Richmond Trails Foundation Seeks Graphic Designer

**VOLUNTEER ASSIGNED**

The Richmond Trails Foundation is an organization that is dedicated to planning, developing, and maintaining Richmond's trails and greenways with the belief that "a robust trail network has been proven to improve the economic vitality of an area as well as the the health and well-being of the community." They are stewards of both natural and paved trail in the Richmond region. The RTF  works with regional Parks and Rec Departments as well as other local organizations and hopes to fill in the gaps in support that these organizations need. 

They are looking for a new identity: something simple, powerful, that communicates a love for trails and the access to fun, relaxation, and adventure that they provide. The design should consider a range of applications from web, print, apparel, stickers, etc.

For those designers interested, Storefront asks for 2 to 6 hours of your time to dedicate to this identity project.  Help this trail stewardship organization develop a finalized design before May 2017!

Please contact Adele (adele@storefrontrichmond.org) with your interest.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE STRENGTHS? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE NEEDS?

 

The truth is that identifying strengths is just as important as identifying needs. However, I propose that strengths should be identified first and given just as much support as needs. Let's begin to turn the term "needs assessment" on it's head. My stance is supported by the fact that many times, a community already embodies their own ability to fill the identified need despite popular opinion. Sometimes, these strengths need a little push to emerge and act. This is where outside organizations should come in. Our job is most effective when we act as conveners, liaisons and assistants of communities. Before we begin this conversation, I ask that you let the below quote sink in.

"When we do change to people, they experience it as violence, but when people do change for themselves, they experience it as liberation"-  Roseabeth M. Kanter ( Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor at Harvard Business School)

When people are able to say "I built that!" or " I organized that!" they feel empowered. For people to "do change for themselves" they must be able to tap into their own capacities. How can communities ever feel sure or become aware of their capacities if what they are lacking is getting all the attention?

The diagnosing of communities can be harmful. We should instead be encouraging a community to play to its strengths. As the speaker in the Ted Talk explained, it is not empowering to teach communities that change cannot come from within. Power must be given to communities to make decisions for themselves with the support and resources of organizations. 

But how?

Asset Based Community Development has become a burgeoning model for community work. This strengths-based approach uses an assets assessment instead of a needs assessment. Currently, Storefront is involved in a workgroup that is aimed at organizing and building capacity for new and small grassroots organizations. These organizations are focused on ending violence in their community. The below graphic explains how identifying and connecting community assets(in this case grassroots organizations) results in the identification of gaps between assets. These gaps are community needs.  In this way, community needs are able to be identified without centering our work around them. Focusing on needs can be discouraging, daunting and sometimes quite unproductive. Needs do not exist in a vacuum. They are a result of gaps within or between services.

 If we can strengthen these organizations individually and collectively then they can become more equipped to close need gaps. This process also trims down a lot of work that would have involved finding assets, services and building trust. 

I challenge you to become more strengths based in your approach to community work. I dare you to believe that each community has at least one asset that can be used. 

If you'd like to chat more please comment below or email me at jackie@storefrontrichmond.org

Upcoming Topics:

WHAT IS AN INTERVENTION WITHOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

Examining why community engagement is the basis for an effective intervention

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT WORKED?

A summary of ways to evaluate community interventions and practice.

mObjOb8 Round-Up

mObjOb8 ended on Friday with an exhibition, a bridge, and a poster from each of the six teams. The Middle of Broad students (mObians) each suited up for the evening after a long night of model-making. Solutions across the interstate included a hill and vaulted ceiling, housing to replace the housing demolished by the infrastructure, and an amphitheater complete with a goldfish.

mObjOb8

Get ready for mObjOb8 happening all next week !!!

Students are imagining and modeling bridge concepts that heal the geographic, socioeconomic, and racial injustice of Interstate-95 running through Jackson Ward.

More discussions, solutions, and models to come throughout next week. 6 teams of students will work on a unique spanning proposal, culminating in an awarding of the mOb cup and a grand opening on November 4th, November First Friday in the Arts District. 

