Welcome to We Change Together!
To kick this blog off, and to give you an example of how organizations can use new web 2.0 tools to create an online organizing community, we are hosting a blogging contest!
Using the comments section, submit a 150 word story telling us how community organizing has positively impacted your community. Personalize it even more by adding a photo or video.
You could win a Flip digital video camera for a nonprofit organization of your choosing!
Please keep entries short (150 words or less) and get them posted by June 30, 2009. Winners will be featured on the site in July.
Advertisement
Can i/we get some history of this effort. How did the Funders (those whose links are on the page) come together. Why? Who approached you from the community? Is this taking away money that could go to direct organizing efforts, many of which are running on a razor thing margin and scary cash flows???
The groups begin in from a joint project, two years ago McKnight Foundation and Headwaters Foundation for Justice co-hosted a series of learning session to elevate and strengthen community organizing as a strategy for change. The learning session included a funders briefing, for foundation staff and trustees, a grantee training and a session for individuals donors. In review the evaluation and feedback it became clear that foundation staff desired a place and space to discussion how to advance and support community organizing. Thus the a few months later a informal working groups agreed to meet as learning community for foundation staff who were interested in understanding, supporting and advancing community organizing as important strategy for change. The groups has been meeting every other month to share learning’s, identify strengthens and weakness in our approaches to support community effort and what has emerged is desire and commitment to increase support for community organizations.
With that context the group thought about what and how we could support community organizers and community organizations. The low hang fruit that emerged early in our discussion was what dozens of grantee has personally asked me. Conversation would go something like this, David, Headwaters support is great but you are in the meeting with other foundations could you help to “them” to support organizing. Or David, should get on your soap box and share you hear at site visits. As we discussed communication the impact and important of organizing, we felt is important that people who was telling the story and that you should be telling your story, not us. So, we identified simple and easy way to identify who has the stories and who was willing to share them. That evolved into this contest.
I and all the other foundation staff are very aware and concerned about the huge economic pressure that non profits are facing. The economic depression has a double or triple impact on the non profit sector. First, I know that most of sources of revenue are drown (foundation support, individuals and contracts). Second, our communities are really hurting and they are turning to non profits as the accessible and visible efforts in their community to “do something”. Third, that non profits are also facing the loss of volunteer bases or reductions in availability of volunteers. While it makes sense, as individuals are losing jobs, hours being cut their time for supporting the non-profit community organization is also reduced it is another economic pressure on non profits. With that in mind, we were very careful that we didn’t use money that would or even could support groups. The direct expense for the contest, the video recorders came out of administrative dollars and not dollars that could be used for making grants. Furthermore, video recorders half of the video recorders where donated by the Flip video company, so for our $400 dollars were able to get 10 video recorders. Lastly, we also considered the video recorders an additional investment in community organizations, because while a group would get the video recorders for winning story is will be the organizations to use to further documenting and telling their story.
David Nicholson
Headwaters Foundation for Justice
thank you for the information. i’m VERY happy to hear that the money for the project did not come from money that could have gone to direct organizing efforts.
expanding the understanding and support for the critical role organizing plays in building a balance in our “democracy” is important work and i support it 100%.
In the early 1990′s, the Moorhead Romkey park area was the only park in Moorhead that lacked youth programming and was ruled by gang wannabes. Young people were at odds and tension was growing. The neighborhood was startled and shuttered their windows, preparing to endure the hot summer of violence and the growing presence of law enforcement.
A PEPP Community Organizer door-knocked to find out what the neighborhood wanted to do. They wanted Romkey park to be a safe place for their children. Weekly apartment meetings were held and after a few weeks neighbors approached the City. They demanded to have programming in this park, giving their kids the same access to park resources as other kids in other Moorhead parks. The City met every demand the group laid out.
A long-lasting partnership between the Romkey park neighborhood and PEPP began at this juncture and continues to this day.
Strategic and collaborative partnerships are sometimes hard to find within the non-profit community. Sometimes it feels like there simply isn’t enough time to cultivate them. Other times, personalities or conflicting mission statements prohibit engaged, participatory collaboration. Our story is a unique one that focuses on a very special relationship between three Saint Paul non-profit organizations.
