Rethinking how to give is a bit of a foreign concept.

"Really, it’s not an easy topic for people," said Maggie Lyons, founder of Charity Reimagined. "It is an abstract idea, but it's tangible on many levels."

Charity Reimagined was founded to restore trust, dignity and self-worth in those who are downtrodden and lacking a sense of value. It's a way to reprogram how society helps its most vulnerable while working to break cycles of helplessness and give people of all walks of life and abilities opportunities to contribute.

It's abstract — and complicated.

But it's not impossible.

"The challenge is, relationships are messy and they take time. Most people just want to give money," Lyons said. "Our message is, 'If you don't have the time, if you don't want to get into the messiness, look at the nonprofits that do develop those relationships, or if you have a passion for a certain charity, ask what the exchange is.'"

As a certified public accountant who has worked extensively with organizations in trying financial situations, and as someone who comes from an “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed” background, Lyons and Charity Reimagined board members are passionate about increasing the effectiveness of nonprofits, for givers and receivers.

"The goal is to really show the positive of what's being done," Lyons said.

Lyons and Charity Reimagined will engage with the public and share this idea during three separate upcoming presentations. They will be held from 5 to 6:15 p.m. this Monday and Sept. 25 in the North Idaho Hospice Community Room, 2290 W. Prairie Ave., Coeur d'Alene, as well as from 5 to 6:15 p.m. Oct. 10 in the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave., Coeur d'Alene.

"It's the 'why, what and how,' basically," Lyons said. "It's for the community at large, for anybody who's asking, 'Why do I feel like my charitable giving isn't making a difference?' It's for those who want to change up what they're doing, it's for donors who are saying, 'Where are my dollars going?'"

This approach to charity and ministry work draws inspiration and information from Robert Lupton, who has spent more than 40 years of his life in inner-city Atlanta working with delinquent youth and families in need. He and his team founded the Lupton Center in 2015 to share tools, strategies and resources to help people as they build Holistic Neighborhood Development (beliefs and practices that replace transactional giving with mutuality and partnership) in their own communities.

Charity Reimagined will bring the Lupton Center to North Idaho for interactive seminars Oct. 21 and 22.

Info: www.charityreimagined.org