Building Trust Through Understanding Cultural Identity

In my last post I explained in brief what trust building is, how important it is and what ways to approach it. I also mentioned how it can be difficult working with a community that may not trust your organization. This week in my social work practice class, we talked about how non government organizations (NGO's) often enter foreign countries with good intentions but dismiss the trauma that is present in these communities. I think the same thing happens here in America, in Richmond, when organizations enter some of the historic neighborhoods to work.

In this blog post, I would like to discuss what distrust could look like for communities that have experienced some form of collective trauma. It is my opinion, that in order to truly begin work and build trust in these communities, reconciliation must occur on some level. I am not an expert on reconciliation efforts and am in fact beginning to study it. Some organizations may not feel it is there place to be involved in reconciliation efforts. However, I would argue that at minimum each organization should enter a community with a certain sensitivity and trauma-informed knowledge. 

The below Ted Talk introduces the topic of building a resilient community through healing cultural traumas and supporting cultural identity. After you take a look at this video, I ask you consider how the residents of the community you plan to enter are connected to their environment. Ask yourself what it may have been like for them to shift their way of life around a policy decision, implementation of a program or the building of a structure across the street  from their home.

Towards the middle and end of the talk, the speaker focuses on how a community engagement was effective because it critically utilized the cultural aspects of his community. The approach was collective and bottom up. It intentionally used the skills and social capital that were present within the community. I believe those of us in the helping profession can learn a lot from focusing community engagement around culture.

Please contact me at jackie@storefrontrichmond.org or comment below to discuss further.

UPCOMING MONTHLY TOPICS:

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE STRENGTHS? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE NEEDS?

Understanding why recognizing resiliency is just as important as identifying the problems when assessing a community

WHAT IS AN INTERVENTION WITHOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

Examining why community engagement is the basis for an effective intervention

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT WORKED?

A summary of ways to evaluate community interventions and practice.

Improving Tummy Time: Designers Needed!

Can you help make play time portable and parent friendly?

The VCU Department of Physical Therapy is working on developing an innovative rehabilitation device that could be used in the home, therapy clinics and even daycares, to encourage infants to work on their prone motor abilities. However, there is a need to re-design the center to be more family friendly and portable.

This project is so important because the development of gross motor skills is vital to an infants development. The Department of Physical Therapy's new design encourages infants to participate in tummy time longer than current market play centers.

If you are a designer that would like to engage in the re-design please contact us at hello@storefrontrichmond.org!

What does trust have to do with it?

As mentioned in my last post, building a trusting relationship with the community in which you plan to work is arguably the most important piece to justly entering a community. On my first day on the job at Storefront, I got a glimpse of community trust. Ryan and I took a trip to Highland Park to visit the 6 Points Innovation Center (6 PIC) which is currently under construction. 

 There is not a community space like 6 PIC in Highland Park at this time. With this being a new establishment, there had to be some trust built with the local businesses and residents. He proceeded to tell me about how he had been working in Highland Park (before his position at Storefront) for 5 years. He knows the small business owners in the area.  He knows many of the current needs of the community. He knows the history of Highland Park and the community members there know him- by name. They stop to have conversation and wave from across the street.  

Storefront has helped many of the local business with facade improvements, streetscapes and helped organize community events. When the idea of 6 PIC sparked, Storefront was able to receive input from partner organizations and residents. Working in tandem became easier because the trust was there. Community members trusted that Storefront was invested. Soon, we will have offices at 6 PIC in order to be more present. Not only has there been a strong rapport built though projects and conversation but we are going to be physically present in the community. Presence is power when it comes to making an impact.

Giles and the Groundwork RVA team

So, how do you build trust with a community?  This starts with building a connection. Having a point of entry is one of the main ways to begin working with a community. Many times getting connected with a point of entry is difficult. From my experience, I have gotten to know community leaders or members simply by attending community events. Immerse yourself in the culture of the community. Sometimes being informal is a good way to begin a formal process. Remember, it is as important to make connections as it is to take care of the connections you have made.  For me this means catching up for coffee to discuss current events within the community or potential partnerships. It means volunteering my time at a community event. The goal of being present at such event is so that I am more present and that I can have genuine conversations with community members. In this way, I am being intentional about my efforts to build rapport which may result to a trusting relationship.

