Creating Space for Community Listening How to Engage Everyone in your Community in Meaningful Dialog

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Creating Space for Community Listening How to
Engage Everyone in your Community in Meaningful
Dialogue.

• CCDA CONFERENCE
• MIAMI,2008
• Delia Caderno Michael philip

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COMMUNITY LISTENING IS CRUCIAL TO CCD WORK!

• Simply described, Community Development is
• a process of listening to the community,
• determining the assets and resources available,
• casting a vision for a preferred future and
• developing programs and activities that meet felt
  
• needs within the community.

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Nehemiah a Lesson in Community Listening
Organizing

• Began by building relationships. A lot of bad
  news, but he simply kept asking questions,
  probing and listening to the stories people have
  to tell. He asked questions and listened.
• Internalized the pain - he sat down and wept
• Prayed for the people - Nehemiah fasted and
  prayed
• Considered the resources - he was cupbearer of
  the King
• Built first actions on relationships - start with
  what have and ID the influence leaders
• Assess the situation yourself - personal
  interaction
• Publicly articulated the problem (arising out of
  what heard from the people)
• Turned the problem into an issue - Come, let us
  rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we no
  longer suffer disgrace.
• People determined the issue committed to common
  good
• People created their own strategy - involving
  each family using self interest
• People carried out the action- they were
  stakeholders
• People confronted and defeated the systems
  -threat of violence, political opposition
• Nehemiah confronted principalities power of
  Israel (5)- short term loans, foreclosure
• stories of exploitation covenant
• The people celebrated their victory (6)
• Transforming Power by Robert Linthicum

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Relationships Are Crucial

• Relationships are the building blocks for all
  community initiated activities.
• People wont care unless they know YOU care.
• Relationships begin with listening to one
  another.
• Relationships are the means for achieving
  community goals.
• Change will be built on good relationships with
  community stakeholders.

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We Listen to Discover Map the Assets
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We Listen to Make Connections What you have to
share, what will help you
Listening looking at the assets
connections for action
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Stakeholders

• Stakeholders are those that have a
• vested interest in something. In
• Community Development that
• includes.
• Adults
• Senior Citizens
• Children
• People with Disability
• Poor People
• Rich People
• Middle class people
• Documented residents
• Undocumented residents
• IN COMMUNITY THERES NO ONE WE
• DONT NEED!

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Community ListeningStrategies Tools

• Prayer walking
• Listening Conversations
• Natural Connections
• Community Survey
• World-Café Discussions
• Community Convening

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Prayer WalkingSeeing the Community with Fresh
Eyes

• Whether as an individual action or an organized
  effort, prayer walking the community is an
  essential part of the listening to the community
  process. As you walk pray for discernment-ask
  God to give you fresh eyes to see the community.
• Structures What re the building types, usages,
  conditions, whos leaving, whos replacing them,
  etc.
• Pieces of Life What artifacts do people leave
  around, whats on the front porches/lawn, are
  they ethnically or culturally specific etc.
• Signage What is being advertised, what language
  is used, who is the target audience, what is
  being sold by business owners, what do the signs
  say about the communitys political or religious
  values, etc.

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Prayer WalkingSeeing the Community with Fresh
Eyes

• Sounds and Smells What music is being played,
  what age group does it cater to, what do you
  smell and what do these smells say about the
  neighborhood.
• Signs of Hope Keep an eye out for evidence of
  Gods people at work. Look for the presence of
  small mustard seeds of the kingdom and for what
  God is already doing the community.
• Interact with the neighborhood - talk with anyone
  interested about personal, community issues and
  anything else that might come up dont be in a
  hurry encourage people to share their passions
  gifts with others, to come together around common
  concerns

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LEARNING CONVERSATION

• Learning conversations are the way to build
  public
• accountable relationships. Through these
• conversations you will discover what people care
• about.
• Learning conversations begin with a question
• not an answer.
• How long have you lived here?
• Where did you live before?
• Why did you move here?
• How would you describe your community?
• What do you love most about living here?
• What is the communitys greatest challenge?

