Asset Based Community Development Asset-Based Community Development/Asset Mapping Texas Healthy Start Alliance March 7, 2014 Copyright 2014 H. Daniels Duncan, Faculty Member ABCD Institute Hand, Head and Heart Exercise Pair up with a person you don t know very well. Take a few minutes to think about your assets and then take about five minutes each to share these assets with the other person in three realms of knowing. Hand Physical skills you possess that you would be willing to teach others. I.E., carpentry, photography, painting, bicycle repair Head Knowledge that you have in a particular area like child development, health care, history of the neighborhood Heart What are your passions; what stirs you to action; what would you walk across hot coals for? 1
Assumptions for Creating Community Change Healthier Children, Youth and Families Understand how complicated the problems are and the lives of those we serve Should not be rushed It takes time to build trust and relationships To achieve real impact requires the community and its residents to be involved Communities have an abundance of resources. The issue is that they have not been identified and engaged All of our activities should be directed at increasing and not stifling community engagement Support Place-Based Community Engagement 2
Why a Neighborhood Place-Based Focus Why Place Matters To solve our social problems in our communities, the solution must be to build stronger communities not just stronger programs and services. We forget that people live in communities and that families, friends, neighbors, and faith communities have always been the front lines of how communities solve problems. Paul Schmitz, CEO Public Allies 3
Circles of Care and Responsibilities Government Organizations Faith Based Friends Family Self Neighbors Associations Helping Professionals Why Place-Based It is where families and their children live It is where the action is good & bad To help kids succeed - they do better in strong families and families do better in supportive communities It simplifies engagement Community social capital and social efficacy makes a difference 4
Social Capital Beliefs Social Capital refers to the connections among individuals social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. The more relationships someone has in their community, more likely to: Be Healthy Be Employed Volunteer Participate in Political and Civic Activities Join Clubs Participate in Child s School Life Be Honest & Trusting FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE People's daily lives affect their health in countless ways from the sense of safety and connection to neighbors, to the availability of healthy food, to access to green space and fresh air. And when neighborhoods are inspired to improve from the inside out by building on their strengths rather than dwelling on needs, they can realize improved physical, social and economic health. That's the premise of a grant program introduced by the Greater Rochester Health Foundation in 2008 5
Your Health Care Team Asset-Based Community Development It is the capacities of local people and their associations that build powerful communities. What can we do with what we already have to get what we need. 6
Time & Money Exchanges 3/6/2014 The Three Characteristics of ABCD Asset-based Based on individual gifts, associations, local institutions, and the local ecology and commerce Locally-focused The development strategy concentrates upon the agenda building and problem-solving capabilities of local residents, local associations, and local institutions. Relationship-driven To engage in this approach, one must continually ask, Will this action strengthen the relationships between residents, local associations, and local institutions? Ingredients of a Healthy Community Time & Money Exchanges NP NP NP G G B G B B Time & Money Exchanges Culture & Stories 7
Six Types of Assets Individual talents and skills Local associations Local institutions Land, property, and the environment Economic strengths Culture & Stories Effective Communities Look inside first to solve problems Relationships are seen as power Have a good sense of assets and capacities, not just needs Leaders open doors Citizens are involved People take responsibility 8
The Three Acts of ABCD & Asset Mapping Discover everyone's gifts and passions Ask them to share their gifts Connect people with the same passion to act collectively To Unlock a Community s Care How do you engage people to share their gifts? Focus on the gifts of their Heart 9
What Engage the Community Means Not based on an opinion poll Not organizing the community to care about your agenda Identifying what individuals care about and their gifts and mobilizing their action Why Community Matters: The Limitations of Institutions Unfortunately, many leaders and even some neighbors think that the idea of a strong local community is sort of nice, a good thing if you have the spare time, but not really important, vital or necessary. However, we know strong communities are vital and productive. But, above all they are necessary because of the inherent limitations of all institutions. John McKnight, July 8, 2009 10
We need Everyone s Gifts to Cross the Finish Line for Individual, Family and Community well-being Social Determinates of Health 11
Determinants of Health 1. Personal Behavior Determinants of Health 2. Social Relationships 12
