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Vision: “To See Every Person in the World Experience the Best, Most Fulfilling Life Possible"
In ancient history the portico was known as the main entrance to a Greek or Roman temple or shrine. It was through the
portico that people would enter to find the solutions to life's problems. It was the portico that provided the resources
required for individual and community transformation.
Mission: To Provide the Necessary Resources for Individual, Occupational and Community Transformation"
We can
assist…
> Business owners and corporations,
> Local government and communities,
> Churches and community organizations,
> International “faith based” organizations and missions,
> Individuals and families,
transform their environment by offering solutions to the personal and relational needs that keep people from experiencing the best,
most fulfilling life possible. For a detailed listing of the programs we offer please scroll down to The Portico's “five
gateways” leading to transformation located near the bottom of this page. Also, please note the transformation
options you may choose from at this time in the following section. For additional information on The Portico Organization please
email us at www.the-portico.org. Thank you for visiting our site and your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
The Portico's Transformation Options Available at this Time:
The Portico has developed several strategies for individual, occupational and community wide transformation that can be used by five specific groups at this time:
One: Local Businesses and Corporations
Many local business owners and corporation leaders have come to appreciate the benefits of a transformed workplace where employee attitudes are positive and a collegial spirit exists. Unfortunately, this type of productive work environment is thwarted in much of industry because some employees are distracted with unresolved emotional issues from their past, relational discord with another employee, marriage and family issues or addictive behaviors of many different kinds. The Portico has a Performa that will assist local businesses and corporations in identifying the endemic needs of their employees and developing “the gateways” which lead to a safer, more desirable work environment and a more profitable “bottom line.”
How Can the Portico assist Local Businesses and Industry?
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported recently in Publication 99-101 that “job stress is the number one reason for work related injury and poor productivity.”
On the basis of experience and research, NIOSH favors the view that working conditions play a primary role in causing job stress. However, the role of individual factors is not ignored. According to the NIOSH view, exposure to stressful working conditions (called job stressors) can have a direct influence on worker safety and health. But as shown below, individual and other situational factors can intervene to strengthen or weaken this influence. Examples of individual and situational factors that can help to reduce the effects of stressful working conditions and increase productivity include the following:
* Balance in family or personal life
* A support network of friends and coworkers
* A relaxed and positive outlook
Not all Job Stress is Bad However …
The concept of job stress is often confused with challenge, but these concepts are not the same. Challenge energizes employees psychologically and physically, and it motivates them to learn new skills, master their jobs, and work more efficiently and productively. When a challenge is met, they feel relaxed and satisfied. Thus, challenge is an important ingredient for healthy and productive work. That's probably why they say "a little bit of stress is good for you.”
A little stress at work may be good for employees but when their individual and situational factors are high, the situation is different-the challenge has turned into feelings of stress. In short, the stage is set for illness, injury, anger and poor productivity with job demands that cannot be met. Relaxation then turns into exhaustion, employees no longer sleep and eat well, their job satisfaction decreases and failure and anger increase in both the workplace and at home.
One of the primary objectives of The Portico is to partner with local business to reduce the distracting and performance robbing individual and situational factors of employees by identifying their specific social, emotional and relational needs and to provide the educationally based classes that are necessary for change. We currently have the opportunity to assist Bula Forge and Machine, Inc., in Cleveland, Ohio in doing this very thing. Our vision is to increase the profitability and safety of Bula Forge and Machine by identifying the individual and other situational factors of employees and offer on site educationally based classes and resources that will address their specific needs. If you would like more information on this program you can contact Wayne Phelps, president of Bula Forge at 216-252-7063.
If you would like more information on how The Portico can assist you in transforming your workplace into a happier, safer, more productive environment contact our office by emailing us at info@the-portico.org. Many of our business programs are intensive in design and are presented in one, four or eight hour venue to best serve our clients needs. Let us help you transform your workplace!
Two: Local Governments and Civic Organizations
Many local government leaders recognize the value of community transformation and desire a better way of life for their citizens. Social ills, relational discord, and other concerns not only destroys individual lives and families, undermines moral, and becomes a burden for the entire community. The Portico desires to work closely with city leaders to identify the specific transformation needs of their locality, develop a matrix for change, and initiate the programs that will lead to community wholeness.
Some of the specific areas of concentration local governments have used the services of The Portico have been with public servants working in EMS, fire suppression and law enforcement. Often the demands of these high stress jobs weigh heavy on emotions, causing relational discord at both home and work and addictions of various kinds. So often it seems that those who help society most often hurt the greatest. Down through the years The Portico has assisted numerous fire and EMS personnel, law enforcement officers (and their family members) free of charge and would like to assist your community "heroes" (and their family members) to experience the best possible life available.
