CHHS 330: Week 5
Barbara Silverthorne, MPA
bsilverthorne@csumb.edu
Agenda
• Village presentation – instructions/group time
• Basic principles for community work
• Addressing equity and diversity
• Civil Society
• Assets vs. deficits
• Village presentation – continue, ask questions
Logistics
• Final Essay – instructions uploaded to iLearn
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqevO_zrxsA
• Resources for Vote with your Wallet
• Apps: Buypartisan, Dollarocracy, Buycott
• Center for Responsive Politics
(opensecrets.org)
• Any other resources???
Village Presentations
Village Presentations
DUE: March 17
• 6 or 7 member teams
• Posted on iLearn
• Grading criteria
• Start your villages!
Grading criteria
• Individual (15 points)
• Introduction and conclusion
• Good eye contact with audience
• Speaks clearly
• Organized presentation
• Uses good grammar
• Team (15 points)
• All team members participate in creation of village
• All team members participate in the presentation
• All topics are covered
*Vote!
FIRST TEAM MEETING
Create your Villages
• Start building your village by exploring the
history, demographics, location and building
infrastructure
• Use the discussion guide to guide this
process
• You will begin focusing on building the civic
structure during the remaining team meetings
this evening.
Principles for
Community Work
Principles of Community Building
• Consider the whole
• Build local capacity and relationships
• Foster participation
• Deal explicitly with issues of race and ethnicity
• Break down isolation
• Tailor programs to local conditions
• Build in accountability
Keep these principles in mind as you build your villages
Addressing equity and diversity
• From the “California Tomorrow” reading
• Vision, leadership and resources to community
organizations, schools, policy makers
• Goal: A more equitable, inclusive, multicultural
society
• Why California?
• 56% people of color
• No single group has ethnic majority
• State is leading the way
Basic assumptions for working
in communities
• People have the capacity to learn and improve
• Self-directed change is the most meaningful
• Communities have assets and resources
• Communities have leaders
These are just a few. What are some others?
Nine principles for Action
1. Ensure all institutions support development of children
2. Provide opportunities for dialogue within/across identity groups
3. Identify & build upon the assets of the diverse community
4. Use a community lens to assess potential of activities/policies/
programs
5. Promote equal access/opportunity from a solid understanding of
individual, institutional & structural racism and oppression
6. Use data broken down by factors (race/language/gender/income) for
planning & holding initiatives that create equal opportunity
7. Utilize diverse community perspectives at all levels of decision making
8. Nurture communities to promote deeper individual & collective
understanding; support sustained action around equity & diversity
9. Identify & develop leaders who model a positive approach to diversity
& facilitate ongoing attention to issues of equity
Principles of Community Engagement
Before; to occur; to succeed
1. Be clear about purposes/goals, &the communities you want to
engage
2. Become knowledgeable about the community
3. Establish relationships, build trust, include formal and informal
leadership, commitment from leaders and orgs to create processes for
mobilizing the community
4. Self-determination is the right and responsibility of all people
5. Partner w/ community to create change and improve health
6. Recognize/respect diversity
7. Identify and mobilize community assets, develop capacities and
resources for community health decisions/actions
8. Release control of actions/interventions to the community; be
flexible to meet the changing needs of community
9. Commit to the activities for the long-term
SECOND TEAM MEETING
Basic principles for working in communities
• Discuss the principles and assumptions
outlined in your readings
• Identify 10 principles to guide your village
Civil Society
Civil Society
• What is it: the sphere of voluntary
associations and informal networks in
which individuals and groups engage in
activities of public consequence.
• The third sector: churches, neighborhood
groups, cooperatives, nonprofit agencies
and organizations, charities, unions,
political parties, interest groups, families,
etc..
Thinking local…
• More than 1200 registered nonprofit
organizations in Monterey County
• At least 118 churches
• More than 30,000 homeowners
associations in California
• Many, many more informal associations
such as clubs, interest groups, etc.
• What are some you are involved in?
Putman’s key elements for a strong
civil society
• Civic engagement
• Political equality
• Trust
• Tolerance
• Social structures of cooperation
• Awareness of ways to address issues
• Leadership
• Track record of success
What does civil society do?
• Gives citizens a way to control their own
lives, interests, concerns and destinies
• Counterbalances government authority
• Gives people the opportunity to
participate in society
• Brings people with common interests
together
Why is it important?
• Recent study by the National Conference
on Citizenship found that cities, counties
and states with strong civic foundation
weathered economic recession better than
those without strong foundation.
The study basics
• 942 metro areas studies
• 3,100 counties
• 50 states
• Study period: 2006-2010
Key findings
• Higher number of nonprofit organizations
correlated with lower unemployment
• Social cohesion—interaction and trust among
friends, family, and neighbors—is strong indicator
of a community’s ability to weather a recession
• States with high cohesion had significantly lower
unemployment rates
• Communities with high level of both do even
better
Key findings
• States with highest levels of both: Utah,
West Virginia and Maine
• States with lowest levels: California,
Indiana and Nevada
THIRD TEAM MEETING
• Why is a civil society important?
• Is civil society healthy in the U.S.?
• What are some weaknesses of our civil society
• Is the Internet a factor? Are social networks
part of civil society structure? (Arab Spring)
• How can government and private sector do
more to foster a stronger civil society?
• How does the civic sector look in your
villages?
Assets versus
Deficits
Assets vs. deficits
• Needs map:
• Creates deficit orientation
• Implies endless list of problems
• Sends funds to service providers, not
people
• Implies reliance on outside intervention
• Deepens cycle of dependence
• Creates sense of hopelessness
Assets vs. deficits
• Asset map:
• Emphasizes capacity
• May have greater chance of success
• Helps build community associations and
participation
• Fits theories that maintain change must
come from within the community
Asset Mapping
• LOTS of resources online
• Community Tool Box –
• http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessingcommunity-needs-and-resources/identify-communityassets/example
• Participatory Asset Mapping (Advancement Project)
• http://communityscience.com/knowledge4equity/AssetMapping
Toolkit.pdf
• Identifying, Mapping & Mobilizing our Assets
(University of Wisconsin Madison) – This one has GREAT
tools for identifying specific assets (youth, ethnic groups,
associations, natural resources, etc)
http://partnerships.ucsf.edu/sites/partnerships.ucsf.edu/files/image
s/Identifying%20Mapping%20and%20Mobilizing%20Assets.pdf
Source: University Outreach and Extension at University of Missouri System and Lincoln University
http://extension.missouri.edu/about/fy00-03/assetmapping.htm
Source: Colorado Campus Compact
http://academic.regis.edu/ccc/ACCESS%20CO/DenverArvadaAssetMaps.htm
FOURTH TEAM MEETING
Create a Village Asset Map/Inventory
• What are the assets of your village?
• What are the community associations?
• What are the institutions that have community
at top of agenda?
• What are the business/private entities that are
community minded?
• What roles do churches, clubs, unions, etc. play
For next week
• Two readings
• Collaborative leadership (Narrative; don’t
do the assessments yet)
• Community surveys and assessments
• Work on villages