Unlocking Your Community's Hidden Strengths PDF

Unlocking Your Community’s Hidden Strengths A Guidebook to Community Asset-Mapping Unlocking Your Community’s Hidden Strengths A Guidebook to Community Asset-Mapping ABOUT THE ALABAMA YOUTH JUSTICE ALLIANCE The AYJA is consortium of advocates, organizations, groups and families dedicated to ensuring that Alabama’s youth have the tools and opportunities to grow into healthy, responsible and productive adults. AYJA members work together and with legislators, agencies, courts and communities to build a stronger, safer state for our children. ABOUT THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER The Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Alabama with offices in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. For more information, see www.splcenter.org. COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING |4 Every day in communities across the state, ordinary Alabamians step up and give part of themselves to others. We see it in the volunteers in soup kitchens, the Sunday school teachers in our churches, the legions of us working to rebuild our state after devastating tornadoes, and in the tens of thousands of Alabamians who serve in our country’s armed forces. Millions of private and individual decisions combine to have a greater impact, positively affecting friends, neighbors, even complete strangers. Although volunteers may begin their work for selfless reasons, they eventually realize that they, too, benefit from their efforts. Through service, we discover com- munities that embrace us, churches to belong to, and a vibrant citizenship that per- vades all aspects of our lives. Service and cooperation allow Alabamians to take hold of the future of our communi- ties, our state, and our nation, especially during difficult times. Now, with the state facing falling revenues and cuts to services, Alabama's churches, neighbors, and vol- unteer groups have stepped up to help out, greatly expanding their charitable giving and contributions. Our willingness and proven ability to come together and solve Focus on the neighbor- problems, whether local or national, is part of what makes us uniquely American. hoods where need is the Yet there are also hundreds of thousands of us who have not yet found a way to give greatest. It is here where back, who are not reaching our full potential as citizens, neighbors, and friends. It community members will is not for want of desire, motivation, or willingness. The reason so many of us fail to best understand the chal- give back to our communities is that we simply don’t know how. lenges children face and While so many of us wait on the sidelines, thousands of children go without the will be most motivated to resources they need to flourish — positive role models, safe places to go after school, healthy activities to participate in, and adults to help them with their homework. step up and do something Children without these resources struggle in school and are likely to drop out. positive. Because they lack the resources so many take for granted, these children are on a fast track to poverty and, all too often, incarceration. As people who care about children and the health of our communities, we face two distinct challenges: 1) children are not getting the human capital — the time, knowledge, passion, skills, and attention of adults — that they need to succeed; and 2) adults are struggling to find opportunities to contribute to their communities in meaningful ways. We can solve both problems at the same time by unlocking new opportunities and spaces for adults to work positively with children, and building an infrastructure that lets a community provide its children with the resources and attention they need. UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING |5 People — not governments, courts, or other agencies — are the solution to the problems children face. Courts in particular, which extend one helping hand while holding child-sized handcuffs in the other, often ending up hurting the children with whom they come into contact, despite their best intentions. Though they cannot solve the problems on their own, government and courts can create spaces that invite and empower communities to help themselves. Court- involved children, like all children, are better off when they can live at home and draw strength from their families, when they get the services they need in their own communities, and when they participate in healthy activities. Communities are full of resources that can be directed to meet these needs. Your role is to find these assets and connect the dots. COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING This guidebook is a roadmap to a process known as “community asset-mapping.” It's an odd term, but it translates to positive action. Community asset-mapping rejects the habit of describing communities by listing their problems. Too often, the neighborhoods and communities whose children are involved in the juvenile justice system are defined solely by their needs. Unemployment, drug abuse, poor and inef- fective schools, crime, and poverty are often seen as defining the communities in which many of our children live. Instead of focusing on the deficits, community asset-mapping focuses on the hidden wealth that exists in all communities. Churches, local businesses, non-profit orga- nizations, voluntary associations and parks are all assets with valuable resources to offer. Retirees, artists, musicians, and ordinary youth and adult residents can con- tribute their individual gifts and passions. Many of the resources that exist in low-income communities have gone unnoticed by government and people interested in building communities. Governments and state agencies tend to look upon the residents of low-income neighborhoods as resource consumers. They are people for whom state agencies must provide, not people who can contribute something to their