Another important aspect of trust building is to understand where you and a community are starting from on the spectrum of trust. Sometimes you can begin work with a community at point 0. In this way, the community feels neutral about your agency in regard to trust. However, there are some communities that may not trust your organization or organizations similar to yours. Maybe you are beginning at a point of -2. In order to know where you stand with a community, it is important to examine your organization’s (and similar organizations) past relationship with the community. Maybe before trust can form, reconciliation efforts need to be made.

A commitment to service is another element of trust building that can be seen from Storefront’s relationship with Highland Park. If you say you are going to deliver a service, you should do it. Some of my mentors have stated the phrase "Under promise, over deliver." This can help you to ensure that you are keeping your promises as sometimes you're capacity to deliver could change. Also, trust building means to value the input of the community. In my last post I stressed the importance of working with communities. This looks like including community members in the planning process as well as the actual project. Not only will working together increase the bond, but it will let communities know you respect them, their knowledge and skill. Consider how one may form healthy friendships. The process is the same when building a trusting relationship with communities. 

Join me on next week's post to further this conversation around trust. Before you leave, I'd like you to answer this question:

What are some ways you have built trust with the community that you work with?

Please comment below or contact me at jackie@storefrontrichmond.org

---

 Read more about 6 PIC: http://www.storefrontrichmond.org/blog/2016/4/20/storefront-to-open-youth-led-collaborative-in-highland-park 

Upcoming Monthly Topics:

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE STRENGTHS? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE NEEDS?

Understanding why recognizing resiliency is just as important as identifying the problems when assessing a community

WHAT IS AN INTERVENTION WITHOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

Examining why community engagement is the basis for an effective intervention

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT WORKED?

A summary of ways to evaluate community interventions and practice.

How do we know it's okay to come in?

 

When applying for a job, you normally do some research about the company, right?  Researching a community is just as important. Often, we as helpers are so eager to jump into working with a community that we forget to take a step back and assess our process of entering a community. This post will invite you to consider a few things before beginning your work.

Points of Entry

In order to enter a community, some point of entry is required. This is sometimes a person or organization that you have a connection with. Sometimes, you will have to work to build this connection.  This stage is the first and arguably most important stage in this process. Building rapport will be discussed in more detail in my next post. 

Need

 We also forget to take a step back and ask “Am I needed in this community?”  Unlike jobs who post their needs on Indeed.com, communities are not always reaching out for assistance.  To better understand the need you would want to do a needs assessment. The best research is done by asking the people who live there about how they perceive the need. You cannot force a community to want to work on an issue in their community that you identified. The community may not be ready for change around that issue. Meet the community where they are.  Not allowing for these elements can result in wasted resources, the under-utilization of services and the stripping away of a community’s right to self-determination.

 Assets 

When you are applying to a job you may be interested in what your coworkers are like and what their role is.  In regard to community, you should be aware of existing programs or agencies that already doing work in the area related to the identified need. Maybe you coming into that community would mean a partnership with existing organizations.  However, be careful of over saturating a community with services which can lead other communities being under-resourced. Additionally, be aware of the existing and often overlooked skill sets that are in the community. For example, one resident may have a background in landscaping. You may want to bring that resident on your planning team for a community garden you are trying to implement. To justly enter a community is to utilize existing talent. You should also identify the community leaders who are already working on the issue. Sometimes you’re role may to be help this leader further the work by leveraging resources. Sometimes your role will be to be a connector between existing leaders, groups and organizations. Justly entering a community means being okay with leading from the back or working with and not for.

So less of this

www.designingforcivilsociety.org

And more of this

jeannelking.com

Culture

It is important that the values of your organization align with the values of the community. If they do not, is there a space where the two values intersect? It is easier for conflict or distrust to occur between community and organization when the two sets of values never overlap.

Many new job applicants want to know what kinds of customers the company serves. This is similar to understanding the demographics of the community you plan to work with. However, simply knowing the demographics is not enough to justly enter a community. Find out the flavor of the community. Who are the majority? Who are the minority? What is the history of the neighborhood? Does this have any impact on who lives in the community today? Who might live there in the future? Find out where the residents shop. Find out what it looks like when they are joyful. How do they react when they are hurt?