Determinants of Health 3. Physical Environment Determinants of Health 4. Economic status 13
Determinants of Health 5. Access to Health Care County Health Rankings Determinates of Health Physical Environment 10% Health Behaviors 30% Social and Economic Factors 40% Clinical Care 20% 14
Healthy Communities Require both Care and Service Only Residents can provide care and place-based strategies unlock the power of care The Path of Residents People as recipients of service Advisor Producer Client 15
Everyone should have the opportunity to be a producer of their own and their community s well-being It takes everyone to build a healthy and safe community INSTITUTIONS SHOULD LEAD BY STEPPING BACK TO CREATE SPACE FOR CITIZEN AND COMMUNITY ACTION Avoid the pull inward, and the danger of allowing programs and professionalization to crowd out the community. Rich Harwood 16
Today s Health Care Services Role The role of agencies and professionals should not be to just provide services to meet client needs The most effective role we can play is to work to remove barriers so that people have the opportunity to share their gifts and be a producer of their own and their community s wellbeing Institutional Assets More than an Institution s Products or Services A neighborhood may not need a clinics' services, what they need is the clinic s copy machine or meeting room or their staff s computer experience. Ask the neighborhood what they need do not just tell them what services you offer. Never do anything that nobody wants 17
Five Strategic ABCD Questions: 1. What can residents do by themselves for themselves? 2. What can residents do with a little help from institutions? 3. What do residents need done that they can t do? 4. What can we stop doing to create space for resident action? 5. What can we offer to the community beyond the services we deliver to support resident action? ASSET MAPPING Discover Ask San Antonio, TX Hallettsville, TX Connect Harlingen, TX Bonham, TX 18
Why Asset Mapping? Asset Mapping Not just another list of resources It is: A strategy to identify assets that are available from within the community A process for connecting and engaging the community and using the talents of people to help solve problems and build a better community Asset Mapping must be done by the residents that call the neighborhood home. 19
Asset Mapping Steps 1. Create a Resident Leadership Team (RTL) 2. RLT selects the geographic area for action 3. RLT draws an initial asset map 4. RLT creates a gifts survey to identify the gifts and passions of the residents of the neighborhood 5. Conduct in-person conversations with neighborhood residents to identify resident gifts and passions 6. RLT adds the residents to the asset map 7. RLT connects residents that live close together with the same passions and ask them to come together to share their gifts to accomplish something related to their passion. 8. Grow the connections People, Associations and Organizations 9. Recognize and celebrate successes Step 1: Create a Resident Leadership Team of Connectors Residents that have a passion for their neighborhood and the health of its residents People that have a history of being connectors (A lot of relationships) People that are respected in their neighborhood People that have gotten things done in their associations Look for people with a passion for meetings 20
Step 2: RLT identifies their initial neighborhood boundaries An Area the RLT calls home they all live there An Area they are willing to be responsible for An Area large enough for critical mass small enough to facilitate resident engagement Step 3: RLT draw first Neighborhood Asset Map (Institutions, Associations & Physical Assets Agency Church Store Agency Agency Church Where are assets of the residents? School Church School SNAP Office Agency Store 21
Step 4: RTL creates a gifts survey to identify the gifts and passions of the residents in the neighborhood NEIGHBORS THAT CARE Name: Phone: Address: Email: Occupation: Sample Gift Inventory Questionnaire What are your gifts, skills, or abilities that you are willing to share? (Examples: child care, reading, computer s, gardening, singing, listening, praying, cooking, teaching, caring for the sick, sewing, auto /home repair, construction, etc. ) What do you care about? (Examples: children issues, family, environment, teenagers, seniors, teenage pregnancy rates, domestic violence issues, personal safety, education, widows/widowers) What associations do you belong to? (Example: church, organizations, support groups, women and men s groups, etc.) Who else do you know in the Neighborhood? Would you be willing to interview them? Step 5: Conduct in-person conversations with neighborhood residents to identify resident gifts and passions Use the Snowball interviewing technique to interview people in the neighborhood. Have the Resident Leadership Team interview each other. Ask the Team to interview 5-10 of their friends who live in the neighborhood. Ask the people they interview to interview 5-10 of their friends that live in the neighborhood, etc. 22
Never Interview Someone You Don t Know Step 6: RLT adds the residents to the asset map Have the Resident Leadership team come together to map the residents using the following three step process: 1. Group the surveys by what people care about - that is their motivation for action. 2. Assign a different colored sticky dots to each passion (i.e. Kids/Red, Seniors/Blue, Safety/Yellow, Animals/Green, etc.) 3. Write the residents name on the sticky dot and place it on the map where they live. 23