neighbors. This traditional viewpoint offers no space for residents to step up, be proactive, or take control of their com- munities and continues a cycle of dependence on public resources. Community asset-mapping flips the traditional perspective on its head. Instead of resource consumers, residents are seen as potential resource producers. A retiree becomes a mentor or tutor. A mechanic whose business is going through hard times can teach children how to tune up cars. And a struggling artist offers a wealth of knowledge, energy, and passion to any child who expresses interest. WHAT THIS GUIDEBOOK DOES Understanding and appreciating the assets communities have to offer is only the first step toward building positive community-based programs for children. This guidebook helps you put the principles of community asset-mapping into action, breaking the process down into four sections: LOCATE, SURVEY, DISCOVER, and UNLOCK. UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING |6 The LOCATE section will help to focus your work. In this section, you will learn how to identify the neighborhoods and schools, where a community-based program would have the greatest impact. You will also begin to explore the types of programs or services that would be most beneficial to the children in your area. The guidebook then moves on to gathering information from the people around you. As active members of the community, your friends and colleagues already know some of the organizational assets your community has to offer. SURVEY gives you easy-to-use tools to reach out to people in the know, solicit their input about assets you may not know about, and helps you organize the information they provide. While SURVEY identifies the assets that are already known by you and your col- leagues, DISCOVER guides you through the process of finding organizations, associations, churches, and groups that have so far existed under the radar. You will explore documentary sources, go to where groups meet, and make contact with community leaders to discover the organizational assets that lie just beneath the surface. You will discover groups and programs that already work with chil- dren, and which can be persuaded to expand their roles. The contacts you make in A retiree becomes this phase will be key to your efforts to solicit individuals who can volunteer and a mentor or tutor. A contribute. mechanic whose busi- UNLOCK, the final section of the guidebook, uses the technique of “targeting ness is going through by association” to contact the individuals who will help you build community- hard times can teach based programs from the ground up. Once you contact individuals, the SKILLS CHECKLIST assists in identifying what they can contribute. UNLOCK concludes children how to tune up with advice on how to build new programs with information you have gathered. cars. And a struggling artist offers a wealth of WHAT THIS GUIDEBOOK DOES NOT DO knowledge, energy, and UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS provides a roadmap, but it is up to you to travel the road. No guide can foresee all the challenges you will face passion to any child who nor all the blessings you will encounter as you move forward. You will have to work expresses interest. around challenges as they present themselves, and change tactics to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities. Don’t be discouraged if many of the roads you go down turn out to be dead ends. Some churches will not be welcoming, some community members will be unwill- ing to contribute, and some of your interactions will be downright frustrating. Be persistent, press on when you encounter minor failures, and break your work down into manageable tasks. The resources you need are under your nose. Use the guide- book to find them, mobilize them, and direct them to serve children safely, effi- ciently, and effectively within their communities. BILL STARLING/MOBILE PRESS-REGISTER Isaac White, Sr., who runs a barber college in Mobile, Ala., uses his exper- tise and experience to help youth in need of employment. White waives the $3,500 tuition fee at his barber college for students who sign a contract saying they will abide by certain terms. The contract calls for students to complete 1,500 hours of training, pass all tests and work for at least three months after graduation in a licensed barbershop. Students who sign up also agree to dress appropriately and act respectfully. Saying “sir” and “ma’am” is an expectation. Revenue for the program comes from the $6 to $9 customers are charged for haircuts. But White, 93, also uses money from his Social Security check to help cover expenses. His advice for mining the assets in the community? “You can tell people what to do, or you can do it yourself,” he said. “I just do things that need to be done — not for recognition but to help others.” LOCATE UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING |9 COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING LOCATE This section focuses your work by helping you answer two critical questions: Where are your neediest children? What do those children need to be successful? The first step in community asset-mapping is to locate the community you will work in. You need to develop and find assets where children can access them. A “community-based” mentoring program will have little success if it is located miles away from the children who need it. This is also a good time to begin to brainstorm the types of services that would be most helpful for the children and families in your community. For example, if you find that many children struggle in school, you can begin to think about building a tutoring program. Children who have strained relationships with their parents may benefit from a mentoring program that provides them with a positive role model and a healthy relationship with an adult. Youth who have dropped out of school Focus on the neigh- and cannot find