When Episcopal parishes and community partners put equity impact analysis into action, improving outreach through participant feedback becomes a vital tool for long-term impact. They often discover that their outreach efforts are compromised by nuanced, sometimes invisible factors. Listening to neighbors and re-evaluating services can reveal unexpected obstacles, from subtle cultural expectations to complex public agency requirements.
As the second part in this series explores, an equity impact analysis is not just a theoretical framework. It is a lens for adjusting how ministry is delivered so that long-lasting, equitable impact can occur. Equity impact analysis can make sure your commitment is creating the best results for those you serve.
Uncovering Cultural Barriers to Improving Outreach Through Participant Feedback at St. Bede’s
When St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta received an ECF grant to renovate adult classrooms for its English as a Second Language (ESL) program, leaders were encouraged to gather direct student input.
However, coordinators Connie Coralli and Claudia Fedarko immediately ran into an unexpected cultural hurdle: open-ended requests for feedback yielded only polite praise.
Many Spanish-speaking adult students operated out of cultural deference to authority figures. They saw their volunteer teachers as profesores on pedestal, and they hesitated to critique.
“I do think it was helpful; not in the way it was anticipated to be, but it was certainly helpful in us learning more about our population,” Coralli said.
Rather than abandoning the process, St. Bede’s adapted. They appointed student classroom representatives, involved bilingual leadership, and focused on building trusted, informal relationships.
Over time, students felt comfortable sharing practical insights, leading St. Bede’s to introduce a fourth, advanced conversational class and adjust curricula to better fit students’ daily lives.
Navigating Complex Systems: Starting Over at St. Julian’s
While St. Bede’s encountered cultural dynamics through their equity impact analysis, Starting Over, Inc.—a supervised visitation ministry based at St. Julian’s Episcopal Church in Douglasville—confronted a multi-layered ecosystem with their grant funding.
To provide a safe space for non-custodial parents to spend time with their children, Starting Over navigates a web of non-custodial parents, custodial guardians, family court judges, DFCS case managers, state transporters, and church volunteers.
When referrals stalled post-COVID, leaders asked for feedback across their entire network. They discovered that DFCS staff turnover and judicial retirements had erased community awareness of their program.
Listening led to Starting Over adapting on multiple fronts:
- Administrative alignment: Updating reporting forms to match standard DFCS formats so case managers could process data easily.
- Emotional and physical safety: Adding low shelving to create private family spaces in an open-floor plan, and staggering arrival entrances to reduce drop-off tension between parents.
- Volunteer sustainability: Shortening weekend volunteer shifts from three hours to flexible two-hour roles. This change was based on parishioner volunteer input.
“Because we are a small program, feedback helps us adapt quickly and specifically to the individual needs of our families,” noted St. Julian lay leader Julie Windsor and retired Rev. Canon Rick Callaway in a response to ECF’s query. “Feedback helps us ensure that all families are treated the same, through guidelines that inform the visitation supervisors as well as the parent/guardians of visitation expectations.”
Strategies for Improving Outreach Through Participant Feedback
The experiences of ESL classes at St. Bede’s and Starting Over at St. Julian’s highlight five practical strategies for any outreach program seeking to maximize its impact:
- Tailor feedback to cultural realities: Move beyond generic surveys when cultural norms prevent direct feedback. Rely on peer liaisons, small group meals, or informal check-ins.
- Address authority dynamics: Formal titles or roles can create distance; if this is in play, try to foster open, equal dialogue.
- Map the entire stakeholder network: Identify every group touched by a service—from clients to state agencies—to ensure no single set of needs is overlooked.
- Listen for unmet community needs: Allow feedback to reveal unspoken challenges, transforming specialized programs into centers of holistic support.
- Use diagnostic questions as strategic drivers: Approach grant questions regarding service gaps not as a test, but as a generative exercise to uncover blind spots.
“Our grant process is not just about giving you money,” said ECF Executive Director Lindsey Hardegree. “It is about helping you to do ministry better.”
