Guiding Principles of Sojourners     

1. Moral imagination created and sustains Sojourners.
2. We strive to be democractic and facilitative in our process.
3. We are committed to an asset-based approach.  We seek to, first and foremost, recognize and build upon the assets of the youth involved in our programs.  We believe that all young people are and can be resources.
4. Sojourners seeks to be a social change organization that looks for transformative solutions to critical issues. We see positive youth development as a force in changing the long-term economic face of Appalachian Ohio.  We seek to break the cycle of poverty by developing a new generation of Ohioans who are skilled, thoughtful, and engaged citizens.
5. We have a long-term commitment to Appalachian Ohio.  We want long-term, sustained results and realize that such change takes time.
6. We seek to serve before we seek to lead.
7. We see our future tied to the future of our community and our organizational partners.  We are committed to being partners and collaborators with other agencies and organizations that have missions to make Appalachian Ohio a better place to live and work.
8. We are committed to developing respectful relationships with the families of the youth involved in our programs and seek at every avenue to make family members integral partners in our work.
9. The public trust demands that we hold ourselves to the highest legal and ethical standards.  We are accountable to the youth and families we serve, the individuals and organizations that support us with funding, and to our larger community as a whole.  Therefore, we are committed to being fiscally responsible and to being reflective practitioners through continuous improvement and learning.  We will regularly communicate our progress to the public.