employment are ideal candidates for GED preparation courses borhoods where need or apprenticeships with local businesses. Check out the website of the Alabama is the greatest. It is Department of Youth Services for some program ideas (http://dys.alabama.gov), but remember: here where community members will best un- 1. it is relationships, not programs, that children need most derstand the challenges children face and will be 2. a program does not have to be a place most motivated to step 3. to be effective, activities must be responsive to the community’s needs up and do something positive. The most effective way to LOCATE your work is to gather data on children in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Use any resources that exist to complete the LOCATION SHEET on page 9. Don’t worry about details or get stuck on any one question. In the first column, just give your best guess; use the second column too if you have a data resource that can confirm your guesses. The guidebook will refer back to the answers you have listed here as you discover and unlock community-based assets that can be re-directed to serve children. Your answers will help you place tutoring and mentoring activities in schools with the greatest need, and pursue partnerships with pastors and other community leaders in the neighborhood where they will have the greatest effect. COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING LOCATE 10 LOCATION SHEET FOR DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS Where do the children who face the most risks live? Use neighborhood names, ZIP code, or any other description that works best for your community. For this question, you may want to ask which ZIP codes have the highest numbers of delinquency complaints, which schools have the most students receiving subsidized lunches, which neighborhoods have the highest percentage of residents who rely on public assistance, etc. BEST GUESS BASED ON DATA* 1. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 5. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Which schools do those children attend? BEST GUESS BASED ON DATA* 1. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 5. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ What are the children's top five needs? Mentoring? Tutoring? Job training? Internships/Work Experience? Conflict resolution and de-escalation practices? Positive activities? Role models? BEST GUESS BASED ON DATA* 1. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 5. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ What are some of the children's strengths? Music? Art? Sports? Extended family? Church Activities? BEST GUESS BASED ON DATA* 1. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 5. _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ * Helpful data sources include Alabama Resource Management System (www.arms.alabama.gov), the Alabama Kids Count Data Book (www.alavoices.org), or your local juvenile court, which may have already compiled much of this data as part of an appli- cation for Department of Youth Services funding. MICHELLE LELAND Common Ground Montgomery is a Christian-based ministry dedicated to assisting children and youth during the most vulnerable times in their lives with an array of after-school and youth-based programs. Common Ground takes a three-pronged approach: 1) staff live in the same communities as the youth they serve, 2) relationship-based programs geared to developing youth character, social skills, and life skills, including academics, arts, sports, and entrepreneurship; and 3) mentorships with youth beginning at fourth grade and continuing through high school. Bryan Kelly, who founded Common Ground with his wife, Delta, was inspired by working in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans the summer after Hurricane Katrina hit the city. The lessons learned there help him and Com- mon Ground to draw support from the youth, their parents and ministries in the community it serves. His advice: “Don’t feel as if you have to go out and change the whole world all at once. Work hard, and even the small relationships you build will be mutually transformative.” SURVEY UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 13 COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING SURVEY This section of the guidebook gives you a head start on mapping and discovering. It will put you in contact with many members of the community who are already involved in activities for children, as well as centralize much of the knowledge that already exists in your professional network. The SURVEY phase of community asset-mapping is where you ask the people around you for their input in helping to identify groups in the community. Parents, pastors, family court staff, and other leaders you know are extremely knowledgeable about their communities. They are familiar with many of the orga- nizations that serve children, and can be valuable resources as you move forward. There is no sense in re-inventing the wheel, so this section helps you capitalize on the knowledge at your fingertips. INPUT FROM FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES There are a number of ways to learn from the people around you, whether they are friends, ministers, colleagues, or family court staff. You can ask for information and conduct surveys via e-mail; you can mention your project at a meeting and distrib- Remember that a ute hard copies of surveys; or — and this is the best option — you can have a series of program is not a place. conversations, either over the phone or face-to-face. In the most successful The SAMPLE SURVEY on page 15 gives you a list of questions and a sample intro- projects, adults meet duction to the project of community asset-mapping. No matter which method children at home, at a you initially use to get this project rolling, there are a few general rules you should follow throughout the community asset-mapping process. workplace, or at school. Asset-mapping is par- 1. Explain yourself! ticularly advantageous Community asset-mapping is not exactly a household term, so you will need to because you can bring explain to the people you talk to why you are asking for this information, and why their input is valuable. Tell them that you are working to connect children who the program to the child, need services with organizations, groups, and individual volunteers who will rather than bringing the tutor, mentor, and work with children in their communities. The goal is to build a child to the program. network of adults who volunteer their time and contribute their knowledge, skills, and passion to positively impact children. As members of the community who are already active in initiatives that benefit children, your interviewees are a valuable resource in beginning this project. 