Fostering Community Connections: A Foundation for Health · Harnessing Collective Wisdom ... community’s “social capital the lower its mortality rates, from violent crime AND

Fostering Community Connections: A Foundation for Health

January 17th, 201812:45 – 1:45 pm

www.tamarackcommunity.ca

Session Facilitator

Sylvia CheuyConsulting Director, Tamarack [email protected] (416) 988-6887


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/

A Connected Force for Community ChangeJoin us www.tamarackcommunity.ca

We support Learning Communities around five ideas for making significant community change.

Turning theory into practice is critical for community change. We support two Action Learning Communities to get to impact.

Collective Impact

CommunityEngagement

CollaborativeLeadership

CommunityInnovation

Evaluating Community

Impact



Harnessing Collective WisdomThe Scallop Principle:• Each one of us is an eye (I); the

whole discerns through us.

• The corollary: when we don’t hear from any eye (I), the whole is at greater risk.

Stances that support the arising of collective wisdom

• Suspend certainty• See the whole• Seek diverse perspectives• Welcome all that is arising• Trust in the transcendent

www.tamarackcommunity.ca 5

Laying the Groundwork to Work Differently

Organizations

From Doers To Catalysts & Facilitators


Laying the Groundwork to Work Differently

Citizens

Recipient Info Source Participant Leader


Loneliness: A Growing Reality• A 2015 Angus Reid Survey on Belonging found that:

▪ 32% of Canadians report a very strong sense of belonging to their community;

▪ 38% of Canadians report they “don’t feel they have a stake” in their local community

• 2014 Stats Can data reported that:

▪ 1 in 5 older Canadians describe themselves as“lonely or dissatisfied with life”; and,

▪ 64% of Canadian post-secondary students reported feeling very lonely within the last 12 months


Benefits of Community for Individuals

• A 2003 Harvard study showed that the higher a community’s “social capital the lower its mortality rates, from violent crime AND from heart disease

• Humans are hardwired to live in community but evidence shows that our actual experiences of community have been steadily declining since the 1960s.

• It is estimated that 6 million Canadians are socially isolated and loneliness is as harmful to health:• It has the same health impact as smoking 15

cigarettes a day• Social isolation can be twice as deadly as obesity;• Increases the risk of dementia by 64%


Benefits of Community for Neighbourhoods

• Research shows people who feel asense of community are more likely to act for the common good;

• A deliberate & intentional effort is needed to re-learn the skills to build community


Benefits of Community for Municipalities • Being efficient and effective is necessary but not

sufficient for municipalities to be considered GREAT communities

• Municipal attention needs to broaden to consider social infrastructure. In the future, “the most profound and powerful long-term innovations in cities will be social.”

• Enhancing cities’ social infrastructure involves meaningful engagement of citizens as leaders and partners in shaping its future.

• Residents must be engaged differently – beyond their roles as taxpayers and voters for their sense of being responsible citizens to be restored


Benefits in Addressing Complex Issues

• No one sector, working alone can effectively address complex issues

• Complexity is best addressed with a multi-sector approach

• “Context experts” are as necessary as “content experts” in generating effective solutions to complex issues.

Working With Complexity


Anchoring Concept

Creating an Ecology of Caring


“Care is an alchemist in our communities, unleashing a force deep within us. It enables us to build up our social immune system.”

Vickie Cammack,tyze.com

http://www.tyze.com/


3 Lessons for Building Our Social Immune System

Lesson 1: Vulnerability is the seed that grows care in our communities

Lesson 2: If necessity is the mother of innovation, then love is its other parent. Care is a precursor for innovation.

Lesson 3: Isolation is a worldwide epidemic. We need to be intentional about tending to the garden of our relationships.Source: Vickie Cammack


4 Actions to Support a Revolution in Caring

Source: Vickie Cammack & Al Etmanski

1. Pay Attention to What Feeds Your Spirit – What inspires you? What is the source of your morale oxygen?

2. Shine a Light on What IS Happening – Be guided by the creativity, ingenuity and natural caring already within communities.

3. Tend to Your Garden – Work within systems to nurture what is already happening. Think like a movement

4. Bring Beauty into Our Work – We must touch hearts in order to open minds. Don’t ignore the artists in our midst. They are indispensable companions on any social change journey.


Deepening Community

• Share Our Stories• Have Fun Together• Take Care of Each Other• Work Together for a Better Community


The Role of “Conversations” in Community Change• Engages people

• Builds trust/empathy

• Better probability of asking the right questions

• Creates a safe space for learning & innovation

• Advances collaboration

• Helps identify opportunities for policy & systems change


Of Community Impact


Local Deepening Community Initiatives

B’More for Healthy Babies, Baltimore

All of Baltimore’s babies are born at a healthy weight, full term, and ready to thrive in healthy families.






B’More for Healthy Babies, Baltimore2014: The Progress

Organizational Collaboration has Powerful Impact

▪ 24% decrease in infant mortality

▪ 32% decrease in teen pregnancy

▪ 10% decrease in low birthweight

▪ The racial disparity between white and black infants decreased by almost 40% during same time period

▪ The decrease in number of sleep-related deaths was biggest contributor to lower infant mortality



B’More for Healthy Babies, BaltimoreThe Present

Community Engagement in Upton-Druid Heights

▪ 20 Community Conversations held

▪ An inventory of resident gifts, talents and abilities developed

▪ Local faith leaders and business owners recruited as conversation hosts

▪ Consensus on a long-term vision and specific community improvement ideas

A Shared Vision for Upton-Druid Heights

• Folks of all ages and background are included and interacting together

• The neighborhood is family-friendly & safe

• There’s lots of sidewalk cafés

• People stop and say hello to each other

• Community art profiled throughout city

• Areas for more walking and cycling

• Urban gardening and a Farmers’ Market




“I design dresses. I can help get

young girls ready for prom.”

