Eight Touchstones to Asset-Based Community Development
“A gift is not a gift until it is received” - Cormac Russell
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“A gift is not a gift until it is received” - Cormac Russell
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Just before the holidays, United Way of Central Iowa, as part of the OpportUNITY Plan, announced that in 2016, 11,000 more individuals were financially self-sufficient in three state counties: Polk, Warren, and Dallas. This is incredibly significant to the community, as it marks the first time in recent memory that Central Iowa has seen a reduction in poverty. The good news reflects well on the hard work of United Way of Central Iowa and their partners, the value of a Collective Impact approach to poverty reduction, and the importance of a robust measurement strategy.
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When we are in the deepest, darkest days of community change work, our sightlines are narrow and our focus usually ends up on the microscopic parts of the process that are frustrating us. We want to move faster. We want to see bigger impact, bigger results. We become impatient with the process recognizing that even our best work may only have limited impact.
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An annual report is a time to say thank you to our 24,000 learning partners in 2,909 cities from across Canada, the United States and 52 countries from around the world. It is also, a time to celebrate and this year we have included a special 15-year reflection.
In the report we thank the partners that have contributed to our work financially. You will find over 800 organizations and individuals that invested this year as donors, members, consulting clients and learners.
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In one of my volunteer roles, I co-chair LivingSJ—a collective impact movement in Saint John with a goal to end generational poverty. What many may not realize is that generational poverty is a much more stubborn and complex problem to solve than situational or temporary poverty. When a person or family with a job/house/car/etc… gets into dire straits after suffering a catastrophic financial event, they are often privileged to have friends and family with assets to lean on temporarily, with their gravity typically pulling them upward towards recovering to their norm. However, with generational poverty, the gravitational pull is often reversed, continually holding people down, generation after generation, because in many respects the knowledge of what heights can be reached gets lost to the collective conscience.
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The Tamarack Institute and the Ontario Trillium Foundation are hosting a webinar series on the theme of Transforming Communities. We all know that transforming communities is challenging work. It can be made even more difficult when those undertaking the transforming process do not understand or focus on readiness as a pre-condition for their work.
Understanding community readiness is about due diligence and intentionality. The second webinar in the transforming communities’ series focused on problem identification and scoping. You can access the webinar recording here. You can also access a copy of the slidedeck here.
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