Since our founding, we’ve been driven by the belief that EVERY PERSON HAS INNATE WORTH. This belief and our ongoing equity work sparks a new mission.
Our equity lens has compelled us to change how we view recipients of our service. Instead of helping “them,” we see ourselves in relationship with members – our partners in this work.
We have a long way to go, but over the last two years, we’ve taken concrete steps in that direction, with members now leading classes, volunteering as weekly visitors, participating in our hiring committees, and even co-creating our organization’s video.
And as we’ve become more vulnerable in our relationship with members, many shared that our mission statement was an area for growth. Our previous mission referred to members as the ‘forgotten poor,’ which can have an ‘othering’ effect and doesn’t reflect our view that members are partners in this work. It was time to update our mission statement.
Practicing deep listening
Over the last six months, we’ve held listening sessions with members, our Board, staff, and volunteers around the two questions:
1 – What is the opposite of social isolation?
2 – What is community?
The feedback from these sessions drove the language in our updated belief and mission statements, which were approved by our Board in August, 2019.
Updated Belief Statement
We believe every person is irreplaceable and has something remarkable to share with others.
Updated Mission
Maybelle Center disrupts social isolation so we can all experience a healthy, connected life and contribute to a thriving Portland.
Since our founding, we’ve been driven by the belief that every person has innate worth. That’s what we want to reflect in every conversation, word, and program.
In each of the listening sessions, we captured our brainstorming of mission key terms using sticky notes and voted using dot stickers. 
After hosting separate listening sessions with our Board, members, staff, and volunteers, we aggregated the responses for each group and identified common themes.
Originally published in our 2018 Annual Report.