2. Give examples. When asked an open-ended question with several answers (such as “Which asso- ciations are in your community?”), most people will recall only the answers that UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 14 are clearest. As an interviewer, you will only scratch the surface of your commu- nity’s network of associations. However, if an interviewer asks follow-up questions (“Are there associations for women? Sports teams? Fishing clubs? Neighborhood groups?”), the additional context forces the person answering the questions to think a little harder. Once you get started, you will also be able to prompt people with stories from other interviews. When you are asking your colleagues and friends to brainstorm the organizations and associations they are familiar with, it helps to ask similar questions. Follow up a question like: Which organizations, businesses, churches, and individuals do you know of who might be interested or enthusiastic about working with children? Prepare to be pleasantly with a few prompts: surprised by voluntary associations that don’t Youth groups? Community theater organizations? How about First Baptist? Have you worked with Jerry Smith? yet work with young people, but want to be- Asking these types of follow-up questions — and asking about specific people — will invite more thorough responses. You may get a tip that someone is unavailable to come involved. In Madi- talk, but that he or she has a relative in town who is already organizing a volunteer son, Conn., a group of tutoring project. aging basketball play- 3. Be disciplined about organizing the information you collect. ers who play at 6 a.m. It is vital to have an organized way to collect the responses you will receive. Before were asked to become you begin talking to your friends and colleagues, be sure to develop a method of big brothers to children collecting information. A spreadsheet or other form should be easy to understand involved in the court and simple to add to. Spreadsheets like the EXPLORATORY SPREADSHEET in system. Nine of the 15 this guidebook can be valuable and will help others quickly grasp the nature of the organizations you have identified. At this stage, do not worry about filling in every players signed up. box — you will be able to do that as you interview the leaders and directors of these groups — but get as much information as possible from your friends, colleagues, and any other contacts that come to mind. 4. Get into the habit of circulating the information you have collected and asking for updates. Once you have collected the information in a spreadsheet like the one in this guide- book, circulate it to the people who participated in your survey. Ask them if they have thought of any other community assets that should be included, or what other advice they might have. Previous asset-mapping efforts have found that people remember more the second time around, and that participants give more and more UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 15 valuable information when they see the information that others have contributed. If you use Facebook or a similar networking site, you may want to post your spread- sheet online to make it available for others to review and update. CONTACT YOUR CONTACTS Now that you have a list of a few organizations that serve (or could serve) children, it is time for you to begin to make contact with them. Different ways of contact- ing the leaders of the organizations you have identified will be useful in differ- ent contexts. Making phone calls, meeting face-to-face, and writing letters are all useful ways to learn more. When you make additional contacts add them to your Community leaders are EXPLORATORY SPREADSHEET. If you are ready to begin making contact, skip ahead to the Reach Out subsection of DISCOVER. the bridge between you and potential volunteers. If the SURVEY phase does not provide you with a list of promising contacts, the DISCOVER phase certainly will. At any point, you can loop back to the beginning They are the glue that of the DISCOVER section to scoop up the organizations and associations you don’t establishes the connec- know about yet. tion between community members who want to work with children and the children you serve. COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING SURVEY 16 SAMPLE SURVEY Background: I’m helping with a project that seeks to connect children who need services with the people, orga- nizations, and state agencies that can serve them within their communities. We hope to partner with community groups, churches, and individuals to develop tutoring, mentoring, job training, and other programs for children. Our goal is to build a network of adults who volunteer their time and contribute their knowledge, skills, and passion to positively impact children. We are asking for your input because you are familiar with the organiza- tions that serve children in our community and can connect us with the leaders of these organizations. What programs, organizations, and services do you know of that serve or might be willing to serve court- involved and other at-risk children? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which, if any, of these do you currently work with or refer children to? Are there any programs that you would like to partner with? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Who else should I talk to? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which businesses, ministers, and other community members have you worked with in the past? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Which organizations, businesses, churches, and individuals do you know of who might be interested in partnering with the court and could provide support, community opportunities and resources to young people? (YMCA, youth groups, support groups, individual teachers, ministers, arts groups, sports leagues, retirees, etc.) __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ EDWARD BADHAM Alice Westery, center, is a social worker with the Department of Human Resources in Jefferson County, Ala., responsible for identifying housing, em- ployment, and independent living opportunities for youth transitioning out of the foster care system. She’s also a tireless advocate for homeless youth, and serves on various boards dedicated to eradicating homelessness. Pictured with Westery are members of the Birmingham Living Independent National Youth Group (BLING), an organization that includes youth for- merly in foster care or who were homeless now working to provide housing for other youths in need. Westery helped BLING to make Youth Towers, a Birmingham facility for homeless youth that offers shelter, life skills training and work readiness preparation, a reality. Her advice: “You pull together the folks who can do the job and then you let them do the job.” DISCOVER UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 19 COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING DISCOVER The DISCOVER phase of community asset-mapping helps to identify the additional groups, associations, and organizations that your friends and colleagues did not know of. Through reading the paper, surfing the internet, going to where groups meet, and interviewing community leaders, you will discover youth groups, music and dance troupes, support groups, service organizations, and countless other resources that can serve children effectively and efficiently. As you dig deeper to discover more organizations and associations that can serve children within the community, you will want to focus on the neighborhood you identified as high-impact on the LOCATION SHEET. It is in these neighbor- hoods where need is greatest. It is also in these neighborhoods where community members will best understand the challenges children face and will be most moti- vated to step up and do something positive. As you collect information, add it to your EXPLORATORY SPREADSHEET. As you make contact with community leaders, you will need to graduate to more detailed FACE SHEETS to collect your information. EXPLORE DOCUMENTARY SOURCES Mining documentary sources is one of the most efficient ways of discovering what organizations and associations exist within a community. 1. Start with your local phone book. People — not govern- Your community’s phone book is the most straightforward place to begin discovering ments, courts, or other its organizations and associations. Scan the Yellow Pages categories for Associations, agencies — are the solu- Children’s Services, Clubs, Education, Human Services, Organizations, Schools, Social Service Organizations, and Youth Organizations. Identify any groups that tion to the problems chil- look promising, focusing particularly on organizations that are located in or near the dren face. Courts in par- “high impact” communities you identified in the Fact Sheet. ticular, which extend one 2. Read local papers. helping hand while hold- Read your local paper — the more local, the better — for listings of events, meetings, ing child-sized handcuffs and clubs. in the other, often end up Community groups often place notices of their activities in a local paper. You are hurting the children with likely to find information about classes being sponsored by the local Chamber of whom they come into Commerce, acting and drama groups, or musical groups that cater to young people. contact, despite their best Also look for organizations where children could volunteer or provide community intentions. service. You'll be surprised at what you can find. Don’t forget the online version of the newspaper; many event postings now appear solely on a paper’s website. 3. Explore al.com. The website al.com has a link called “Local Businesses,” and then click on the “Community & Organizations” category, and you can search or browse to discover UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 20 organizations, groups, and churches that may be useful. Its ability to map the location of every organization or church makes it easier to pinpoint those in your high-impact area. Also browse categories like “Education & Instruction,” as well as “Adult, Career, and Continuing Education.” In some larger cities and towns, Craigslist may also prove a valuable resource. Don’t forget public assets! Career centers, community colleges, libraries, and social service agencies are all assets that are found in many communities and should be included in your results. GO TO WHERE GROUPS MEET Community groups typically meet in public places, and these places often maintain lists of the groups and individuals that use their space. Call the directors and administrators of local parks, libraries, schools and churches to ask which groups meet there. While you do not need to contact every meeting place, be sure to contact the high-impact schools you listed in your LOCATE SHEET, as well as any parks and recreational facilities that are in high-impact neighborhoods. CONTINUE KEEPING RECORDS Continue expanding the EXPLORATORY SPREADSHEET, adding the promising