P - is for Potential

P in our HOPE Building Model stands for Potential

“What are your strengths?”

They looked at me blankly as I asked the question. You see their whole life and lens had been focused on lack. Lack of wealth, lack of material possessions, lack of academic performance. Lack. Every day they faced it from when they woke up in the morning to when they went to sleep. They could see it in the way people looked at them. Or didn’t look at them. They were not enough.

“I’m coming back in 10 minutes and I want your answer to the question.”

When I came back 10 minutes later their shoulders were back, they sat a little taller and I was sure I could detect a twinkle in their eyes. Hesitantly, and then more confidently, they told me what they were good at.

Psychology tells us how imperative a strengths-based approach is to igniting growth, and, yet, our approach to the materially poor is usually focused on lack- what they do not have.

The ReStory Foundation’s HOPE Building Model emphasizes a different approach.

The P stands for Potential. Every person and community has gold- strengths, passions and abilities. The materially wealthy do not have a monopoly on these! Imagine if this unseen gold could be unlocked in every person and community.

What would it look like for each of us to be a part of that?