How We Help

Our approach to helping people, organizations, and countries around the world is entirely unique.  Instead of walking into a country and saying, “They don’t have access to clean water, how terrible that must be, let us do something.” We let people come to us and tell us what their real problems are, as they see them.  You see, part of helping someone grow is that they first must see the problem as the problem.  If they see something else as the problem (i.e. they believe they need more medicine to cure diseases, when they actually need access to clean water and better hygiene practices) an attempt to educate the individual can be made.  But if they will not see it, we help the best we can without encouraging unhealthy dependencies, and move on.

How can you tell what someone actually needs?

We have hundreds of years of research backing up what actually works in identifying someone’s needs.  In order to do this in the Enoch Initiative we use the following approach.

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, there is a point in the human condition that certain basic needs MUST be met before loftier goals such as education, industry, personal development, and the growth required for self reliance can be achieved.

For example, during hurricane Katrina for every 1 person that heeded the hurricane warnings, 10 stayed behind to see how things would turn out.  Many of these people suffered through a great tragedy because of their own inability to understand or choose a better way.  But is the moment at which they are standing on the rooftop of their house awaiting rescue the time to sit down and instruct them on how they could make a better choice in their life?  Of course not!  They are in danger and have a pressing and basic need for safety.

Where do we stop?

If you have the opportunity to go over to Africa in your life you will see hundreds of nonprofits attempting to help by giving out water, food, and other necessities to refugees and those in need.  The problem we see develop in certain regions and around the world is that when this help is given, and given, and given, without any expectation on the part of the beneficiary, is that sometimes those in “need” will remain in “need” for several years.  In some cases when nonprofits do begin attempting to set expectations, the beneficiaries will shrug, walk away, and find another nonprofit that will help them.

It sounds horrible, and it is.  It is entirely possible for us as a giving organization to give in a way that actually creates a greater dependency in the person we are helping, leading them away from self reliance, and towards complacency.  This is not the outcome we want.  We want to point our efforts in supporting organizations towards those activities and contributions which would help build their self reliance, rather than ask them to trade it for the necessities of life.

How do you educate?

Once an understanding of where an individual or organization is at has been established, and their basic needs have been met in an appropriate “building” way, creating and fostering greater self reliance, then we have the opportunity to explore the education and development of the individual or group.

At the Enoch Initiative, this is done 2 different ways:

• 1 on 1 : There is no replacement for individual attention especially in the educational process.  This is why we partner with educated and talented mentors around the world to mentor the people we work with on specific areas they or their organization need and want to grow in.
• Online Education : There are so many people who need our help that if we tried to reach all of them 1 on 1 it would take eons.  For this reason, we have created an online learning platform, upon which, mentors upload classes for beneficiaries to take and benefit from.

Where do you start?

We start every organization with a basic series of intake interviews, these interviews look to identify the core needs of the organization as expressed by the organization.

Included in these interviews is the request for a project proposal from the individual or organization.  We don’t expect everything to be perfect, but we do require a formal request to be made of us.  This further signifies the beneficiary’s desire to improve their circumstance.

This proposal is then submitted to our examination board.  Our examination board consists of several highly skilled professionals in their respective fields of psychological development, cultural development, social development, economic development, business development, etc.

At this point the examination board reviews the proposal along with targeted research about the area to determine if the proposed project will actually meet the needs of the individual.  To frame this in a question we would say, “Is what they’re asking for actually going to help them in the way they desire to be helped?”

If the answer is no, this is communicated back to the organization.

If the answer is yes, this project is accepted into our program to begin working with us.

Where do we go from there?

It’s easy to feel a sense of excitement when you hear back that you are officially accepted into the Enoch Initiative program, and we appreciate that.  It’s also important to recognize that being accepted into our development program is not guaranteed approval to get funding.  

That said, what you will get is an incredible team of individuals who are committed to the success of your organization just as much as you are.  You will get access to educational resources, and a mentor who can help guide you along the path from where you are now, to a fully self reliant organization, which can include preparing for funding, and in some cases introductions to donors who will be interested in funding your organization.