Fostering Community Engagement: The Boise Experience Supported by - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Fostering Community Engagement: The Boise Experience

May 16, 2013

Supported by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR/ACF/DHHS)

Lear ning Objectives

 Understand some tangible benefits of broad-based

community collaboration

 Learn about real-life strategies for engaging leaders from

refugee groups and receiving communities

 Learn about a practical, replicable and scalable approach

to strategic planning that can promote community

• wnership, solidarity and support

 Identify ways to measure success

Outline and Overview

Jan Reeves, Idaho Office for Refugees Webinar Outline

1. Initiating a Strategic Planning Process 2. Engaging Community Leaders—Theresa McLeod 3. Refugee Leadership Engagement—Kituta Asimba 4. Initiating and Sustaining the Effort—Sherry Dyer

Why We’re Having this Discussion

 The Question of Capacity  The Need to Know  Inclusiveness as a Learned Behavior

The Question of Capacity

 Hot topic in resettlement circles  Some states and municipalities working to restrict

resettlement

 Refugee advocates wary of

lowering arrivals

 Capacity is always dynamic,

never static

 Capacity is about quality

The Need to Know

 Who are these refugees?  Why are they moving into my community?  How will they change my life?

Inclusiveness is a Learned Behavior

 Overcoming fear of the “other”  Breaking the cycle—reaching out to

youth

Part I: Introduction to the “Boise Model”

 The Problem: The Perfect

Storm

 The Attitude: “Never let a

serious crisis go to waste”

 The Approach: Convene,

Listen, Prioritize and Educate

 The Result: Strategic Plan to Grow Community

Resources

 The Challenge: Keeping It Alive

Capacity Crisis of 2008 (Boise)

 Unprecedented numbers of refugee arrivals  Employment opportunities vanishing  Arriving groups needing more support  Funding for refugee resettlement lagging  Key stakeholders asking hard questions about capacity

Response to Capacity Crisis

 Recognize need and opportunity to establish stronger

and more widespread partnerships in support of refugees

 IOR initiated regular community-wide meetings  Boise Mayor convenes multiple stakeholder meetings  Planning group emerges and lays groundwork for the full

strategic planning process

 Focus on growing resources, not limiting arrivals

The Plan Itself

 Purpose: Strengthen the supports for successful refugee

resettlement in the greater Boise area

 Six plans within a plan

 Education, Employment, Health Care, Housing,

Transportation and Social Integration

 High level goals for each section

 Objectives  Action steps  Responsibility/Partners  Progress Reporting

Fundamental Principles

 People are looking for tools to help them succeed  When it comes to information, more is better  To have a partner, you need to be a

partner

 Every community is unique

 Tailor approach to your fit your own circumstances  Replicate, adapt, modify, or reject

 Community ownership makes the whole thing organic

Lessons Learned

 Educate and inform, and

educate some more

 Reframe the dialogue  Be the best partner you

can be in order to bring people together

More Lessons Learned

 Talk to the “Uninitiated” and “Uninvolved”

 Better yet, let your partners do the talking  Keep up the dialogue with your partners, too

 Push ownership of refugee resettlement out of the

“resettlement system”

 Let people do what they know how to do  Help them to do it successfully with refugees  The Result: Greater community ownership

 Show how capacity building benefits the entire

community

Part II: Engaging Community Leaders

Theresa McLeod Office of the Mayor, City of Boise

• 1. Mayor’s Strategic Vision
• 2. Engagement of City and Community Partners

Tomorrow’s Leaders

City Government Priorities

 Mayor Dave Bieter’s strategic vision for Boise:

 Making Boise the most livable city in the country  Ensure a safe, healthy, livable community  Promote a strong and diverse local economy  Foster an environment where learning, the arts, culture and

recreation thrive

 This vision allows the City to evaluate how we are

delivering services to all residents

Involvement of City Partners

 Initial engagement of Boise City staff

 IOR sponsored Community

Coordination meeting (2008)

 Convened internal City team

meeting with refugee agencies

 How do we deliver City services

to our newest arrivals?

 Housing & Community Development, Library, Parks &

Recreation, Public Safety, Arts and Culture

Community Partners

 At the same time that the City was evaluating its service

delivery, community partners were concerned about their ability to provide services to refugees

 Many partners were unaware of the resettlement

process and were eager to learn in the midst of the economic crisis

 Mayor needed to respond to community concerns

(economy, homelessness, etc.)

