Overcoming Barriers to Community Engagement
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This document provides strategies for overcoming barriers to community engagement for Habitat for Humanity affiliates. It identifies common barriers such as perceptions, people, and processes. Solutions discussed include educating communities, being transparent and consistent, listening to cultural gatekeepers, and conducting asset mapping. Tips are provided for starting the engagement process, recruiting community members, and creating buy-in through resident-led priorities and projects. The document aims to help affiliates better understand their communities and overcome challenges to community engagement.
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Overcoming Barriers to Community Engagement
- 1. Syretta Hill, Community Development Manager Habitat for Humanity of Wake County Sabrina Kelley, Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator at Habitat for Humanity Fresno County Angela Bills, Community Outreach Director, Trinity Habitat for Humanity
- 2. Welcome 2 Strategies for Overcoming Barriers to Community Engagement
- 3. NRI – What is it? 3
- 4. 4 What barriers are affiliates experiencing? Let’s explore them… Activity: Write down a real barrier your affiliate is experiencing on notecard.
- 5. Learning Objectives 5 1. Identify/define community barriers 2. Explore barriers 3. Create simple solutions to address barriers
- 6. Exploring Barriers 6 • Perceptions • People • Process
- 7. Barrier: Perceptions • Myths and misunderstandings • External feelings about the neighborhood • Community’s feelings about themselves 7
- 8. Barrier: People • Habitat • Residents • Non-resident stakeholders • Critical partnerships 8
- 9. Barrier: Process • New work for Habitat • Language • Process of engagement • Lack of resources • Communication and trust • Conflicting agendas • Turnover • Time 9
- 10. Checking the Pulse • Thoughts from the group ? – Perceptions – People – Process – Other 10
- 11. Solutions 11 • Many different strategies • Based on: community needs, circumstances, and assets
- 12. Solutions: Perceptions Elementary approaches… 12 Educate Engage Easy and open Endurance
- 13. Barrier: Cultural gatekeepers • Listen to their issues or concerns • Keep them in the loop as part of engagement strategy • Seek advice/suggestions 13
- 14. Barrier: Cultural gatekeepers • Consider nonthreatening engagement tactics (ABWK) 14
- 15. Long Acres/Apollo Heights communities • 52% Decrease in Crime. According to the City of Raleigh Police Department - from January 1, 2010 through June 14, 2012 shows a 52% decrease in crime (from 89 incidents to 43 incidents). 15
- 16. Barrier: Cultural gatekeepers 16 Question: How do we gain the trust of cultural gatekeepers in the neighborhood?
- 17. Solutions: People 4 B’s of engaging with residents 17 Be transparent Be present Be consistent Be realistic
- 18. Solutions: Process 18 Tips for starting: • Review secondary data • Meet with people working in the community • ABCD • Create an Asset Map • Collect more data (informal methods): o Coffee N Chat o “If this were a” o Neighborhood Meet and Greet
- 19. Barrier: Starting the Process - #1 19 Question: Where / How do we begin the process of Community Engagement? Questions to Ask Yourself: 1. Do I understand the goals and priorities of NRI? 2. What background work needs to be completed before I start the process of engaging residents? 3. Do I know anyone is already working in the neighborhood and what are they doing? 4. What do I know about the neighborhood …the residents (assets and dreams?)
- 20. Sources of Secondary Data • GOOGLE • City’s general plan • Elected officials • Public health • agency info • Census data • USDA data • School websites • PD crime maps • Neighborhood Watch Coordinators 20
- 21. Developing the Framework for Resident Engagement Asset Based Community Development 21
- 22. Asset Based Community Development 22
- 23. Meet with People in the Community 23
- 24. Barrier: #2 Recruiting Community Members 24 Question: How do we recruit residents and partners? Questions to ask yourself / team: 1. Who do we need? 2. Why do we need them? 3. Who is going to contact them? 4. What are the next steps?
- 25. Example – Who Do We Need? Why? 25
- 26. Barrier #3 – Agendas and Perceptions “…it has been difficult to get African/American churches to partner with us….” “…residents don't show up for meetings and we don’t know how to motivate them to show up…” “…too many opportunities to pursue given the capacity at the affiliate…” “…people don't believe that we are going to actually do the work, so they don't sign up then they see us out there working and get mad when we don't do work on their house…” 26
- 27. 6 Tips for Meaningful Engagement 1. Lay down your agenda. 2. Take up a listening posture. 3. Document resident-led neighborhood development priorities. 4. Create buy-in by working on resident-led priorities and projects. 5. Build resident trust through community outreach events (block parties, neighborhood meet and greets, church events, etc.) 6. Recruit strategic partners early in the process. 27
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- 31. Solutions: Activity 31 • Pair Up • Review the Barrier • Identify a Strategy • Report Out
- 32. Monday Morning Plan 32 • Create a profile of your focus neighborhood. • Walk the neighborhood (often). • Create an asset map. • Organizing listening events (Coffee N Chat). • Prepare to host monthly meetings.
