A Challenge to My Fellow Planners & Community Organizers

Where else in the USofA is there a multi-ethnic community that identifies diversity as its core strength? That is what Silver Spring (Maryland) does. What I’ve found here in Silver Spring is that all segments of our community – the political, civic, business, faith, and residential communities – celebrate our multi-ethnicity and diversity.

I know there are plenty of places that have minority-majority and are rightfully proud of their achievements. These include my own fellow Cuban-Americans in Miami; my African-American friends in Atlanta; the Asian community in San Francisco; the Arab-Americans in Detroit; my Mexican-American cousins in San Antonio; and our Salvadorian friends in L.A. – just to name a few.

In all these examples – great as they are – there is a prominent minority that has risen to the occasion and established a thriving, healthy minority community. In most of these, however, ethnic strife continues; racial tensions prevail; the traditional white power structure remains weary of the change and reluctant to share power.

In Silver Spring, the multi-ethnicity is real: Ethiopians, Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Eastern-Europeans, Middle-Easterns, Nigerians, African-Americans, and European Whites are all here in substantial numbers. None are a majority. The generational diversity is also real. The youth is a constant element – if not always at the table – in community dialogues and decision making arena. And so is the socio-economic diversity, tenure diversity. We also have a healthy mix of home-owners vs. renters, a topic persistently considered and discussed.

The established power-base, while not numerically balanced, is increasingly reflective of the general population. More importantly, the establish power-base includes a core of leaders that regardless of their ethnicity or socio-economic status are legitimately committed to promoting multi-ethnicity and diversity as a – no, the – main asset of Silver Spring. The consensus is clear that this multi-ethnicity and diversity is the driving force for economic development, entrepreneurship opportunities, and the force that will gives Silver Spring a competitive advantage as a thriving community and a place where businesses can succeed.

Silver Spring is one heck of an experiment! I am not sure this has ‘worked’ anywhere else in the USofA – or in the world for that matter. Being part of the team that is committed to making this experiment work is exhilaratingly exciting!... But, it will be tough; there will be setbacks; there will be nay-sayers when a youth concert goes bad at the end, or when there are no brown faces at a community meeting… Nonetheless, we know we are trying; we know we will be relentless in our efforts to make it work.

So, I challenge my planner and community organizers friends to identify other such communities. We are looking for communities that are intentional about celebrating their multi-ethnicity and diversity as a key asset. And - more importantly - all segments of the community (particularly the public, civic, business, and residential leadership and grassroots) are equally excited about working together for the greater good.…

I am sure there are out there – and we’d love to connect. Chime in!

Good bye to my amigos at NeighborWorks

HERE'S WHAT I SHARED WITH MY PEERS AT NEIGHBORWORKS WHEN THEY WERE GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO DO A GATHERING FOR ME

I don’t want to bore you with a tear-jerking good bye, but I will.

I promise it’d be brief… But remember that I am the guy who’s been known to have facilitated two three hour conference calls back to back.

You know, if I try to thank everyone that has taught what it means to be ‘neighborworks’, we’d be here a long time… So, I’ll just try to share some of the collective wisdom I’ve gained through the years by sharing with you one very simple technique I use to connect to the people we serve.

Almost everyday, but certainly when I travel – and God knows we do that enough – I try to ‘get in the mood’ of our work by imagining that the people I share whatever space I am in are the people we serve… Here’s what I mean:

The folks in the train; the entertainers at Metro station; our homeless friends on G Street; the cab-driver; the guy that checks our baggage at the airport; the lady that checks our i.d.; the young person that works at the fast food joint; the dude that cleans the airplane; and, most personally connected to me: the housekeeping crews at the hotels we stay and the crews that clean our tables and serve our meals… When I see these folks, I visualize them as homeowners, renters, and neighborhood residents of the communities we serve… I always make it a point to share with them a sincere ‘thanks’ – or just as often, ‘gracias’… It is these amigos that are struggling to make ends meet, to get that downpayment together… Indeed, I all too well remember that when my brother bought his first home in 1982 he was short for his downpayment by about $350. Geraldina (my wife) lent him the money she had saved up to buy her college books for the upcoming semester… [Come to think of it, I am not sure he ever paid her back… But that is another story.]

