Fulfillment: What Does Independence Mean?

by Shannon Bond

What does it mean to be independent? Ask someone, and the answer might be something like “Standing on your own two feet,” metaphorically or otherwise. While this may be an admirable goal, it’s also one of the biggest myths we tell ourselves.

Take a closer look at any successful person, and you’ll find a network behind them. Parents who encouraged them. Teachers who challenged them. Friends who opened doors. Employers who took a chance. Coworkers who covered a shift. Customers who chose their business. Neighbors who watched the kids. A spouse who believed in the dream. Or it could even be someone or something that challenged them, causing them to fight for what they wanted. The truth is, we build independence together.

Now let’s think about that and how it applies to non-profits. Often, they’re viewed as organizations that simply provide one-time or occasional assistance. And that’s true: non-profits meet immediate needs, but talk to any executive director and the message is about long-term goals to create independence for people through support. Providing food, job, housing, and education assistance over a period of time is designed to help people “stand on their own two feet,” and isn’t that what independence is?

Examples of Support Networks

While the food pantry does distribute food to those in need, in reality, it provides stability, which leads to independence. When a family doesn’t have to wonder where the next meal will come from, parents can focus on finding employment, children can concentrate on schoolwork, and households can plan for what’s next instead of surviving the day. A bag of groceries becomes a foundation to build on.

The Fulfillment House’s mission is to provide meaningful employment to adults with special needs and disabilities. A job is important, but why? Is it just a paycheck? No, a job creates routine. Routine builds confidence. Confidence helps people develop new skills and more relationships. New skills lead to new opportunities, and relationships create a sense of belonging. The job is the foundation of growth, not just a paycheck.

Other organizations strengthen different parts of the support network of opportunity that lead to independence. Through safe housing, counseling, job training, transportation, mentorship, childcare, scholarships, and healthcare, the system is here to support those who choose to take the first step toward independence. Each non-profit addresses a different challenge, but together they form something larger than any one organization could accomplish alone.

Infrastructure of Independence

Business owners intuitively understand the need for support structures. While virtually every business owner says they didn’t want to be just another cog in a corporate machine, so they started their own business, they also know their independence depends on networks of support. A successful company depends on suppliers, customers, banks, internet providers, shipping companies, utility crews, accountants, and employees. Remove enough pieces from that system, and even the strongest business will struggle.
Communities and the people who live in them are no different. Recognizing interdependence has become increasingly important in fields ranging from education to organizational leadership. Understanding, relying on, and supporting the systems of support is how healthy communities function and grow.

Children gradually become independent because adults invest in them. Entrepreneurs succeed because customers support them. Seniors remain active because neighbors, volunteers, and family members stay connected. Adults with disabilities thrive when given opportunities to work, learn, and contribute. This story is about dispelling the bootstrap myth of independence and seeing it for what it really is. Relying on community and services is not dependence, and it’s not a sign of strength to not acknowledge the reality of our connected community.

Strength is the willingness to support one another on the path of independence. It’s the willingness to donate, to volunteer, and to support those organizations that support our community members. After that, it’s up to the individual to rely on the support network in a way that lifts them up onto their own two feet (metaphorically or otherwise).

Related Stories:

• Fulfillment: What Does Independence Mean?
• Fulfillment: After the Bus Stops Coming
• From Local Idea to Growing Impact: The Fulfillment House Plans Expansion