Group and Map by Passions Colored Sticky Dots = Children and Youth = Seniors = Hunger = Crime and Safety Step 6: RLT adds the residents to the asset map Agency Store Church Agency Agency Church School School SNAP Office Agency Store Church 24
Step 7: RLT connects residents that live close together with the same passions and ask them to come together to share their gifts to accomplish something related to their passion Agency Church Agency Store Agency Church School School SNAP Office Agency Store Church Step 8: Grow the Connections People, Associations and Organizations The RLT needs to be continually working to increase the number of engaged residents, associations and organizations. The RLT can also use the map to identify areas were they have not identified anyone. The map should always be growing and evolving as more people, associations and organizations are brought into the process. 25
Step 9: Recognize and celebrate successes Make it fun and take time to celebrate small successes. Broadway United Methodist Church Indianapolis, IN 26
10 LESSONS from Broadway United Methodist Church Indianapolis, IN 1. Begin with what s already there-- and use it. 2. Involve yourself in what others are doing (not the other way around) 3. Stop doing what s not working. 4. Act human. 5. Go to the people seen as broken and ask for their help. 10 LESSONS from Broadway United Methodist Church (cont.) 6. Know that change is slow. 7. There will be drama. There is also forgiveness. 8. Recognize that everyone has the capacity to discover gifts and build community. 9. Celebrate constantly. 10. INVITE, INVITE, INVITE! 27
Six Key Principles to Guide Your Work Everyone has gifts. With rare exception, people can contribute and want to contribute. Gifts must be discovered. Gift-giving opportunities must be offered. There is unrecognized capacity and assets in every community. Find it. People care about something. Agencies and neighborhood groups often complain about apathy. Apathy is a sign of bad listening. People in communities are motivated to act. The challenge is to discover their motivation to act. Motivation to act must be discovered. People who are not paid as staff will only act when the issue at hand is important. People will act on themes they resonate strongly with; dreams to realize, concerns to address. Every community is filled with invisible motivation for action. Listen for it. Six Key Principles to Guide Your Work Listen to conversations. One-on-one dialogues and focus groups are how we discover motivation and invite participation. Forms and surveys can be useful in guiding intentional listening and relationship building, but they are not substitutes for face-to-face conversations. Citizens at the center can engage the wider community. Local organizations (associations, congregations, neighborhood groups, and local businesses) must be at the center of community initiatives instead of playing a supporting role to institutions. We need to engage the wider community as actors (citizens) not just as recipients of services (clients). Institutions have reached their limits in problem-solving. All institutions such as Governments, businesses and non-profits are stretched thin in their ability to solve community problems. They cannot be successful without engaging the rest of the community in solutions 28
Questions Perhaps the most important contributor to a community s success is a belief in its abilities rather than a belief in its problems. 29
ABCD Tools A Community Building Principles and Action Steps Chart A quick guide to the principles of ABCD community building and how to put the principles into action for greater impact. B The New Paradigm A chart that explains the differences between a Needs Based approach and an Asset Based approach to solving problems. C Creating Space for Resident Action A planning tool to help an organization begin to create space for increased resident engagement and action. D Three Questions for Effective Strategy Development A tool to help guide your organization s strategic planning to increase resident engagement. E Asset Mapping Eight Steps to Increase Resident Engagement Tips on how to support ABCD based neighborhood organizing. F Porch Time Learning Conversations, tips on how to connect and talk with neighborhood residents to identify their gifts and passions. G Tips for Working with Neighborhoods A chart on the difference between how we work with institutions and how to work with neighborhoods. H Gifts Discovery Activity (short version) The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate the wide variety of resources we have available to address an issue, beyond the services agencies offer. I Gifts Discovery Activity (long version) This exercise is a powerful way to start a meeting and demonstrate the power of resources (gifts) in the room that are available to address the issue or issues identified for action. www.hdanielsduncanconsulting.org Resources - ABCD ABCD Institute Order Publications http://www.abcdinstitute.org/ Online ABCD Community http://abcdinaction.ning.com/ http://www.abundantcommunity.com/ ABCD Toolkit http://hddabcd.org/ 30
Asset Based Community Development H. Daniels Duncan Faculty Member Asset Based Community Development Institute 512.788.8646 dan@hddabcd.org 31