I say that I particularly relate to the housekeeping and banquet folks because many of my aunts and uncles did this work as they became established; and my own father was a janitor for years… As he got old, I’d go help him in the wee hours so he wouldn’t have to work so hard… And, I myself did my fare share of flipping Krystal hamburgers and even did a short stint as a day laborer…

So, I can never ever forget where I come from… Because it is my aunts, uncles, cousins and amigos – and countless others like them - that we now serve… And, it is simply a joy – indeed, sometimes I wonder “I got paid for this”? – it is a joy to be part of the NeighborWorks familia… I pray – yes I do that – that this institution will forever remain committed to having a staff team that ‘gets it’… A staff team that looks – and most important, feels – like the communities we serve…

May our stories continue, and see you in Silver Spring,

Gracias, enJoy & God Bless.

Transition / Transición

Transition / Transición
[1 of 2 posts related to this personal journey]

Life happens. And that is a good thing.

As of July 20, 2009 I'll be the Director of the Silver Spring (MD) Regional Center. And - not but - I'll still be Reemberto Rodriguez :-)

NeighborWorks America is the 'N' in my DNA. The values I've learned from our Network and our partners will be forever with me. Key among these: partnership and collaboration; inclusion and diversity.

For over 20 years I've had the incredible good fortune of being part of this amazing 'experiment' that is NeighborWorks. From the day I became the City representative on the board of the Atlanta NHS (circa 1988) to recent involvement with innovative approaches to 21 century community organizing, NeighborWorks has been my personal passion as well as my professional pursuit. This journey has taken me through the world of 'field service officers'; 'program review officers'; 'organizational assessment specialists'; and, 'training managers'. Working with peers here at NeighborWorks and that wonderful motley crew of consultants, faculty, trainers, and facilitators, I've engaged with over100 communities throughout the USA and Puerto Rico.

From the church basements in Savannah, GA to the one-room city halls of rural Mississippi; from the reconstruction efforts after Andrew to the continuing efforts after Katrina; from the hallways of the NTIs to the experience of the CLIs, I've learned so much from others along the way... But, I've learned most from the residents and partners of the communities we serve. It is in their dreams that I found my calling. It is in their commitment that I got my strength. It is their determination to make their communities a better place to live that planted the bug in me to return to my roots and be part of local efforts to improve my own community.

OK, I'll admit it: I've fallen in love with my neighborhood, Silver Spring, Maryland. I've fallen in love with my neighborhood so much so that when asked to pursue this opportunity, I had no choice but to say a resounding 'Yes I will'. I can't deny that I've been infected by the 'bug' to 'give back locally' - I think I may have even drank the kool aid :-)

Being nominated by the Montgomery County Executive and approved by the County Council to take on this new position is truly an honor - and an awesome responsibility... Foolish, maybe. Risky, definitively. Fun, absolutely! "La vida es un carnival", says the song by Celia Cruz... And so it is: "Life is a carnival."

Someone once said "relationships are the essence of life... After all is said and done, it is relationships that nourish the soul." [Actually, I just made that up. But surely someone else must have said it before :-) ] My relationships within and beyond NeighborWorks I will always cherish and treasure... And like any good treasure, these relationships will continue giving fruit for a long, long time, regardless where life takes us.

If you are one of my peers, consultant, or practitioner that just started here at NeighborWorks recently, beware - this place is contagious and grows on you! (Working with good people will do that to you.)... And to you: Thanks for helping me grow by helping me see 'what is possible'.

If you are one of my peers, consultant, or practitioner that's been here a while, beware - there is no remedy once NeighborWorks gets embedded in you! (Working with good people will do that to you, too.)... And to you: Thanks for the stories and wisdom you've shared that helped me 'catch the spirit' of NeighborWorks.