The Riverview Economic Development Association, the Neighborhood Development Alliance, and the West Side Citizens Organization have formed a dynamic and trusting partnership that has led the continued transformation of Saint Paul’s West Side community. The work of these three unique but complimentary organizations has mobilized our community, and has brought desirable and scare resources to our neighborhoods. Collectively, our organizations have helped to build an engaged constituent group who are listened to, and who actively take ownership for their community. We have learned that together we are much stronger than we could ever be alone.
The Streetscape Beautification program at the Riverview Economic Development Association is a fledgling initiative that engages community members to create safe, maintained, and thriving streets. Its first major accomplishment was organizing a public trash can adoption program. Over 20 businesses adopted public trash cans, which are emptied bi-weekly by the Kaposia, Inc. janitorial crew, a non-profit program that provides employment opportunity to adults with developmental disabilities
Additionally, REDA coordinates an annual clean up day to highlight the issues of litter, graffiti, and neighborhood maintenance. This year over 100 volunteers did service projects, resulting in litter pick up of 70 bags of trash, public garden maintenance that removed 30 bags of brush and weeds, painting public benches and planters in two public spaces, and planting of donated seeds and flowers in a public plaza. This year, the Streetscape Beautification program was awarded a Clean Up and Beautification Sustainable Saint Paul Award.
A small group of hard working, low income Latino immigrants which had a vision of social equality, organized to form the first Spanish speaking congregation, in south Minneapolis in 1992. They took on a social justice as well as spiritual dimension. They worked in teams on educational, economic, and other barriers to their full participation. They realized that building economic power had to be their first imperative, to effectively address the challenges of social disparities they faced, and committed to build a socially responsible business community to positively integrate into the American society and culture. In Minneapolis alone, they grew from 4 in 1994 to 300 in 2008; took responsibilities of their own growth by forming their own community development organization to be the vehicle to fulfill their goals, identified, trained new leaders, and promoted civic participation among Latinos not only in the Twin cities but also in greater Minnesota.
The Cinco de Mayo Fiesta on St. Paul’s West Side is one of the 10 largest celebrations of its kind in the country and still has a strong focus of neighborhood engagement. As the primary organizer of the event the Riverview Economic Development Association has brought together key community members and non profit groups to play an active role in serving on our Cinco de Mayo Fiesta planning committee. This ensures neighborhood commitment and involvement. There are also dozens of non profits and youth groups that participate through the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta parade, fundraisers, and volunteering opportunities. As Cinco de Mayo Fiesta continues to grow and change our organization will also continue to grow and find new ways to make sure that the residents of our community can come together to help plan Minnesota’s Spiciest Celebration!
Cold Spring has always been a city who makes music. From the prestigious high school band in the Bob and Shirley Harris years to the current community band; there has always been an abundance of music-makers. Cold Spring’s Community Band started as an idea offered during a Healthy Communities Partnership community visioning session in 2004. The high school band director was signed on and band members were quickly recruited. Since then, the band presents one or two yearly concerts and contracts with local organizations to provide that extra pizzazz during community events. Community members don’t have to sell their old clarinet at the garage sale or on eBay anymore. They can dust if off and join a great group of people whose passion for playing an instrument continues past their high school career. It’s a great inter-generational opportunity to keep the music alive in the historic City of Cold Spring!
I just submitted a community organizing story about the community band in Cold Spring, MN. I wanted to add a photo of the band but don’t see in the comment section where I’m able to insert a photo. I’m not real blog-saavy so if anyone can tell me how to do that, I’d appreciate it. Thank you!
Nadine, it isn’t possible to directly upload an image, however if you post the image elsewhere (facebook, twitpics, flickr etc.) you can post the URL on the blog.