 Plan also benefits other community populations City

serves (seniors, youth)

Leadership

 Strong leadership needed to keep partners engaged over

long term (professional facilitation, incorporate effort in speeches)

 Internal departments: Look at refugees as customers –

how can we best deliver services given barriers of language, transportation, employment limitations.

 External partners: What is their engagement? Capacity

building?

Challenges

 How do you maintain momentum as other priorities

emerge?

 How do you keep leaders at the table?  When elected officials are not willing to step up, who

will?

Leadership: Evolving Opportunities

 Mayor’s Business Retention Visits



Small businesses owned by immigrants and refugees

 Attend Partner Events



Boise Example: META, CCG, ANA, Artisans4Hope



Mayor may not know clients but likely knows board members and executive leadership



Confirms community support and adds energy to mayoral leadership and the City’s involvement.

 Celebrate Successes



State of the City (refer to last webinar)



Citizenship ceremonies

Boiseans at Work and Play

Part III: Refugee Leadership Engagement

Kituta Asimba, El-Ada Community Action 1. Importance of refugee involvement 2. Benefits to refugees and to the entire community 3. Getting refugees engaged in the planning process and implementation

Involving Refugees

 Refugees must be part of

the solution to their integration issues

 Being part of the

conversation is the way to be part of the solution

Benefits to Refugees and Community

 Goal of the Plan is to improve the condition of

resettled refugees

 Community has a vision and a compass to follow  Refugees will be able to be

more productive and contributing

 When refugees are successful,

the entire community becomes healthier

How to Get Refugees Involved

 Mobilize ethnic community leaders  Create an encouraging cultural climate  Emphasize success in implementation

so ethnic based organizations gain confidence in the Plan

 Having the Plan is not the end of

the conversation; it’s the beginning of the solution

Part IV: Initiating and Sustaining the Effort

Sherry Dyer, Implementation Coordinator

• 1. What it Takes to Get Going
• 2. The Plan’s in Place: What Now?
• 3. Expanding the Circle

Strong Resettlement is the Foundation

 Important to begin in an environment of collaboration

among the resettlement organizations within the community.

 Develop involvement and commitments of the

resettlement leaders as key contributors to the planning and execution process.

 Boise Example: Network Charter

Getting to Work

Developing the Group

 Clearly define your

process

 Seek widespread

community involvement

 Engagement will nurture

a sense of ownership

 Keep everyone fully informed  Build in understanding/acceptance of “continuous

process”

Laying the Groundwork for Success

Begin with the End in Mind

 Engage a skilled facilitator  Establish a Planning Team  Encourage long term thinking & strategic focus  Get organized for the work

 Meet with leaders in the community  Select & invite participants  Fully educate all involved

 Gain commitment

Keeping It Alive and Continuous

 Ongoing coordination of the process has to be

someone’s job

 Establish a regular meeting

protocol

 Measure and document your

progress

 Communicate clearly and

maintain accountability

 Continuous process

improvement

Expanding the Circle

Pushing it Out to the Community

 Continuous outreach to engage

new partners

 Release the reins  Continuously responsive to

community priorities

 Celebrate success!

Process to Outcome

What Gets Planned Gets Done! Purpose, Process, People

For More Information

Web

City of Boise website www.cityofboise.org/Departments/Mayor/index.aspx Idaho Office for Refugees Website www.idahorefugees.org/Home/Community_Plan/

Email

Jan Reeves, Idaho State Refugee Coordinator jreeves@idahorefugees.org Theresa McLeod, Office of the Mayor, City of Boise tmcleod@cityofboise.org Sherry Dyer, Implementation Coordinator sherry@sherry-dyer.com

Boise Model Learning Circle

Who: People interested in learning how to build a comprehensive city plan for welcoming refugees What: An opportunity to connect with a peer network When: Quarterly Where: Conference calls Why: To develop greater comprehensive planning expertise, capture the wisdom in the field and support each other’s efforts

How to Join the Learning Circle

Send us an email with the following:

• 1. The geographic reach of your work
• 2. Why you would like to join
• 3. Comprehensive planning topics of most interest.

hannah@welcomingamerica.org Deadline: June 1, 2013

Upcoming Webinar

Using Dialogue to Build Understanding and Welcoming for Refugees June 27th 1:00 pm EST To register visit: https://welcomingamerica.webex.com/welcomingam erica/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=663981655

What’s next?

 Apply to join the learning circle  Send in comprehensive planning examples  Share this webinar

hannah@welcomingamerica.org www.welcomingamerica.org