The Latest

Neighbourhood Development is about Collaboration

I was reading a 2015 article called Deepening Community, Realizing the Potential of Citizen Leadership by Sylvia Cheuy, Director of Engagement at Tamarack.  The article talks about community wellbeing and collaboration - how change requires organizations, groups, governments and citizens to work together. No one sector working alone can effectively address complex community issues.  Building neighbourhoods is about strengthening relationships, trust and sharing their unique skills, knowledge and perspectives to work towards shared action.

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Eight Touchstones to Asset-Based Community Development

“A gift is not a gift until it is received” - Cormac Russell

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OpportUNITY Central Iowa Reports Reduction in Poverty: A Collective Impact Success Story

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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Community Building:  The Short and Long Views

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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Tamarack's Annual Report Celebrates 15 Years

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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Defying ‘Generational’ Gravity

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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