Engaging St. Louis Communities in Neighborhood Development R I S E - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Engaging St. Louis Communities in Neighborhood Development

R I S E C O M M U N I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T C D C G R O U P T R A I N I N G D E C E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 7

WHY A TRAINING ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

• Bring community engagement at the center of our work
• Build an understanding of community engagement in St.

Louis through interviews

• Share information and experiences
• Develop a regional culture of community engagement

2

SESSION OVERVIEW

1. Community Engagement Overview

• Definitions of community engagement
• Needs and challenges of community engagement practitioners
• Outcomes of community engagement

Break (15 min) 2. Breakout Groups

• How to build a supportive and engaging environment for the

community?

• What community engagement tools are available, benefits and limits?
• How to do equitable and inclusive community engagement?

3. Conclusion Lunch and activities

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WHAT IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

Definitions and Context

WHAT IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

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Using Poll Everywere (polleverywhere.com) Results:

WHAT IS NOT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

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Using Poll Everywere (polleverywhere.com) Results:

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECTRUM

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Spectrum of Community Engagement, IAP2 The Ladder of Citizen Participation, Sherry Arnstein (1969)

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• Community engagement is crucial to the

community development process

• Communities are people and places
• The actors of community development:

Community Development Corporations, community leaders, civic groups, neighborhood organizations, elected officials, government and agencies, funders, developers, service providers, etc.

• The facets of community engagement:

community organizing, community building, advocacy.

WHAT IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

Insights in the challenges of community engagement work.

CHALLENGE: LACK OF CAPACITY INCREASING FINANCIAL CAPACITY

• Funding
• Program Support
• Operational Expenses
• Staff
• Time
• Continuous Struggle?
• Politics
• Policies

How can practitioners effectively and efficiently mobilize resources for community engagement?

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CHALLENGE: LACK OF CAPACITY BUILDING EXPERTISE

• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
• Certain competencies needed for effectiveness
• Attitude is Essential
• Persistence
• Comfort with conflict
• Expert Practitioner
• Community needs change, so should practitioners

How can practitioners improve their capacity to engage the community? What do they need? What mechanisms?

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CHALLENGE: LACK OF TRUST OBTAINING INTERNAL BUY-IN

• Limited Internal Support for Community Engagement
• Missing / ignoring the value & importance of

engagement

• Lack of staff understanding
• Lack of dedicated training
• Eliminating / mitigating the budget for engagement
• Culture of Community Engagement

How can practitioners communicate the value of engagement to co-workers? How can they make it a priority?

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CHALLENGE: LACK OF TRUST BUILDING COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS

• Connection with the Community
• Time
• Intentionality & Authenticity
• Respect for Differences
• Respect of Neighborhood History & Prior Engagement

Efforts

• Understanding of Trauma

How can practitioners build lasting relationships with the community?

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CHALLENGE: LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY DEFINING SUCCESS

• Defined by Various Actors
• Funders
• Organization
• Partners
• Should Reflect Reality of Your Work
• Based on physical environment
• Based on social dynamics
• Based on historical time
• Should be Defined By and With the Community

How do you define successful community engagement?

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CHALLENGE: LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURING OUTCOMES

• Objectives May Differ
• Time
• Forms of Evaluation:
• Self-evaluation / organizational evaluation
• Quantitative evaluation
• Qualitative evaluation

What is the best way to collect feedback and evaluate a project?

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SUMMARY OF CHALLENGES

• Increasing Financial

Capacity

• Building Expertise
• Obtaining Internal

Buy-In

• Building Strong

Community Relationships

• Defining Success
• Measuring &

Evaluating Outcomes

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Engagement Tool: Let’s Get Moving! Prioritize The Challenges

WHAT IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT?

The vision that drives community engagement.

WHY IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT?

• The impact of community engagement:
• … on your work
• … on the community
• The two long-term outcomes of community

engagement:

• Identity building: residents engage in neighborhood

relationships and build a strong common identity

• Empowerment: residents engage in decision-making to

impact the development of their community.

IDENTITY AND EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment Identity building Organizing a neighborhood festival Going to a public meeting Filling a survey Maintaining a community garden

• Taking a financial

literacy training Establishing a Community Land Trust Painting murals

BREAKOUT GROUPS

HOW TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY?

1. How to build a supportive and engaging environment for the community?

• Paul Sorenson, Founder and CEO, GoodMap

2. What community engagement tools are available, benefits and limits?

• Amanda Colon-Smith, Executive Director, Dutchtown South

Community Corporation

• Sunni Hutton, Program Assistant, Dutchtown South Community

Corporation

3. How to do equitable and inclusive community engagement?

• Vontriece McDowell, Director of Community Based Interventions,

Alive and Well STL

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

• Work with the community.
• Share experience, practices and resources.
• Build trust, equity, and sustainability.
• Collaborate toward the development of a regional culture
• f community engagement.

THANK YOU!