Rural Stearns Faith in Action, located in Cold Spring, Minnesota, started about 5 years ago to fill the needs of seniors and people with difficult life situations living in our rural communities. We support the idea of neighbors helping neighbors. Our program goal helps people preserve their independence and maintains their ability to live in their homes for as long as possible. We have wonderful volunteers who connect with those in need to provide things such as transportation to appointments or shopping/errands, homemaking, chore services, friendly visiting, paperwork assistance, as well as working with caregivers to provide them respite care and caregiver coaching. The needs of the people continue to grow monthly. We are very fortunate to have faithful supporters of our program, and the Cold Spring community and the 20/20 team have embraced our program and helped us continue to serve those in need in our rural communities.
Pictures:
http://twitpic.com/8adiu
http://twitpic.com/8adpt
The Harrison Neighborhood Association has been engaged in racial and economic justice campaign to secure a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). For more than a year, the private developer seeking exclusive development rights to publicly owned lands refused to meet with Harrison leadership to discuss living wage jobs, affordable housing, and connection to the existing community.
HNA organized over 170 people (three quarters people of color) that attended a public meeting with the developer. All the questions and comments from the audience focused on jobs, housing and opportunities for current residents. The message was clearly sent that Harrison residents would only support development that benefitted local residents.
The next day the developer contacted HNA and agreed to a series of negotiation sessions addressing community priorities. Last fall, Minneapolis City Council passed a resolution mirroring community priorities. Proof that organized people can win over organized money.
HNA’s gas station campaign was an effort to address the physical consequence of racism and classism. A wealthy white businessman and suburban City Council Member owned three gas stations within nearly a mile of each other. The owner closed both Harrison locations to eliminate competition with his third location which is well landscaped with flowers located in an affluent white neighborhood, and the two Harrison sites were left to fall apart and grow weeds.
HNA leadership used a variety of strategies and tactics that included: press conferences, postcards, petitions, meetings with elected officials and directly approaching our target. The gas station was torn down after 15 years and sold to a developer. HNA hosted a tear down party with speeches, hot cocoa, doughnuts, banners, and several dozen community members, elected officials, and media.
All this was accomplished in 12 months! The power of direct action organizing.
Photos for the Harrison Neighborhood Association can be found on HNA’s Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120623&id=64331324047&saved#/pages/Minneapolis-MN/Harrison-Neighborhood-Association/64331324047
I had no idea what community organizing was in 1995. Seventeen new factory hog farms moved into Renville, county, two in my back yard. Our children and neighbors were terribly ill. Symptoms included headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, even blacking out. You could not go outdoors. You could not open your windows, because the odors drifted in even with the windows and doors closed.
I started my search looking for the truth of what was making us ill and found others that were impacted. We started to meet, we did our own research, and air monitoring for hydrogen sulfide. There were six of us women doing most of the work with about two hundred other supporters. Letters to the editors were a key tool to educate people. We changed our county board, passed two bills in the state legislature and today our work continues and is known nationally.
While there are 3000 stories told every year in CAPI, we focus on Ping and See. The refugee couple started with CAPI in 2007, two years after they came to Minnesota from Laos. Both faced significant barriers in language, job skills, and transportation. CAPI worked closely with the couple to overcome the barriers through various programs to achieve self-sufficiency and become productive members of their community.
In July 2008, Ping started work with Neometrics under subsidized wages, becoming a permanent full time employee after six months. See was also able to gain employment, as we provided the couple with childcare for their two young children.
The parents are now self-sufficient, off CAPI’s programs. It makes us proud to see the twinkle in their eyes as they describe how they have become a significant member in their new country, bringing about positive change for both themselves and the native community.
At Family and Children’s Service we build strong families, vital communities and capable children’s by focusing on solving problems, prevent problems and change community conditions.
One of the best examples to prove this was when back on 2007 18 Latino families were left with out heat for more then 10 days when the temperatures were below cero. One of the tenants had attend one of our tenants rights training at FCS before and he knows they can do somenting about the situation, but the rest of the tenants were scare of taking action against the landlord because of fear of retaliation.
