Community partnership is a relationship. It requires the same things a relationship does: mutual respect, transparency and commitment.  It is necessary to have back-and-forth conversations with and a dedication to learning about the communities we are privileged to serve. When we set out to make change, we stand with communities and support their vision and leadership, 

Our commitment to amplifying voices with lived expertise continues, as these voices help form the foundation of our work, and our work can only advance when on a strong foundation. When we engage communities with humility, respect and curiosity, we have an opportunity to gain trust, and when we fall short, we own our missteps and work to rebuild and move forward.

An important part of true community collaboration is lifting up the voices of people with lived expertise. In this Q&A, we talked with three attendees at Annie Malone Children & Family Services’ recent Family Fest about what is most important to them in their community, what helped them most in tough times, their experience in foster care, and what they think their community needs more of. Thank you to Annie Malone for inviting us to this impactful event.