Hubbing

Hubs are essential — people and communities working in connection rather than isolation. When we move away from silos and toward collaboration, everyone benefits.

This week, I found myself using the word “hubbing” as a verb. It’s not a common word, but maybe it could be. Hubbing is something we can do intentionally. In any setting of care or support, we’re better served when different pieces are connected to the whole.

More than a decade ago, I served as a pastor in a congregation that joined a consortium of congregations. Together, we coordinated care for the broader community. One congregation ran the food pantry. Another provided bus tickets. Another offered help with utility bills. Another hosted a clothes closet. When someone came to any one of us with a need, we didn’t just respond individually. We could connected them to all of these services collectively.

Today, at the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan, we’re doing something similar. We’re working alongside other organizations through a grant that helps build and connect transition services for youth and young adults with epilepsy. This includes moving from pediatric to adult healthcare, from middle school to high school, into college or vocational training, into the workforce, and toward supportive, independent living. The leadership team spans multiple organizations, and we’re reaching out to even more.

Hubbing is vital. It helps streamline care, coordinate efforts, and most importantly, get people to what they need — not in fragments, but toward the whole.

— Renee Roederer