Thinking about community connecting

Learning to see differently

Supporting Dreams

Collecting/reinforcing learning with the 4 questions

Important to/Important for and the balance

between them

Building skills within existing services

Clearly defining staff responsibilities

Using what is working/not working

Matching staff and those using services

Communication chart

Connecting - Circles Relationships

What you see depends on what you are looking for

• People who use services are seen as taking rather than giving – People’s gifts and potential contributions are

overlooked

• Services are scarce and few while community resources are rich and varied– A culture of scarcity causes opportunities to be

overlooked and potential connections missed

We have an un-natural view of natural supports

• We see developing natural supports as if it were a recipe– Go to the same grocery store at the same time for 6

months, stir and get 2 natural supports

• We don’t allow for the trial and error learning that we do when beginning the process that leads to friends

• Leaving the work to 1 community connector per agency or area will leave most people lonely

Broad success in Community connecting requires -

• First and foremost a different way of thinking about people and their communities

• A set of skills that can be taught• Having the thinking and the skills spread across

as many people associated with each person as is possible

• Expectations of everyone to try – carefully and respectfully – and that success only happens where it is OK to “fail”

Connecting skills fall into 3 areas

• How we look at each person

• How we look at the communities in which they live and spend time

• Putting the 2 together and then –– Knowing when and how to build on what gets

started– Knowing when and how to sustain

connections

Looking at each person

• Knowing what is “important to”, “important for” and the balance between them

• Recognizing gifts –– What is the person good at– How are they smart– What do others see in them– How are they already contributing to the lives of

others

• Understanding these are complex and interactive

Looking at communities

• Having ways to see the varied possibilities in the communities –– Formal and informal associations– Places where people “hang-out”– How people pursue their varied interests– Where are the opportunities to contribute

Connecting as process – an example

1. Look for places where the person would be welcomed

2. Find someone who enjoys spending time with the person (with staff present)

3. Someone who enjoys spending time with the person without staff being present

4. That person invites the person who uses services to do something somewhere else without staff

The power of contributions

• Connecting through volunteer work

• Looking for the opportunities –– Setting up for the spaghetti supper– Helping during the flood

Remember

• Friends come from acquaintances – people move from the outside in

• Some of our activity “buddies” stay as that

• Most of us try 5 things to find 1 that works