How We Work Together
Reference Point is a facilitated, hands on experience designed around the people participating and the setting they are in.
I design the experience, prepare the activity or challenge, facilitate the session, and guide the reflection afterward.
A program might include a real project, a problem to solve, a creative project, a community activity, an environmental project, animal care, or another hands on experience.
Participants have the opportunity to:
Try a new activity.
Work through a real problem.
Make decisions.
Work with other people.
Create or build.
Complete a project.
Notice what they enjoy.
Recognize their strengths.
Identify what matters to them.
Choose what they want to explore further.
THE REFERENCE POINT JOURNAL
Each participant receives a Reference Point Journal to document their experiences, reflect on what they discover, and build a personal collection of reference points over time.
After each experience, participants record what they learned about themselves, what stood out to them, and what they may want to explore next.
As they participate in more experiences, their journal becomes a record of what they have learned about themselves and the directions they have explored.
At the end of the experience, participants leave with:
A completed experience they can draw from.
A record of what they discovered about themselves.
A clearer understanding of their interests, strengths, and preferences.
A reference point they can use when making future decisions.
A potential direction to explore next.
The experience can be designed as a workshop, half day, full day, or weekend program, depending on the setting and participants.
One experience creates one reference point.
More experiences create more reference points to build from.
BEYOND THE INDIVIDUAL
Reference Point connects personal discovery with meaningful participation.
People discover themselves by participating in the real world. Organizations gain meaningful participation. Communities benefit from people using their developing skills, interests, and capacity to contribute.
The goal is not simply to get people involved. It is to create experiences where participation benefits the community while helping people discover how they can contribute.
Over time, those experiences can build skills, confidence, relationships, and a greater capacity to participate again.
Every Reference Point experience is designed for the people participating and the setting they are in.
Experiences can be built around areas such as:
Community
Local projects, community needs, outreach, and service.
Environment
Conservation, stewardship, sustainability, land, and creation.
Animals
Animal care, welfare, advocacy, and working with animal organizations.
Creative Work
Art, writing, design, cooking, making, building, and creating.
People
Communication, collaboration, teaching, caregiving, and working with different populations.
Business
Problem solving, organization, customer experience, marketing, entrepreneurship, and operations.
Hands On Work
Construction, repair, gardening, agriculture, making, organizing, and practical projects.
Research and Problem Solving
Investigating questions, understanding problems, gathering information, and developing solutions.
The experiences can take place in many different settings and can be adapted to the age, abilities, interests, and goals of the people participating.
The point is to experience different ways of working, thinking, creating, caring, and contributing so that each person has more reference points to build from.