organizations you find by investigating documentary sources and going to where groups meet. PRIORITIZE By now, you may have quite a collection of organizations in your EXPLORATORY SPREADSHEET and you will have to decide which organizations and individuals to contact first. Consider factors such as: Did a friend or colleague recommend this organization? Is the organization located in or near the neighborhood or school you are focusing on based on the data you collected on the Location Sheet? Does this group do something particularly relevant, something that meets the needs or addresses the strengths you listed on the Fact Sheet? You will always be able to (and should) loop back and make contact with groups lower on your priority list, but definitely begin by contacting the groups that seem the most promising. REACH OUT Relationships are the backbone of successful community-building. Relationships are best established by making phone calls and conducting face-to-face interviews. A letter can be a great way to follow up on a first meeting. UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 21 Call — Don’t be shy! Call the community members you have identified. See the GUIDELINE FOR CALLS AND INTERVIEWS (page 20) and the SAMPLE QUESTIONS (page 31) for advice on how to introduce your project and what questions to ask. Make sure to tell them you are calling because someone recom- mended them as a valuable resource. Also be sure to introduce yourself and the project in a positive light. If someone seems as if they would be particularly valu- able to the project after a phone conversation, ask if they would be willing to meet face-to-face. Interviews — the most powerful tool in your community asset-mapping toolbox. Meet with community leaders to discuss your vision of positive commu- nity-based programs for children and to listen to their visions for their community. These meetings will provide the best opportunity to brainstorm ways to collabora- tively turn visions into realities. Be careful in making Write — follow-up in a letter. A follow-up letter serves many purposes. It confirms that you are a real person engaged in a real project, provides a reminder too many assumptions. of your conversation, sends a message that you are serious about the project, and In Montgomery County, encourages your interviewees to spread the word by passing your letter along probation officers were to a friend. Letters can also be a way to keep people engaged; be sure to include surprised to learn that information about the next step they need to take to build community-based sup- ports for children, and don’t forget to send them a copy of your EXPLORATORY the court’s population SPREADSHEET. Seeing the organizations you have already identified will often had dramatically shifted jog their memories and help them think of more. You can follow up with another from the west side of phone call to touch base and maintain a working relationship. (See the SAMPLE town to the southeast. LETTER on page 25 for an example.) Trends in poverty and GUIDELINES FOR CALLS AND INTERVIEWS delinquency can change One of the most powerful, inspirational, and effective ways to communicate is quickly. You might find through story telling. Share your stories about the children you’ve worked with and that the public’s percep- the obstacles you’ve seen them overcome because they had someone who cared. Stories allow people to see you and your project through a personal and sympa- tions may be a decade thetic point of view. Through stories, people can begin to see themselves — and out of date. their own children — in the children you are trying to help. The more your inter- viewee identifies with you or your children, the more likely they are to become active participants in the project of community asset-mapping. UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 22 However you decide to reach out — by phone, in person, or writing — remember to always: Explain who you are. Introduce yourself and the organization(s) you represent. Tell them how you learned of their activities and why you are interested in what they do. Explain what you are doing. Explain the project. Talk about the project’s goals — to connect children with people in the community who can teach, tutor, coach, mentor, or to simply spend time with children and do something positive and interesting. Take the time to share any stories of success you have had. Describe some of the organizations you have contacted, and what sorts of tasks they have vol- unteered to do to help children. Explain to the person you are recruiting why their input is so important. They can also help discover and provide the supports that children from their com- munities need in order to stay in school and stay out of trouble. Ask for help. Interviews are most valuable when they result in actionable information. You are looking for commitment and connections from community leaders: “Sure. I’d be happy to invite court-involved children to our youth group.” “Mrs. Jennings is a wonderful woman looking to have a bigger impact, and I will put you in touch with her.” “One of our parishioners is a mechanic who has taken on apprentices in the past, and I will see if he is interested.” Or, “I will make an announcement at our next gathering.” The community asset-mapping process relies on the knowledge of community leaders to learn about the groups within your community, and the willingness of com- munity leaders to serve as a bridge between you and potential volunteers. They are the glue that establishes the connection between community members who want to work with children and the children you serve. The success of community mapping efforts is built upon your relationships with these respected community leaders. If you are lucky enough to find a community leader who wants to help you with the asset-mapping process, take them up on it. Give them a copy of this guidebook, brief them on what you have already