more committed to the Empowerment Place program as they see its commitment to fulfilling needs rather than generating more referrals and business to Columbia Industries or any other entity.

Empowerment Place is a very big idea with the potential to impact the lives of many in need in the Tri-Cities community.

Its newly renovated home also serves as the main lobby for Columbia Industries’ many activities. It is located at 900 South Dayton (at 10th Street) in Kennewick.

Please drop by, email the program manager, reginar@columbiaindustries.com, or call us at 509-582-4142 x130. We would love to show you and tell you all about Empowerment Place.

This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Columbia Industries offers new one-stop resource center | Guest Opinion."