The Amazing Grace Foundation is the only charity of its kind in the Antigua/Barbuda area. They provide stability, structure and life-time housing to permanently disabled people who are unable to effectively provide for themselves. The AGF seeks to reduce desperation and deprivation in the name of the idea that disabled people should have the same chance at happiness as able-bodied people.
Agf Critical Analysis
This report shall cover a number of important topics relative to the Amazing Grace Foundation. The report will start off by giving some background and history of the Amazing Grace Foundation, its organizational structure, and it's overall network reach around this region and beyond. A summary of the foundations daily objectives and tasks will be covered, an evaluation of the same will be enumerated and this report will then conclude with recommendations and a summation of this report in its entirety.
The motto of the Amazing Grace Foundation says it all when it says "go light your world." In December 1996, a group of like-minded people came together and mutually noted the need for meeting the needs of special needs children, up to and including providing shelter and other non-optional facets of life. The foundation is designed as a whole-life solution to care and respect the mentally and physically disabled, the permanently disabled in particular. The AGF home started construction in August 1997 and has always been a non-profit charitable organization. The daily operations of the home are managed by the House Manager and a Supervisor.
The house is situated in the Antigua/Barbuda region and the prevailing governments of those areas significantly incentivize and otherwise do not tax/regulate the behaviors of the house, within certain constraints. AGF offers a number of different services, including residency, an early intervention clinic, a day care service, a laundry service and youth support. There is also significant community outreach support as well as educational workshops and trainings for those that are interested. In short, the overarching goal and reason for being for AGF is to provide comfort and stability for the disabled that are unable to take care of themselves.
Summary & Review
So as to protect the anonymity and assure that valid, truthful and expansive responses were offered, great care will be exercised in this report to not identify people by title or name. As noted before, the House Manager and Supervisor run the house, but there are obviously a great many other people that keep the house operating smoothly. These include maintenance staff, people that work directly with the daily activities of the house residents, people that help meet the hygiene and medical needs of the patients and so forth. Beyond that, there is an executive committee and board of directors that directs the funding and daily operations of the house. The general officers of the organization include a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, a Secretary, a Treasurer, Two Directors and two Trustees. Every single member of that board is expressly forbidden from receiving any sort of pay or other compensation (from any source) and literally anyone that breaks that rule is forced to leave immediately and with no recourse.
The Constitution of the AGF spells out the aims and objectives of the organization, of which there is a dozen parts. These include advocating for the well-being of disabled people throughout Antigua and Barbuda, encourage an atmosphere of togetherness and goodwill among all people, to effectively operate a house with people that have disabilities and their mission statement is to "promote and implement caring policies and programs that help alleviate deprivation, adversity and helplessness among vulnerable persons in our society."
Obviously, the target "clientele" of the AGF are disabled persons but to use the word "client" or any other iteration of the word is perhaps not applicable or appropriate. There is no profit motive and a good amount of the resources and time spent is entirely donated, often by foundation constitutional edict. The values, as noted in the AGF constitution and absolutely verified by the staff members, is to provide for the needs of the less fortunate (the disabled, specifically) and allow comfort and stability in their lives. The other dimension to a theoretical "clientele" argument is that organizations like this rely on the generosity and largesse of others. People that are blessed to be free of disability or other limiting life factors feel the compulsion and desire to help those that are in dire straits through nothing of their own doing.
As for what defines a good volunteer/working in the house, whether it be a leader on the committee for a front-line worker, the desired (or even required) characteristics are not hard to miss. A great amount of patient, altruism and overall high level of cheer is required to fit this job well. It is certainly not something that one does for money and financial gain. Many charities are full of people that use the generosity of others to line their own pockets through salaries and other hidden boons to them but the tactics and precepts of AGF run completely opposite to that and that is insanely obvious if one looks at either the constitution and other documents or if one listens to anyone who works there. Having it in print is one thing but enforcing and following it is quite another and it is clear that AGF does both of those in convincing fashion.
Even with all of the good will and generosity, there are challenges that present themselves. First, money is not an infinite resource and the flow of donations and other support can become constricted at certain times. A good example of this was during the global recession of 2007-2009, which is still being felt in many corners of the world and in very many different ways. Even when no direct and obvious peril exists, the recent challenges have made many gun-shy about making donations or otherwise expending financial resources even if it's for a good cause. Of course, AGF has to react in kind when this occurs and has to be at least somewhat conservative in general regardless of the prevailing economic conditions so that the proper preparations are in place when things do go wrong. Another challenge mentioned specifically by the employees was a general mistrust of the foundation (and of charities in general) for the reasons mentioned above. Basically, the malfeasance of a couple of bad apples colors the entire charitable landscape and this impacts people's perceptions and their donations as a result.
Evaluation & Recommendations
On the whole, AGF is doing very well. As mentioned in the last section, the charitable foundation landscape is tarred by the actions of a few. The underpinnings and motives of the foundation are clearly there and are clearly followed. As an assurance to people that could and would donate so long as they are reassured their money shall not be wasted, anyone who wants to review the "books" of the AGF should be given the opportunity to do so. Any government audit or review that shows their inner workings to be solid should be trumpeted and openly shared.
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