accomplished, and share the information you have already collected. Make sure you have a system to regularly check-in with each other and share information. COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING LOCATE 23 SAMPLE FACT SHEET FOR ASSOCIATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS Name of Organization:_______________________________________________________________________________________ Neighborhood: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person: _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone Number: _____________________________________________________________________________________________ How organization was learned of: ____________________________________________________________________________ Meeting place: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Other groups that share meeting place: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsors of this organization or groups sponsored by this organization: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Goal of organization and how it works with children: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What could this organization contribute to help at-risk children succeed? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is organization willing to contribute? If not, what would make the difference? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Members of organization to contact, and contact info: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Other organizations discovered through this interview: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING DISCOVER 24 EXPLORATORY SPREADSHEET (SAMPLE) TARGET PROGRAM NAME NEIGHBORHOOD DESCRIPTION CONTACT INFO POPULATION Volunteer tutoring program. After Bruce Kamradt homework, children Children who struggle Advocate and YMCA Downtown Director participate in in school supervised athletic 555-0227 activities. Connects each child Court-involved youth Neil Brown with a positive role at risk for increased (Community Local Mentoring West Side model, and organizes involvement in Member) Program one-on-one and Juvenile Justice group activities. system 555-2281 Group of friends who Might be willing to Mrs. Johnson Mrs. Johnson’s have been getting Oldtown bring a teenager into sewing circle together twice a 555-1111 the circle week for 15 years COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING LOCATE 25 EXPLORATORY SPREADSHEET TARGET PROGRAM NAME NEIGHBORHOOD DESCRIPTION CONTACT INFO POPULATION COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING DISCOVER 26 SAMPLE LETTER June 15, 2013 Reverend David Johns New Home Baptist Church 1422 Hill St. Montgomery, AL 36108 Dear Reverend Johns, I truly enjoyed our conversation last Tuesday, and am excited about the prospect of working with you to build community supports for children. You mentioned in our conversation that your church has a youth group that meets on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and that new children would be welcome to attend. I appreciate your help, and have contacted the youth group director, Randy Peterson, to work out the logistics. I also want to thank you for putting me in contact with Mrs. Bailey, who has offered to be a mentor, as well as the folks at the After School Alliance. Because of people like you and like them, our project is really getting off of the ground. I have included a document that shows the organizations that we have identified so far, including the ones I learned of through you. Please take a look at it, and make a note of any other organizations or people you think of who could be helpful, especially people you know through your work on issues of poverty and community renewal. I will contact you next week regarding any additional feedback that you may have. Again, the success of our program relies on community input from leaders like you. Together we will build a stronger, safer community for our children. Thank you, David Jones REAL LIFE POETS ERYKA PERRY John Paul Taylor is based in Birmingham, Ala., and is one of the co-founders of Real Life Poets, Inc., a non-profit community service and mentoring organization that focuses on mentoring young adults, encouraging good communication, and the development of oratorical skills using spoken word poetry and the arts. Taylor and his seven siblings were in foster care after his father died and his mother could no longer manage financially. He turned to poetry as an escape. Eventually, his mother reunited the children, and six of the seven graduated college. Taylor, after he was laid off from his corporate job, decided to return to his true love — and give back to the community at the same time. In August 2006, he, along with Leroy “Obeah” Hicks and David “Quick” Hawthorne, formed Real Life and began using poetry as a means of expression and communication to change lives. Real Life Poets now has a multitude of partnerships to spread the power of poetry. Taylor’s organization, for instance, teamed up with the Jefferson County Library Cooperative to sponsor a high school poetry competition called Word Up. A program called First Saturdays at the downtown branch of the Birmingham Public Library is ongoing. Taylor’s advice: “Listen! And pay attention. We usually know what the problems are; we just need to work to bring the answers together.” UNLOCK UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 29 COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING UNLOCK The UNLOCK phase of community asset-mapping is where you meet with individu- als, collect information about their skills, talents, and gifts that they want to share with children in their community. Unlocking is when community members step off the sidelines and become the tutors, mentors, art teachers, and volunteers who make community-based programs a reality. The most difficult part of Unlocking is establishing contact with potential vol- unteers. Past efforts have called random