January 2022 CD Practitioner Gathering Harvest
Our first gathering of the year was full of wonderful people and conversations! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined and for the fantastic breakout room suggestions that we received this month!
You can access the full notes here, or flip through the note taking slides below!
We had six breakout rooms have conversations on five different topics. We’re sharing the highlights here gathered from the group debrief.
Engaging communities made marginalized including BIPOC and people living with mobility impairments.
Practice Active Listening and being curious.
Ask “What is your story” and be genuinely interested in what they have to say.
Shift the language being used. We often create barriers with the assumptions we bring in and our biases. Be aware of what those are.
When talking about issues, portray them in an empowering way and not as a deficit.
Effective strategies of engaging community stakeholders - specifically on issues they do not view as related to their line of work?
Put together a sales pitch to different groups we’re trying to partner with. Be personal and connecting.
Act as a community connector in all spaces.
Don’t be afraid to connect people from very different groups, think outside of the box!
Building strong Ageing-in-Place communities.
There are currently a lot of silos, we need to get more connected and work together more.
Opportunities for leaders to get together and make plans together would be helpful.
We need volunteer management policies to help seniors age in place that go beyond single organizations or communities… We need this for every neighbourhood not just certain neighbourhoods.
Engaging seniors requires a lot of groundwork.
How do we build community during the pandemic?
Conversation One:
There is a lot of online fatigue right now, so find interactive online opportunities that are more engaging.
Make sure that if those opportunities use supplies, that you are able to either drop off supplies or have a pick up time and location.
The inconsistency of the pandemic makes it hard.
Conversation Two:
Focus on embracing the uncertainty.
GPS Analogy: when we’re driving somewhere using our GPS, and a road closure pops up it requires us to change our route or create a new path.
The world has always been changing, it is just more clear now. Shift from annual and monthly plans to focusing on the present, today.
Trust the process, be comfortable with the uncomfortable… Imagine what future we want and plant the seeds for that now. Be patient, those seeds will grow.
Start from a place of an uncertain future!
How do we engage people who are unhoused in programs that are online? Are there alternatives?
What is the barrier? Is it access to tech? Wifi? Space? Time? Often several of these…
Expand our focus and collaborations outside of narrow views. Outside of white space (and organizations).
Bring in new perspectives - a lot of the perspectives are coming from a housed point of view, which fails to recognize the many varied experiences of houselessness.
Indoor safe space with access is key.