For more information contact us at info@the-portico.org
Three: Individuals
Specific models and resources are available for individuals desiring to facilitate transformation in either their family or community. Contact The Portico for more information about individual transformation solutions and need assessment at info@the-portico.org.
Four: Churches and local “faith based” organizations
It is the desire of the Portico to see more and more churches answer the call of Jesus Christ “to go and meet people where they are at and establish kingdom relationships and lifestyles for the glory of God and the good of humanity.” At this time there are three (3) options for “missional minded” church groups to utilize in their effort to emerge beyond the walls of their meeting place, enter into society, and see individual lives and communities transformed through love, grace, and power of Jesus Christ:
(1) On Site
* In 2007 The founder of the Portico planted a community transformation center at Morningstar Friends
Church in Chardon, Ohio called The Life Training Center. For more information you can
visit their website at http://www.msfchurch.org/life_training.htm or contact Pastor Matt Chesnes at
(2) Off Site
* Currently we are assisting in the planting a community outreach center in Cadiz, Ohio in partnership with
Springdale Friends Church. We eventually plan to offer transformation solutions to Harrison County
for addiction of various kinds, divorce, marriage, and grief but our first program will focus on parenting solutions. With the
help of county officials we have identified a local transformation need among a HUD community in Harrison County
and facilitator Scott Hazelton will begin offering parenting classes this fall.
* We are currently assisting with the transformation needs of a local mission organization working in the cities of
Cleveland and Painesville called The Well Ohio. For more information on The Well visit their
website: http://www.thewellohio.com
(3) New Church Plant
* Currently their are two churches interested in planting "day one" churches in their communities using the Portico model. The Portico
model for a new church plant consists of assessing the transformation needs of a local community; developing programs to address
the endemic needs of the community; to be followed later by a weekly time of worship and celebration. For more information on this
model email info@the-portico.org.
* The phrase "day one church" was first used by the Evangelist Gary Wright, president of World Renewal International.
A "day one church" refers to a new church plant that is actively involved in meeting the needs of the community from the
moment the church officially begins. For more information on the "day one" global transformation strategy of World Renewal
International visit their website at: www.worldrenewal.org
Five: International “Faith Based” Organizations
The need of many international “faith based” organizations is twofold. First, they have an ongoing need to assess and provide the training and educational needs of their indigenous leaders. Second, They have the unending task of identifying the areas of transformation still needed in the communities in which they serve. It is the desire of the Portico to assist such like-minded organizations in fulfilling their transformation efforts, assist them in identifying the five (5) common gateways leading to transformation in each of their ministry arenas, help them develop a new transformation matrix for greater effectiveness, and to assist them in indigenous leadership development.
* Plans are under way for The Portico to assist in the planting and leadership development of the new Friends University in Kiamosi,
Africa in 2008. This new transformation center will no doubt provide a better quality of life for the citizens of that great
continent for generations to come. For more information on the Kiamosi project you can contact Dr. Dennis Hagen at
denberhag@yahoo.com or info@the-portico.org
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The Portico Organization's “Five Gateways” Leading to Transformation
With each of above groups, the Portico will help assess the transformation needs, identify the required resources necessary for desired change and assist the individual or group in obtaining them, help identify and train program leaders and facilitators, offer marketing solutions, lead or assist the transformation strategy or simply remain in a supervisory role to consult and monitor the progress and effectiveness of the program(s).
Typically the transformation strategy developed by the Portico will focus on five (5) specific “gateways” or areas, which facilitate both individual and community transformation. In ancient literature there a specific place for transformation known as “The Pool of Mercy” which had “five portico” (John 5:1-8, Holy Bible). It was through these five entrance points the ancient citizens of Jerusalem would gather to find solutions for the problems of their day. To the ancients the portico provided the endemic (personal) and indigenous (regional) resources needed for individual and community transformation.