Finaly the person who take the training with us start organizing the tenants and asking them to send letters to the managment company and at the same time he contacted FCS. I get involve in the case and I was organizing the tenants and telling them their rights; finally they start sending letters and making phone calls to the city and to the owner; the answer was “nothing we can do for now, it’s going to take us about 3 to 4 days to get the heat up and runing, it has a piece that is broke”. When the tenants heard that ,they get so mad.
The tenants start asking what us we can do in order to change the situation? I tell them we can contact the news papers to exposs the issue or call the TV news chanels and see what happens; their answer “let’s call both”.
With in an hour we have a Latino news paer reporter in the building interviewing the tenants and two TV stations reporting the issues. The managment company heard about the news at 5:00pm and send someone to the building to fix the heater and before the 9:00pm news the heat was up and runing.
This victory of the tenants had change their lives and the lives of their families and now they know they can work together to make other changes in the building.
This organizing experience is going to be part of my entire life because I see how people united change the power dinamic, it’s all about organizing.
Maria Zavala
“Showing up made the difference.”
That was the message Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher gave to HIRE Minnesota members about their successful efforts to secure $2 million of federal stimulus money to train low-income Minnesotans for green jobs in the 2009 legislative session.
In all, more than 2,500 Minnesotans engaged with HIRE Minnesota to secure that outcome – through town halls, rallies, action alerts and legislative hearings. Some of them had never contacted an elected official before, others were seasoned advocates. Together, they accomplished something truly extraordinary.
Not only did they ensure hundreds of low-income people would receive training for emerging green industries, they came together across geographic, cultural and issue barriers to change how our state thinks about public investments. They proved that when it comes to making our public institutions think about equity, showing up is the only way to make a difference.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hireminnesota/sets/72157617300141283/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo3t8DBke6g&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hiremn.org%2FMedia.html&feature=player_embedded
I feel we in Dayton’s Bluff are blessed. We have so many people working on projects to make our neighborhoods better. We have Block Clubs, each with different ways to get neighbors engaged and work on neighborhood improvement. One club is doing a “paint the pavement project,” another has worked for street improvements, one with many young children call their meetings Kick Ball Meetings, the kids play kick ball and the parents talk.
The Dayton’s Bluff Community Council has committees that are open to all residents. The Art and Culture Committee hosts many events such as book readings, community dinners, and this month a Women of the Bluff History Walk. Our Greenspace committee has started the first Community Garden in Dayton’s Bluff. They have raised funds to have a water fountain installed, which will serve as the way to water the garden also. Greening Dayton’s Bluff, with help from the McKnight Foundation, Wells Fargo Bank, the Saint Paul Garden Club, Community Design Center, MN Green, and many neighbors, has placed flowering pots along business streets, encouraged front yard and boulevard gardening, held neighborhood garden tour walks. These are just some of the things we do and there are other organizations that are also making a difference in Dayton’s Bluff.
Karin DuPaul
Community Organizer
Dayton’s Bluff Community Council
Even with many years of formal organizing for politics, unions and social causes, perhaps the most heartening transformation I’ve experienced has been on my block of Fourth and Bates in Dayton’s Bluff. My neighbors and I had worked diligently to clean up ‘problem properties’. A year ago an incident became a catalyst to a truly organic social movement, creating stronger roots than any city or agency could accomplish.
While I watered my streetside garden, kids freely ran between sidewalks and street (heavy vehicle traffic had disappeared with the closed drug houses). Two cars drove up the street backward, erratically, and fast. When both ignored my shouts to slow down because of the kids, I turned my hose on the second car. The three people went around the block and returned to attack and beat me.
The children, who I then barely knew, witnessed the incident. They returned in following days to help me with my garden; came to sit on the porch and talk. What could have been a tragedy, gave root to new friendships. Our porch has since become a place to play board games, gather for coffee, wine, conversation, celebrations, and even weekend ‘big-screen movies! A once untrusting neighbor recently donated eight dvds for our showings; everyone and anyone is invited, and our lives have become richer in reaching out to the greater neighborhood. Another significant rooting from this incident was in helping to establish the now active East Side Restorative Justice Initiative.
(movie night photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27416&id=1176506549