Finally, deep down inside I know that in so many ways, I am not really leaving NeighborWorks; I am taking "neigborworks" with me!

'Till our paths cross again, and may it be soon,

Reemberto
p.s.: In the meantime, see you in Facebook - or better yet, see you at: www.leadersforcommunities.org

Tapping Volunteers: Up front questions to ask of the individual, the organization, and the community.

Why do people volunteer? To what end? Altruism, self interest, or a little bit of both? (Ayn Rand, are you listening?) “Take care of numero uno”, we are told. But, “love (serve) your neighbor” we are also told.

In the USofA the value of helping others is deeply rooted and has a rich history. Today, the “call to service” resonates loudly with the aging baby boomers and the younger generation. Our current economic crisis coupled with the innate willingness of both of these generational cohorts – and the rise to the Presidency of a man that clearly ‘gets it’ – seems to be a perfect storm for a ‘new age of volunteerism’. For those of us fortunate enough to be paid to think about such things and operationalize systems or create curriculum to maximize this ‘volunteer energy’, these are exciting times indeed.

More people in need. More people willing to volunteer. An understanding President… A perfect storm… What an opportunity! What excitement! What challenge!

However, before we jump in the volunteer bandwagon, we’d better think through the implications for the individual, organization, and community… Why do people volunteer? What organizational outcome can be expedited by the use of volunteers? How can volunteers weave into the fabric of the community rather than be seen as opportunistic outsiders? There are a gazillion other questions that we could ask. Three simple ones to consider include:

[1] Meaning for the individual: How meaningful should the volunteer activity be for the individual? (Are they looking to exercise their profession and/or skills ‘for free’, enrich themselves spirituality, and/or create consciousness for a cause? What is their time commitment, restrictions and/or demand/expectations? How do we ‘segment’ the volunteer pool – youth, elderly, retired, stay-at-home parent; etc. )

[2] Organizational purpose: What is the purpose of using volunteers in the organization? (Is it to alleviate a current condition – i.e. address staffing shortage; or is it to more effectively and efficiently meet a particular organizational objective? Are there internal opportunities for volunteers to get involved in systemic change – or would their participation be ‘busy work’ only? Is our purpose to ‘create consciousness’ – or is immediate resource savings driving the use of volunteers? What is the organization’s capacity to recruit, train, and supervise volunteers?)

[3] Community Context: How will the community benefit from the use of volunteers? (What types of volunteer activities already exist in our community? What is the “demand”? What is the “supply? Who are the existing ‘opportunity providers’? Are the opportunities “one time only”; do they ‘sunset’; or are they permanent and ongoing? Who controls the process? Are they willing to partner?)

The exact nature of the question is not that critical – as long as it is asked of prospective volunteers, leaders in the organization, and residents of the community. There is no right or wrong answer. If the questions are framed correctly, their answers will lead to efficient and effective use of volunteers. If the questions are not framed correctly, the use of volunteers can lead to individual frustrations, organizational loss of resources, and unmet community expectations.

So, what are other questions that should be asked?... Please provide yours. Do please indicate whether the question is of an individual, organization, or community; and, who should ask the question.) Chime in by posting yours as a ‘comment’ to this blog.

On City, Planning, & Community Engagement

To paraphrase Bob Dylan, here I am, “stuck inside Minneapolis, with the Milwaukee blues again”… Yes, here I am with 4,234 other planner-types at the American Planning Association Conference... In the company of such illustrious group, I can’t help but wonder:
- WHERE are the minority planners? (Sure, the tokens were there; but nada mas.)
- WHY are planners so boring? (The sessions - with few exceptions - felt like bad public hearings.)
- COULD IT BE time to bury PowerPoint Presentations? (Or at least, could presenters be required to go to PPP101?)

Oh how I yearn to be around regular folks! (Mind you, some of my best friends are planners. Heck, I am AICP myself – so I am one of them!)