- 33. HfHI Resources • http://my.habitat.org/ • http://www.habitat.org/env/NRI_default.aspx • Conference calls: To receive direct email announcements for training conference-calls and register for desired topics, send full contact information including affiliate role/title and location to confcalls@habitat.org • Learning Resources in the My.Habitat Knowledge Center. http://my.habitat.org/kc/learning-resources • Affiliate Support Center at 877-HFHI-HELP (877-434-4435) or USSupportCenter@habitat.org 33
- 34. Other Useful Resources • http://nw.org/network/index.asp • http://i-c-d.org/ • http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oua/initiatives /neighborhood-revitalization • http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=Choice _Neighborhoods_2012.pdf • https://www.bja.gov • http://www.successmeasures.org/ • http://www.abcdinstitute.org/ 34
- 35. Thank you!! • Syretta Hill - syretta.hill@habitatwake.org Community Development Manager Habitat for Humanity of Wake County • Sabrina Kelley - sabrina@habitatfresno.org Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator Habitat for Humanity Fresno County • Angela Bills - angela.bills@trinityhabitat.org Community Outreach Director, Trinity Habitat for Humanity 35
Editor's Notes
- Syretta Welcome This workshop was designed around the survey results shared with us in January… Intros: Name, title, how long I’ve been involved in NRI. (Syretta, Sabrina, Angela) or attending presentation
- Syretta - Define NRI - Not just housing - All size affiliates can participate (not all solutions may work for every affiliate)
- Syretta Activity – write down a real barrier experience on a notecard
- Sabrina
- Angela
- Angela Myths and Misunderstandings - Race/community outside/cultural barriers (framing “culturally”) - Myths about affordable housing External feelings about the neighborhood - Limited access to resources Community’s feelings about themselves - Apathy Are there any others we would add to that list?
- Syretta
- Sabrina
- Sabrina …. Check-in Controlled Repose activity – pull cards from the bucket to get attendees to share thoughts, concerns, scenarios. Are there barriers we missed? How many people feel like perceptions is their biggest issue? How many people feel like people are their biggest issues? How many people feel like process is their biggest issue? Activity around notecards.
- Syretta – 2 – 3 minutes - framing the next part of the conversation - Many different strategies - Specific based community needs, circumstances, and assets - Give examples
- Angela (draft) Educate – - educate self: research and educate yourself on the community, history of the neighborhood, culture of the population you are serving -understand the cultural lense by reaching out to people in the community (book: Author, Patty Lane - A Beginner's Guide to Crossing Cultures: Making Friends in a Multicultural World (provides some helpful lenses to sort out six basic cultural differences (context, activity, authority, identity, time, and worldview), and offers practical advice on how to develop cross-cultural relationships and serve in a multicultural ministry environment. - understand perceptions of community and those outside the community (meet people for coffee, a walk, lunch, etc.) - educate the residents on what Habitat is, why it matters, (both through information and action) – people don’t care what you know until they know that you care - show me: ABWK project, neighborhood cleanup, have HHOs and partner families present to tell and identify strategies to engage in a - Educate others (city, other agencies, other neighborhoods) - through development of action plan (with the residents) - neighborhood drive through - HabiTours Engage others: Create relationships and Partnerships within the outside community and neighbors More people involved and aware of process the greater credibility you have to finding solutions together… Spread word on what you are about (meet with local residents, pastors, etc.) engage in a way that is meaningful to them (in W & W, residents to walk neighborhood and introduced us to other neighbors) - attend NA meetings, attend activities important to the community (we supported the health fair) Meet residents where they are at In order for community engagement to be successful, you have to identify the residents’ motivation and help them tap in to it. Be accessible, easy to reach and open to the community’s ideas and approaches to solutions… In most cases we don't live in the neighborhoods we serve and we aren’t from the neighborhoods we serve, so we need to focus on them. Endurance – understand it takes time to build trust and to show people who you are and who Habitat is… and it takes time to understand the community you are serving. Be patient and be prepared to invest time in addressing perceptions that may serve as barriers in the community you are serving. Throw out to the audience if they have another solution based on their experiences…
- Syretta
- Syretta
- Syretta
- Syretta to finish talking about Barriers and Solutions were developed real issues identified in the attendee assessment conducted in January.
- Syretta An effective community development person would use the 4 B’s allowing you to engage effectively with residents, non-resident stakeholders, and critical partners.
- Sabrina
- Barriers and Solutions were developed real issues identified in the attendee assessment conducted in January.
- ABCD - Methodology that seeks to uncover and utilize the strengths within communities as a means for sustainable development. The basic tenet is that a capacities-focused approach is more likely to empower the community and therefore mobilize citizens to create positive and meaningful change from within. Instead of focusing on a community's needs, deficiencies and problems, the ABCD approach helps them become stronger and more self-reliant by discovering, mapping and mobilizing all their local assets. An approach that is relatively cheap, effective and empowering, that avoids paternalism and dependence — an approach that can be supported by all parts of the political spectrum and initiated at any level of civic life.
- Use the power of the BRAND to create in roads and conversations…listen then take notes and ask a few questions before you move on.
- Sabrina
- The team lineup: recognize individual strengths and organize players into position.
- These are actual Reponses from the survey.
- Fresno Affiliate Examples of Community Engagement
- Cook food and kids will come out! Yes! Our first community partners show up and record numbers!
- Boy do I have a story to tell here!!! OMG – Big Win!!!!
- Sabrina Barriers from the survey will be put on strips of paper. Teams will read the barrier and come up with a quick strategy based on what was just covered. Get sheets with barrier categories – solutions on opposite side Exact barrier: Names: Affiliates: Email:
- Sabrina
- Angela
- Angela
- Angela