Finally, being trauma-informed is so important in justly entering communities. Many communities have experienced some form of trauma whether it is the rate of violence, burdensome physical design, or policy that caused gross disinvestment.

Sometimes there have been cultural assaults on communities created through policy decisions. Consider the redlining practices of the 1930s that devalued many thriving African American communities.  (Visit this link to learn more on redlining http://dsl.richmond.edu/holc/ ) Sometimes trauma can make entering a community difficult. It means being more sensitive to what community has been through and intentionally considering past assaults before and during the work you are performing. Richmond has a Trauma Informed Community Network that is working to help organizations carry out trauma-informed work. 

These  are things to consider even before beginning work in a certain neighborhood. It seems like a process in itself, right? It is. It’s the planning to plan. The nod of approval from community is one that I am still trying to figure out. So far, I think it looks like you being asked to partner with an organization. It looks like a client applying for design assistance on your website. It looks like a community leader seeking your consultation. It looks like a resident filling out an application for your service. Sometimes it looks like you coming from a well thought out and sensitive approach when asking to enter a community. Keep justice in mind each and every time you enter a community.

This conversation was brief so please contact me at jackie@storefronrichmond.org or comment below.

Upcoming Posts:

WHAT DOES TRUST HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

Building rapport and taking care of relationships

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE STRENGTHS? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE NEEDS?

Understanding why recognizing resiliency is just as important as identifying the problems when assessing a community

WHAT IS AN INTERVENTION WITHOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

Examining why community engagement is the basis for an effective intervention

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT WORKED?

A summary of ways to evaluate community interventions and practice.

How do we justly enter communities?

My name is Jacqulyn Washington but most people call me Jackie. As a graduate student of social work, I am focusing on community engagement, revitalization and resilience. Here at Storefront for Community Design, I am researching  how to justly enter communities.  This topic is so relevant to us all because we all enter communities in some way. In just one day, I pass through 3 neighborhoods. Think about which communities you drive through on your way home.  Have you ever thought about what impact you have or don’t have in those communities? What about your own community? How does your job or school intersect with surrounding neighborhoods?

I am not only researching how to justly enter communities by reading peer-reviewed articles and textbooks but I am researching in a truly active way. I am learning though meeting, talking, partnering and participating in communities. Over the next 5 months, I will be sharing this journey with you through updates on Storefront’s blog. The thoughts posted here will be an expression of my academic, professional and personal knowledge relevant to community work. I invite you to use this blog series as an interactive way for us to have a community conversation on ways to justly enter communities. Each month a new question will be presented followed by weekly posts on related topics. These can be found below.

Please leave a comment below on what justly entering a community means to you!

What's Next:

1. How do we know it’s okay to come in?

An overview of things to be considered before entering and how to recognize the “nod of approval” from the community

2. What does trust have to do with it?

Building rapport and taking care of relationships

3.How important are the strengths? How important are the needs?

Understanding why recognizing resiliency is just as important as identifying the problems when assessing a community

4.What is an intervention without community engagement?

Examining why community engagement is the basis for an effective intervention

5.How do you know if it worked?

A summary of ways to evaluate community interventions and practice.

Jackson Ward Community Garden Seeks Assistance

A year and a half ago in her Jackson Ward apartment, Jourdan James began dreaming about how to access more green garden space in her neighborhood. Now she is applying for non-profit status and furthering her plans for turning the triangular plot of land at 620 Chamberlayne Parkway into a community garden and educational space. 

The plot is uniquely situated at a major gateway to the neighborhood, which sets it up to be a verdant usher into the neighborhood.

She is seeking assistance with a landscape plan of the 8,200 sq. ft. space, using approximately 4,000 sq. ft. for 12 raised bed gardens and the remaining space for storage, education, bee-keeping and leisure. The Jackson Ward Community Garden will be a space to learn about native flowers and vegetables as well as sustainable gardening practices. Some concerns she faces already include water access, fencing, and accessibility to all neighborhood residents. She also has plans for an updatable mural site for the dreary winter months.  

For those who are interested, the scope of this work requires about 2 to 6 hours of your time. The deliverables are a site-plan and elevation rendering due by the end of October to help this forming non-profit raise funds and share their ideas for community green space and sustainability education.