“I want to help young moms. I

have a Sam’s Club Card – I just need

a car.”

▪ Cooking and baking

▪ Driving and help with transportation

▪ Haircutting and styling

▪ Youth mentoring

▪ Home Improvement

▪ Decorating and Painting

▪ Writing

▪ Dancing

Skills of Upton-Druid Heights Residents



B’More for Healthy Babies, BaltimoreOpportunities for Action in Upton-Druid Heights

▪ Neighbourhood Beautification

▪ Neighbourhood Safety

▪ Employment & Local Economic Development

▪ Strong Families & Supportive Community

▪ More Recreation and Leisure

What Worked• Our NAT generated positive momentum

• Hosting “community reveals” midway through generated more input & more opportunities for conversation

• We were inspired by the spontaneous support we saw between neighbours

• Team’s strong relationships of trust helped in the success of this project

• When people see their talents & skills, they discover opportunities & possibilities to link together for positive change

• Friends learned about skills and talents of each other they didn’t know

• After conversations we’ve seen neighbours spontaneously exchanging contact info and starting to make things happen

Upton-Druid Heights Neighbourhood Action Team

REFLECTIONS

What’s Been Challenging

• Initially challenging to schedule conversations and secure commitment from community partners

• Staff turnover in partner agencies disrupts programs and services and leads to cynicism within the community

• It can initially be difficult to get folks to talk. There’s suspicion about what the information will be used for.

• Residents have a real expectation that agencies will respond to their needs.

• It can be difficult to get people to identify their gifts and talents. It often requires some examples.


REFLECTIONS

• Leverage partnerships with community members and agencies

• Let community know that THEY will decide what projects ultimately get implemented

• Having teams/conversation leaders who are members of the community creates a real sense of relatability and trust

• Use incentives to attract participation

• Be patient, it takes time to get this kind of work rolling…be willing to listen

• Be willing to adapt the standard approach depending on the venue and situation

• Expect that the number of participants for a conversation will vary

• The number of participants isn’t the most important factor of success – it’s the information that comes from the conversations as well as the relationships & understanding created amongst participants.


Advice to Others

Overall Project

REFLECTIONSThe Community Context is Dynamic

Challenges

• Fear and grief in both communities has been consistently rising over the past year

• This external reality has impacted everyone including:

▪ The B’More for Health Babies Staff Teams▪ Community Partners▪ Residents in both neighbourhoods -- particularly young black men (15-24

years old) in Upton Druid Heights & Hispanic community in Patterson Park

• Reduced funding and/or program instability (moving twice) has negatively impacted the program at the same time that client need/demand is growing

• Investing in self-care and peer support amongst BHB NA Teams has emerged as an important priority for sustainability

Overall Project

REFLECTIONSThe Community Context is Dynamic

Strengths

• Faith communities and barber shops continue to be important community partners/leaders for advancing the work of B’More for Healthy Babies

• Leadership and growth of community members is being observed

• Creating meaningful opportunities for residents to economically benefit from the work of BHB is making a positive difference above and beyond the programmatic supports being delivered - How we work is AS IMPORTANT as the work we are doing

• There is a growing interest/willingness with residents to advocate for positive change

• The BHB Program has built strong relationships of trust with residents and other community agencies. This is essential to the work that we do. Work to maintain and grow these relationships is strategically important

Overall Project

DILEMMA Adapting Our Project Plans as the

Environment Changes• Our current planning is rooted in a mechanistic view of management

which views our work as complicated NOT complex

• Management in complicated systems relies on implementing and mechanically replicating technically correct solutions designed by content experts.

• Management in complex systems requires an emphasis on interaction, being adaptable, & staying tuned in to what is happening. Looking for the attractor patterns and relying on “context experts” (local residents).

• We must invest time in periodic reflection and adaptation of our work plans to reflect the changing environment we are working in

• Frameworks for Change (emphasizing learning & reflection) should replace logic models (which presume we can reliably predict the future)


• Comments?

• Questions?


Upcoming Tamarack Learning Events

Learn more & register:http://tamarackcommunity.ca/events.html

Evaluation Masterclass:

Principles-Focused Evaluation

for Community Changemakers

Toronto, ON | March 12

Regina, SK | March 14

Calgary, AB | March 15

Vancouver, BC | March 16

http://tamarackcommunity.ca/events.html

Tamarack Learning Opportunities

www.tamarackcommunity.caLearn together through:

• Monthly tele-learning Seminars• Communities of Practice• Engage! a monthly, online journal• Face-to-Face Learning Events• Online Learning Communities• Communities of Practice



"In every community there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it.”

– Marianne Williamson


Upcoming Tamarack Learning Events

Documents

Fostering Community Connections: A Foundation for Health · Harnessing Collective Wisdom ... community’s “social capital the lower its mortality rates, from violent crime AND