Unite Ellis
History & Where We’re Going
After several years of working with the John Maxwell team to implement a leadership round table curriculum, hosting several leadership conferences, facilitating two city projects (Waxahachie Project and Midlothian Project) and spurring on collaboration in the county to further leaders and transform our communities, the leadership cabinet for Ellis County conducted research throughout the county to determine needs and potential next steps for a county-wide collaboration. This research and conversations led to partnering with Unite DFW and launching Unite Ellis in order to inform, connect and equip those in our county to care for the people of our community. For the first year, the following arenas will be focused on for Unite Ellis:
Relational Infrastructure - Implementing County-Wide Relational Infrastructure
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Identifying Champions at the county and city levels, at content/issue levels (poverty, youth, foster care, etc.) and at the neighborhood level with at least one Champion per elementary school zone (32 zones total in the county)
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Champions help navigate needs, keep the communities connected, serve as point people for areas they are over
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Unite Ellis supports Champions with communication, collaboration, and training
County Convene - Helping to Facilitate Collaboration
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Unite Ellis facilitates ongoing gatherings between the various groups across the county to encourage and foster collaboration. Groups could be across cities, sectors (nonprofits, churches, businesses, etc) or across content/issue topics
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Unite Ellis adds value to the leaders of the county, provides trainings and speakers and continues to promote Transformative Leadership Table curriculum
Gloo Connect (Navigators / Explorers) - Implementing Navigators to Connect with Explorers
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Unite Ellis identifies church contacts and community members to serve as Navigators. Training, encouragement and ongoing collaboration is provided
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Unite DFW works with partner organizations to launch PR campaigns inviting community members (called "Explorers") to reach out if they need help. Some campaigns focus on specific issue areas such as depression, anxiety, loneliness while others are generally focused.
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Navigators receive Explorers by geographic connections and help Explorers as needed
Catalyst Focus: Mental Health - Deploying Mental Health as the Catalyst Focus
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Unite Ellis will serve as a backbone, umbrella organization to foster collaboration and connection with organizations and entities serving on the front lines. After the above arenas are established, the topic of Mental Health (which was identified as a top 5 gap in conducted research) will be used as the catalyst focus to implement the above work and connections.
Get Involved
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Do you provide services to our community? Make sure you are listed and updated in HelpFinder (link to sign up for HelpFinder)
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Serve as a Navigator receiving Explorers by geographic connections and help Explorers as needed.
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Help support our frontline workers
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Serve as a contact for your church, organization or business to be involved in Unite Ellis
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Provide input into the mental health conversations
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Support Unite’s work financially to help sustain the efforts across the county
Contacts:
Ellis County Champion: Anna Hammonds, Anna@UniteEllis.org (For general questions about Unite Ellis)
Midlothian City Champions: Sissy Franklin, Melissa Boler
Waxahachie City Champion: Sandy King
Red Oak City Champions: Donna Knight, David Johnston, Jared Douglas
Ennis City Champions: Christen Vick, Betty Honza
Ferris City Champion: Brooks Williams
Palmer City Champion: TBD
Maypearl City Champion: TBD
Milford City Champion: TBD
Avalon City Champion: TBD
Leadership Development & Leadership Curriculum: Jeremy Trojacek
Faith Champion: Meg Habasevich
Upcoming Events:
COPE – July 22nd https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ellis-county-cope-tickets-323464690597
Ellis County Convene - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ellis-county-convene-tickets-329085793467
October 19, 11:30-1:00 pm
Location: TBD
Connect with other leaders in the County across the regions and the sectors. More details to come!
Link to Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/UniteEllis
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