Well, back to the topic at hand:

I wonder what it’d be like if planners took off their masks, became the residents they are, and approached this conference like a family bar-b-q, drinking beer, or enjoying a ballgame (which some of them did, watching the Twins beat the Rays 4 to 3 at the Metrodome.)

I wonder what it’d be like if:
- Instead of meetings we had gatherings;
- Instead of strategizing we had conversations;
- Instead of outcomes we told stories;
- Instead of visioning we dreamed.

Rather than meet to strategize about outcomes and vision, let’s gather to converse, tell stories, and dream… Gathering, conversing, telling stories, and dreaming are natural human acts. Meetings are not a natural human activity.

It is amazing that our puritan roots are our only roots that artificially separate life from art. In all our other cultural roots, art is life and vice versa. Oh, how we could learn from successful:
- HIV/AIDS education in Africa;
- Micro-lending peer-to-peer learning in India;
- Evangelization “comunidades de base” in Latin America;
- Shakespeare plays-in-the-square in the Anglo culture!

All these successful models of community engagement incorporate, weave, and blend the arts with learning and the learning with the arts - indeed, they are one and the same, inseparable. Separating artistic expression – music, dance, poetry, painting, performing – from public discourse is unnatural and illogical.

Therefore, when we seek public discourse and – artificially, I propose – try to control human behavior in staged settings we set ourselves up to fail. Thus, traditional public discourse in the planning discipline – public hearings and such – are boring, ineffective, and inefficient... They may meet the bureaucratic requirement; but they do not serve the intended purpose of authentic public participation.

Where oh where - you may ask - can I see successful engagement models?

Well, various communities throughout the USofA are doing what comes natural: Bringing people together in comfortable settings to talk about their communities and neighborhoods – and coming up with real solutions to make things better. Others are going ‘door to door’ seeing how neighbors are doing and making sure they have access to helpful services.

Want proof? Check out this YouTube video:
HERE
And, the blog from someone that is ‘walking the talk’:
THE VALUE OF PLACE

enJoy,

Reemberto

Hi-Tech, Hi-Touch and the Soul

"We must match our zeal for hi-tech with our passion for hi-touch lest we wire the world and short-circuit the soul."

With all the talk about FaceBook, Tweeter, on-line connection, etc., we really need to make sure we match our zeal for hi-tech with our passion for hi-touch lest we wire the world and short-circuit the soul. This catchy – but all so true - statement is a combination of a theme from yesterday (John Nesbitt, the author of the book “Megatrends” released back in the 80’s) and a line I heard some young author say recently (I can’t remember her name.)

John Nesbitt – who is still around – was instrumental in foreshadowing the hi-tech boom of the latter part of the 20th century. He highlighted, however, that all the hi-tech in the world would be meaningless if we lose sight of the ‘human need’ to touch, feel, see eye-to-eye, and simply ‘be in the same physical space’. Twenty plus years after his famous book “Megatrends” I find myself reading “The Soul of a Leader: Finding Your Path to Success and Fulfillment” (by Margaret Benefiel.) She too reasserts that innate need we have for belonging, being with each other, and finding that inner strength that comes from our connection to others. While neither of these two books is directly about our field of community development, there is a third that brings these themes together in a very potent way. The name of the book is “The Paradox of Power: From Control to Compassion” by Michael H. Crosby. (Google him. He is a Franciscan priest in Milwaukee.) Simply a great, great read.

Also on point and probably more directly related to our field is the work being done by various organizations throughout the country that are trying to respond to the current seismic shift in the economy with a combination of “hi-tech & hi-touch”. One example is something being done right in my backyard, Silver Spring.

