1.
Learn First, Act Later
Maxwell Droznin
Cristian Cuevas
Ben Staskowski
Center for Community Engagement

2.
Learning Objectives
! Understand why it is important to learn from the
community before attempting to aid it.
! Familiarize yourself with tools and practices for
effective community engagement.
! Analyze examples of capacity building and
resource developing projects

3.
Why Learn?

4.
COMMUNICATION
❖Learning the history, the needs, and the different factors that effect a community,
allows you to better understand where that community is coming from.

5.
Stronger Cultural Competency
➢Caring about where someone comes from culturally allows one to better understand their perspective on situations and life, while
showing that community you respect them
➢Community members will understand their history and culture more than we ever will

6.
COMPASSION
!Learning about
issues helps you
care for them

7.
BEWARE
BENEFICIENT
PATERNALISM
DISCUSS: Have you ever
experienced this? Was it due to
you, or someone else?

8.
TRANSITION: Time for Real
Examples in DeLand
Let’s dive into a little bit of History and
Research!

9.
Spring Hill (Southwest DeLand)
! Very low income, functionally segregated community
! 2016 Needs Assessment found that 89% of those that identify as Spring Hill residents are
African American
! Originally developed as community for low-wage citrus pickers in the late 1800s, early 1900s
! Was formally segregated during Jim Crow age and never fully incorporated into the city of
DeLand
! 60% remains unincorporated today
! Poor sidewalk system
! Limited street lighting
! No interconnected plumbing system
! Most septic tanks are old and poorly maintained
! Back up is an issue
! Limited businesses in the core geographical area, and even less food markets (food
desert)
! Many more issues that will be touched on in research slides

10.
It is Essential to Know a
Community’s Strengths
Here you can find who cares, and why
they care.

11.
Strong Identity: A Love for Culture and History
➢Long-term residents firmly push for progress while maintaining the cultural identity of the area
➢African American Museum of the Arts is a great example of this

12.
The Power of Expression
➢Another great example can be found at this Boys and Girls Club Mural
➢Many famous historical figures can be found here including: the founder of the Chisolm Center, musicians, veterans, pastors,
police officers, and more

13.
Research: Identifying Needs
Quantitatively
DISCUSS:
! Who determines what a community
needs to improve?
! How can one identify what the
needs of a community are?
! Is research the best way to identify
needs?
! What are some examples from your
Bonner Programs or universities?

14.
Breaking Ground: The
2016 Spring Hill Needs
Assessment
▪ Nobody knows the needs of
Spring Hill better than its
residents
▪ Needs Assessment was conducted
by Dr. Asal Johnson and several
Stetson students
▪ What concerns can we see from
just the adjacent figure?

15.
Needs Assessment Results
! 90.5% of Spring Hill respondents were most concerned about a lack of access
to fresh produce
! 89.6% did not feel like they had adequate access to exercise options
! Residents also expressed concern regarding the lack of street lights and the
completeness of sidewalks (71.6% and 67.0% respectively)
! Top Health Concerns
! High blood pressure (73.9%)
! Diabetes (71.6%)
! HIV/AIDS (68.2%)
! Heart disease (67.0%)
! What factors could contribute to these health statistics?

16.
Additional Research: The
2018 Walkability
Assessment
▪ Spearheaded by Maxwell Droznin
this past May
▪ Aims to look further into the
needs expressed in the previous
assessment
▪ What problems can a lack of
walkability cause in a
community?

17.
Walkability Assessment
Results
Only 41.2% of streets in Spring Hill have
a continuous sidewalk on at least one
side of the road
43.9% have some degree of trip hazard
present
18.1% have clearly marked crosswalks
22.0% have adequate street lighting
1.6% have painted bike paths

18.
What’s the Point of Research?
! We learn what the community
needs and in doing so, create:
! Improved Intervention
! Resource Development
! Capacity Building
! These can only be achieved if the
research is followed by action
! What ways can you take what
you’ve learned and apply it at your
site? In your community?

19.
Community Garden

20.
Partners

21.
Purpose of Community Garden
! What’s the point?
! Poor diet and physical inactivity is the second ACTUAL leading cause of death in the US
! Increase access to fresh produce
! Increase access to and quality of nutritional education for both youth and adults
! Increase number of community green spaces
! Create safe space for community to come together and socialize
! Increase interest in home gardening, more community gardens, and purchasing local
produce
! 30 minutes of gardening per week results in lower BMI, higher self esteem, and lower
stress when compared to those who garden less

22.
Artisan Alley Farmers Market
! Why weren’t Spring Hill residents attending?
! Thought primary barrier was food access (no SNAP)
! Eliminates food desert status of north Spring Hill Fridays from 6pm-9pm
! 3 months later…
! Nobody from Spring Hill shopping at the market using SNAP
! Functionally, nothing changed yet for north Spring Hill
! Increasing focus on education
! IFAS cooking demos
! Health Department outreach
! Volusia County School outreach
! Only when we brought this up to the community gardeners did things begin to change
! Social norming among church groups, community organizations, etc.
! Dialogue with community members, having allies within the community
! Importance of understanding ALL barriers
! Constantly challenging what you think you know
! Due to assessment, we know that shuttle transportation is a major need
! Sidewalk connectivity is a major need

23.
Partners

24.
SafeRoutes to School Grant
! Multimillion dollar grant program
! Redevelopment of walking + biking infrastructure around schools
! Largest cluster of impediments around Starke Elementary
! Used Walkability Assessment to build coalition of partners to apply for grant
! Started with Walk to School Day this past Friday

25.
Partners