It takes a village and things aren’t as simple as they used to be.

Share your stories with us by sending a message to Stand Up via Facebook messenger or write your own blog entry and it might be shared.

The biggest plagues of society; gangs, murders, drugs, and human trafficking are having a huge impact on our communities. We are amid a tumultuous time involving justice reform and reforms to the other safety net systems that are being impacted as a result.

These systems involve police, prosecutors, judges, teachers, school counselors, school psychologists, nurses, school principals, school security and SROs, CPS social workers, foster parents, emergency room workers, bus drivers, business owners, government workers, retail workers, apartment managers, homeless shelter employees, therapists/counselors and people working in diversion to name a few. This can be any role that involves the expected or unexpected responsibility of making an impact on these issues.

We are one big community and each of us play a part in it. Stand Up would like to gain some insight from those who serve to find out what works, what’s not working and how it can work better. Stand Up is specifically looking for detail of the day-to-day life working in specific roles that serve the local community to gain appreciation of the importance of each role.

We know that working with the public can be sensitive and you may want to protect your identity to protect the trust you have built up with those you work with while working to address the issues that get in the way of making an impact. You may also want to protect your identity for safety reasons. This is an opportunity to anonymously share from your heart what you experience, what gives you joy, what gives you frustration and how the systems can work better.

If you wish to share your personal story as a member of this community within the systems mentioned here, we want to hear from you. While the administrators of Stand Up will see your identity, we will share your stories anonymously. Please answer any of the following questions.

What is your role in our community?

Do you find yourself doing more than you signed up for because of the current crisis and/or reforms?

What are some of your specific duties that you carry out on a regular basis? Please provide as much detail as you can to give us a picture of the complexities and demand of your work.

Do you feel that you are able to make a positive impact for those you serve? Why or why not?

What are some of the barriers to making a positive impact and what system improvements do you think need to be made to address these barriers?

Can you share a story with a good outcome?

Can you share a story that didn’t go well?

Stand Up does research to gain understanding of issues with the goal of improvement through first gaining full comprehension of the issues. Can you steer us in a direction that will help us with this and to inform the public?

Stand Up may reply with additional questions to add depth to the conversation before sharing.