We are bringing together the best of ‘old school’ (door knocking) with the best of today’s social media (blogs). Door knocking presses the flesh; blogs link the bytes. Our charge is simple: Let neighbors know that others care, and welcome their participation in common action for their individual and collective wellness. Our commitment is to do 20,000 door knocks and – here’s where the hi-tech comes in – document the process to maximize others getting enthused about the Neighbors Campaign. You can view the blog at http://neighborscampaign.wordpress.com/

Yes, the door knocking and blogging also intends to bring residents news about what services are available to help them through their economic crisis. And yes, the County is our partner… (We are blessed with a County where many of the elected officials and key department administrators "get it".) But, infinitely more important is the enhanced sense of caring and empathy that our community will feel… To know that someone cares; to know where to turn for comfort; to know whose house the next convening is at where people will share stories and maybe offer a hand. Door knocks alone could not get us there; neither could blogs alone… It is the innovative combination of these ‘hi-tech’ / ‘hi-touch’ techniques that will make success possible.

When training our door-knockers, one key point we've made is to ask them to visualize the inside of the house after they walk away. How does the person that just closed the door feel? Are they (a) energized to join others in the process – regardless of their personal situation; or are they (b) left simply knowing what phone number to call for help? Have we left them with (a) a sense that – again, regardless of their personal situation – they have a lot to offer others; or are they left with (b) the sense things are bad and help is somewhere out there? If we left them with (b), it is not enough… We must leave them with (a): A sense that they have lots to offer and and the excitement to do so.

When building our blog, it is critical that we drive people to people – not just to hyperspace. The blog is a tool for informing, yes. But, it is also a tool for exciting people to come together. And people come together in places and spaces where other people are: others’ living rooms; the County’s help center; the street corner happenstance gathering; accompanying others to do more door knocks; etc.

Hi-tech alone can be very efficient in mobilizing for action, getting many people to respond to an immediate situation, and disseminating information. But only good old fashion hi-touch can build long term sustainable relationships that will lead to systemic change in communities. It is through a combination of these two venues (hi-tech and hi-touch) that the soul of the community is most effectively nourished.
http://neighborscampaign.wordpress.com/

Community Engagement [Longer, Revised Version]

This version has the benefit of input from many people... To all: GRACIAS!

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
Community Building, Community Organizing, and Community Leadership
Community engagement brings together community building, community organizing, and community leadership to improve lives and strengthen communities. Successful community engagement is the positive, constructive convergence of strong community building efforts and active community organizing with a relentless commitment to community leadership.

We are faced with the increasingly difficult challenge of stabilizing our communities and neighborhoods in the face of the devastating impact of economic disruptions and dislocation, foreclosure, joblessness, and diminishing traditional resources. Bricks and mortar alone are not the answer. Traditional involvement models no longer suffice. These models are impeded by the real stress of longer commutes, multiple jobs, and larger number of families caring for the young and old simultaneously. The resiliency of community residents and leaders is tested like never before; yet their boldness to invent new ways to engage the community consistently shines.

Participation in community – indeed, volunteerism in general – has matured beyond simply going to meetings or helping out the local charity. Community organizing, community building, and community leadership now come together to engage the whole community to create a better place to live, work, play, and worship.

Bringing together the traditional interests of residents, business, and government now expands to include social entrepreneurs; youth; on-line participants; the non-English speaker; renters as well as homeowners; the unemployed as well as the employed; the one-time volunteer as well as the fervent activist; new comers as well as established residents and interests. How decisions are made at the local level have become increasingly critical – and linked – to regional, national, and international issues. Today we are challenged with building our human capital, strengthening relationships, and connecting people to act in ways that yield tangible, measurable results in our lives and communities.

New and emerging issues require new tools, techniques and approaches. Some of these include: greening our neighborhoods; effectively managing family wealth and health; connecting the local economy to civic and volunteer participation; bringing to the decision process the voices of underserved communities; and tapping into the on-line world while reaffirming face-to-face connections.

It is through community engagement that people connect to improve lives where they live, and bring together individual, institutional, and social network interests to serve the common good. It is through the community building, community organizing, and community leadership that community engagement happens. Community engagement thrives when partnerships, collaborations and coalitions are nourished. Its values are rooted in inclusion, tolerance, and active participation. These values and context are operationalized in a real-world environment that is first and foremost diverse. Diversity is the driving cultural paradigm of successful community engagement. Ultimately it is through connecting people that communities thrive.