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Learning Conversations

• Learning Conversations should Invite
  Participation
• What would you like to see happen in this
  community?
• How do you think you could help make that happen?
• What talents and resources do you have to make
  this happen?
• Would you be interested in meeting with others
  who have the same interest?
• Learning Conversations Build and Strengthen
• Relationships.
• What associations/organizations/institutions are
  you involved with?
• Who else should I be talking to?
• Do you want me to share with you what I learn
  from talking to others?

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Natural Connections

• We are in communication naturally with
• people everyday. Look for places where
• you are already connected and create
• listening spaces.
• Other Parents at school/park
• Co-workers
• PTA/Boys Scout/Art, Civic group
• Mail person
• Grocery Store owner/clerk
• Hair-stylist/Barber
• Laundry or Car wash place

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Community Surveys

• Surveys and Interviews are another
• helpful way to listen to your
• community.
• Surveys should be designed to capture the
  thoughts of the diverse members of the community.
  Theres not a one-one-size fits all survey.
• Surveys should be conducted with individuals,
  associations, institutions, businesses,
  government and social agencies to get the
  big-picture of your community.

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World Café Conversations

• The World Café is an innovative yet
• simple method for hosting conversations
• about questions that matter.
• A variety of conversations take place at the same
  time and they link and build on each other as
  people move between groups, cross-pollinate
  ideas, and discover new insights into the
  questions or issues that are most important in
  their life, work, or community.
• As a process, the World Café can evoke and make
  visible the collective intelligence of any group,
  thus increasing peoples capacity for effective
  action in pursuit of common aims.

http//www.theworldcafe.com/bank.htm
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Community Gatherings

• Community gatherings are essential ingredients in
  both listening to the community and inviting the
  community to Vision a preferred future together.
  It is important to hear what is being said AND to
  what is NOT being said.
• Community gatherings can happen in a variety of
  ways. In an informal setting like a block-party,
  community clean-up OR formal like a Town-Hall
  meeting.
• Gifts of the Heart, Hands and Mind.

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Listening to the Community is Transformational!

• Neighbors come together
• Relationships are created
• Community is Celebrated
• Venues are created where individual gifts are
  recognized and valued.
• Creates Generational and cultural bridges.
• Leads to action!

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Franciscan Blessing (from Gods Mission in the
World, Augsburg Press) May God bless you with
discomfort at easy answers, and superficial
relationships, so that you may live deep within
your heart. May God bless you with anger at
injustice, oppression, and exploitation of
people, so that you may work for justice,
freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer from pain,
rejection, starvation war, so that you may
reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn
their pain into joy. May God bless you with
enough foolishness to believe that you can make
a difference in this world, so that you can do
what others claim cannot be done. And the
Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you
forever. Amen.
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Resources for Action
Delia Caderno Partnership for Community
Development (P4CT) [phone]
deliacaderno_at_yahoo.com Michael Philip Urban
Resurrection (UREZ) (305-562-7714 michael_at_urbanres
urrection.org

• Communities First, Jay Van Groningen
• CRWRC (Book, workbooks, cd- including the
  Theology of Development) www.communitiesfirstassoc
  iation.org
• Building Communities from the Inside Out
  -McKnight, Kretzman - actapublications_at_aol.com
  or Asset Based Community Development (ABCD)
  Northwestern University-get order form.
• Asset Based Strategies for Faith Communities -
  ACTA [phone]
• Power of Asset Mapping-How Congregation Can Act
  on its Gifts-Luther Snow Alban Institute
  www.alban.org
• Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life
  (Rethinking Ministry to the Poor) Robert Lupton,
  Regal Press
• Transforming Power-Biblical Strategies for Making
  a Difference in Your Community-Robert Linthicum
  IVP Books