The Sisterhood Group
Posted by Allison Hammond on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Geraldine is a woman who loves to be with other people – particularly other women her age. While Geraldine has family who include her in activities and she goes frequently to the library, she really wanted to get to know other women.
We learned that Geraldine was interested in becoming a member of the Portage Senior Center. Then we discovered that there is a group of women who call themselves the Sisterhood Group. This group meets once per month to socialize, do crafts, watch movies or go out to lunch. Geraldine agreed to visit the group to see if she might want to join. We also reached out to the group leader to help her learn how to support Geraldine who can become very anxious in new places. The first couple of times Geraldine attended she did not stay the whole time.
Then, the Sisterhood Group decided to have a “show and tell” meeting. Members could share what ever they wanted – a new project, a book, or something about themselves. Geraldine and her community living support staff shared her story. This seemed to be a turning point. Through telling her story, Geraldine was able to strengthen her connection to the other Sisterhood members.
At one of the last meetings, the Sisterhood Group went to lunch at a restaurant. Geraldine was nervous about going to a restaurant, but she went and with the support of her new friends she had a wonderful time.
As John McKnight said, “We can’t find friends for other people, but we can help them have as many opportunities as possible to be out in the community, spending time with other people.”
Connectors
Posted by Allison Hammond on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The blog this week is by George Martin, President of The Arcadia Institute
In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell identified a distinct group of people he called ‘connector’, people who are important links in chains of communication.
Connectors are people who just seem to be in touch with many other people. They are great conduits for passing along information and bringing people together, if not always physically, then in conversation.
Connectors can be highly important in the lives of people with disabilities as they seek to establish meaningful relationships and become participants in their community.
Who are the people you identify as connectors? How are they part of your conversation chain? How might they become more building community for people with disabilities?
We would like to hear your views.
An Interview with John McKnight
Posted by Allison Hammond on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
On March 15, 2012 about 70 people gathered at Transformations Spirituality Center in Kalamazoo for the 3rd Building a Community of Belonging: A Forum of The Arcadia Institute and Its Partners. (At the end of this blog you can see the complete list of our Partners, Supporters and Sponsors.)
John McKnight was our guest facilitator for the afternoon portion of the Forum. John guided us through four questions that lead us to look at the personal gifts, talents and contributions each person brought to the Forum:
What are your gifts? What were you born doing well?
What skills are you good at doing that you have learned?
What are you passionate about?
What do you know well enough to teach?
Groups shared and our Blog for March 20 was a word cloud of those gifts. We will use this information as our Network moves forward in 2012.
On March 21, Allison Hammond interviewed John about his impressions of Kalamazoo and the work we are doing to make Kalamazoo a Place Where All People Belong.
A: What was your overall impression of Kalamazoo?
J: Since I stayed downtown in Kalamazoo I didn’t see the whole area, but I was pleased to see that Kalamazoo’s downtown area seems to be active and alive. I don’t always find this is the case in other towns the size of Kalamazoo.
A: What did you think of the work we are doing with the Network?
J: I think that the approach The Arcadia Institute and its partner organizations is using is smart. Engaging important not for profit organizations to change the culture of Kalamazoo into a place where people are welcome and included is a wonderful approach.
A: What would you suggest as next steps for the Network when we meet again?
J: I have two suggestions. First, I encourage all of the organizations who were involved to use the questions I asked at the Forum. It is a new way of working toward an organization’s mission. Instead of looking at a strategic plan as how to get people in the organization to do work toward the mission, ask the people another question. How do your gifts, skills, passions and teachables contribute to the organization’s work toward the mission? You can completely change the conversations in an organization to talk about contributions rather than how to get people to do things.
Second, the not for profit organizations that provide community programming typically invite people to join them and partake in whatever is offered. I think that is inviting people into the organization’s “agenda.” Another approach is to invite people to join by asking them what gifts, skills, passions and teachables the invitee can bring to the organization. For example, The Nature Center could invite people to join and share their mission and their programs, but the third part of the invitation is to ask people what they would like to contribute to the Nature Center so that all mutually benefit.
When an organization knows what its members’ gifts are, they can also let other organizations know about them. In this way, the Nature Center as well as people who participate there begin to connect more broadly to the whole community.
Real relationships are friendships built when people are doing things together that meaningfully impact the community. You cannot “find friends” for people, but you can help them make friends by offering as many opportunities for people to engage with one another. For example, I have twenty-four faculty that are my colleagues, but I would only call five or six real friends. We need to offer people who are marginalized as many opportunities as possible to spend time with people who have like interests in making meaningful contributions.
A: Thank you so much for coming to spend time with us in Kalamazoo.
J: I appreciate being there and I am interested in knowing what your group does next.
For more information about John McKnight you can visit The Asset-Based Community Development Institute or Abundantcommunity.com
For more information about The Arcadia Institute you can visit www.thearcadiainstitute.org.
Building a Community of Belonging Forum Partners
The Arcadia Institute
YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kalamazoo
Southwest Michigan Council of Boy Scouts
The Portage District Library
Advocacy Groups
ARC of Kent County
ARC of Michigan
ARC of Western Wayne County
Disability Network of Southwest Michigan
Sponsors
Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services
Center for Disability Services
Residential Opportunities, Inc.
Family & Children Services
Supporters
Julie Pell
Prevention Works
USA Tae Kwan Do
YMCA Sherman Lake
Kingdom Sports
Air Zoo
Additional Funding
Connections Council
Support for this forum was provided by a grant from the
Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
Gifts We Discovered
Posted by Allison Hammond on Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Building a Community of Belonging: A Forum of The Arcadia Institute and Its Partners was a day spent talking about gifts. The gifts that each person brings into any association, organization, neighborhood or family. Here is a link to a word cloud of the gifts we discovered that day:
Our next Network Meeting is March 26 from 9 – 11AM in the West Lake Room at the Portage District Library. NOTE: The Library Opens at 9AM.
Excitement Building
Posted by Allison Hammond on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Excitement is building here at the Arcadia Institute about the third annual Building a Community of Belonging: A Forum of The Arcadia Institute and its Community Partners on Thursday. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Partners, Advocacy Groups, Sponsors, and Supporters who have made this event possible. We are very grateful for your involvement in our community and your commitment to making Kalamazoo a community where all people belong.
Building a Community of Belonging Forum Partners
YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kalamazoo
Southwest Michigan Council of Boy Scouts
The Portage District Library
Advocacy Groups
ARC of Kent County
ARC of Michigan
ARC of Western Wayne County
Disability Network of Southwest Michigan
Sponsors
Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services
Center for Disability Services
Residential Opportunities, Inc.
Family & Children Services
Supporters
Julie Pell
Prevention Works
USA Tae Kwan Do
YMCA Sherman Lake
Kingdom Sports
Comstock Community Center
Air Zoo
Additional Funding
Connections Council
Support for this forum was provided by a grant from the
Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