The five (5) gateways which the Portico Organization has identified for transformation are: social, psychological, relational, spiritual, and educational in nature. In each of theses areas some of the following programs have been utilized:
1. Social
The Portico will assist in transformation by offering solutions for the social ills that plague communities
through Personal and Inner Healing, Recovery, and Community Action type programs:
1). Recovery Programs
a. Twelve (12) Step Recovery Programs for General Addictions
b. Specific Recovery Strategies for Sexual Addiction and Pornography
c. Anger Management
2). Community Action
a. Benevolence (food, housing, etc.)
b. “Helping Hands” Services
c. Crisis and Trauma Intervention
d. Conflict Resolution and Management
e. Financial Concepts
2. Psychological
1). Inner Healing
a. Many individuals are troubled with issues stemming from their past. We can offer solutions which can
release individuals, organizations and communities from the emotional and behavioral consequences
caused by arrested development and fixation.
b. Individual and family Consulting
2). Personal Healing
a. Grief Recovery Classes and Workshops
b. Individual Consulting
c. Veterinary Chaplaincy Consulting and Services
3. Relational
The Portico will also target various Relationship Solutions which will lead to transformation through
programs such as:
a. Divorce Recovery Workshops
b. Single Adult Issues
c. Pre Marriage Consulting and Workshops
d. Marriage Recovery Programs
e. Marriage Enrichment Seminars
f. Parenting Seminars
g. Single Parenting Workshops
h. Elder Care (support & education)
i. Family Financial Planning and Seminars
j. Effective Communication
k. Dealing with Difficult People
l. Conflict resolution
4. Spiritual and Philosophical
a. Fundamental Principles of a transformation World View
b. Spiritual Formation and Discipline
5. Educational and Organizational
a. Leadership Assessment
b. Leadership Training and Professional Development
c. Religious and Theological Training
d. General Education at all Levels of Discipline
e. Compression planning
f. Business plan development
g. Implementing Positive Change
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Contact Information
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Email: info@the-portico.org
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The Administration of The Portico Organization
Adrian Halverstadt, PhD founded The Portico Organization as a non profit entity in 2006. He has served in numerous not for profit organizations over the past 27 years. For most of his adult life, he has pursued a passion for "glocal" (global and local) transformation. In the early 1980’s he helped establish an organization called Citizens for Decency in an effort to remove all pornography and adult rated entertainment venues in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was cofounder of Hope Bible Institute formerly housed in the West Virginia Maximum Security Prison in Moundsville, West Virginia, in the late 1980s, and then at the Ohio Correctional Facility in Belmont, Ohio in the mid 1990s.
Halverstadt has also helped to establish local transformation centers internationally as well. He partnered with Mission Mexico on numerous occasions to plant eighteen (18) transformation centers in the region of C. D. Victoria, Mexico in the 1990s, and assisted World Renewal International in their transformation efforts in Port Antonio, Jamaica in 1993.
For ten (10) years, Halverstadt lead a team to work with the Urban Mission in Steubenville, Ohio in an effort to address the local transformation needs of Jefferson County. During this tenure, the team Halverstadt organized ran a soup kitchen, food pantry and clothing bank for the less fortunate and held weekly motivational services and workshops.
For this past decade Halverstadt has worked at developing individual and community transformation in the greater Cleveland, Ohio metropolitan area through Willoughby Hills Evangelical Friends Church. Here he developed and provided oversight to numerous community outreach programs, conducted marriage and family workshops, and originated business plans for several new faith based programs and local business adventures. He enjoys working in education and serves as an adjunct professor for Malone College, director of Deuteronomy Six Home School Co-op, and Chairman of the Quaker Care Day Care Center.
In the early 2000's Halverstadt also helped establish a consulting organization for conflict resolution called the Christian Association of Conflict Resolution (CACR) in partnership with educator and esteemed author Dr. Terry Wise. Halverstadt still serves on the executive board of CACR and Dr. Wise continues to manage the interests of CACR from his office in southern Florida. For more information on CACR visit their website at www.cacr.org.
In 2006 Halverstadt planted an “on site” community transformation center at Morningstar Friends Church in Chardon, Ohio called The Life Training Center. The transformation strategy he helped develop for Morning Star includes the start of a Day Care Center and School and planting two other Life Training Centers in neighboring communities in the next few years. The targeted areas include an inner city work in Painesville, Ohio and new church plant in the fast growing community of Middlefield, Ohio. Halverstadt desires to continue assisting individual, local churches, government leaders, business owners, and mission organizations in their transformation efforts.
Halverstadt resides in northeast Ohio with his wife Lisa. They were childhood sweethearts and married in the summer of 1980. They have three adult sons and have enjoyed camping, motorcycling, Jeeping together in the Smoky Mountains, rehabbing old homes and cruising the Caribbean.
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The Portico Organization will soon receive full non profit status and is currently managed by five administrators. For more information on the Portico board of Directors and meeting times email: info@the-portico.org. Thank you for visiting our website.