households in the community, stopped people on the street, or gone door-to-door to ask about residents' skills and desire to contribute. These methods have met varied levels of success. If you feel they would be successful in your community, the book Building Communities from the Inside Out, by John Kretzmann and John McKnight, is an excellent source for ideas and techniques. Because few community asset-mapping projects have the resources or personnel to conduct door-to-door surveys, this guide recommends targeting by association. Targeting by association means that you will contact and reach out to individu- als through the connections you made with organizations in the Discover phase. You will rely on the ministers, directors of organizations, and other community members you have met to connect you with potential volunteers and assets. One place to find people where you can do group asset-mapping is voluntary associa- A recent search of the tions such as neighborhood groups, cultural clubs, self-help groups, recreation groups and sports leagues that you think may be friendly to your initiative. Montgomery Advertiser discovered a youth THE SKILLS CHECKLIST group that combines The SKILLS CHECKLIST is a tool that helps identify the skills, abilities, and gifts gospel, hip-hop, R&B, that community members have to offer. Although it is most effective in group set- tings, you can administer the Checklist in person or over the phone, or you can dis- miming, and dancing tribute copies and let community members complete it independently and return — all positive activities it to you. If you distribute the Checklist and ask community members to complete that interest many it independently, be sure to include a letter or memo that explains your project and children. The search why you need their input. also found a support As you go through the SKILLS CHECKLIST, you are likely to find that many commu- group for people with nity members feel intimidated and deny that they have skills, abilities, and gifts that would be valuable to children. Whether this hesitance is based in modesty, fright, or eating disorders. a lack of confidence, these people do have gifts to offer children. You must be creative as you combat people’s instinct to downplay their value to their communities. The SKILLS CHECKLIST is most valuable if it is filled out in a group setting. People often feel uncomfortable talking about their personal assets and many people are automatically suspicious that people will steal their ideas. But once a few people in a group begin to share their assets, it encourages others to do the same. This works UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 30 not only with individual residents but also with organizations. When one organiza- tion says it will share its space and its people, others tend to follow suit. At this point, you have completed most of the legwork of community asset-mapping. You should congratulate yourself and your partners for discovering the wealth of organizations, churches, and associations that serve children, as well as for establish- ing contact and learning about the skills of several individuals within your commu- nity. As you achieve small successes, word of your project is likely to spread. You will be able to revisit the SKILLS CHECKLIST and conduct additional interviews of com- munity leaders. In the meantime, you should move on to putting community-based networks into action. PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER Now is when the fun of connecting the dots begins. Some community-based pro- grams will be ready-made: choirs, youth groups, and community support groups require very little start-up on your part. Your role is simply to begin referring chil- dren to these groups and to ensure that they are expected and welcomed. Other types of community-based programs will require significantly more energy on the front end, but this is a creative and inspiring process. Getting community-based programs up and running is a lot like putting together a puzzle. Every person and organization brings a small piece, and your task as the puzzle builder is to condense all the pieces into coherent and beneficial activities. WORKING FROM THE TOP DOWN A writer in California, David Eggers, recognized that many children would benefit from a community-based tutoring program, and set out to create a network of vol- unteers to meet children’s needs. He mined the community for volunteer tutors, a cheap and accessible space, volunteers willing to renovate the space, and teachers who would refer children to his tutoring center. He was able to find all the assets he needed and put them into action, forming a tutoring non-profit that is now active in seven major cities (see 826national.org). Like Eggers, you will work from the top down as you first envision a particular program, and then search your SKILLS CHECKLIST and FACE SHEETS for the assets you need to make this program a reality. WORKING FROM THE BOTTOM UP When an asset-mapper looked through all the information she had collected and brainstormed the possibilities, she realized that state agencies and volunteers she surveyed could complement each other to build a themed program. A local career center offered classes to become a mechanic, a local resident wanted to teach chil- dren how to tune up a car, and a local body shop was willing to take on apprentices. Between these three assets, she established what amounted to a course in a subject many children were interested in. She did not begin the community asset-mapping project to create a program built around car repair, but capitalized on the circum- stances she inherited. Keep your eyes and mind open, and jump on any opportunity that presents itself. UNLOCKING YOUR COMMUNITY’S HIDDEN ASSETS: A GUIDEBOOK TO COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING | 31 TIP: LEAD THE WAY Offer to accompany a potential community volunteer to their first tutoring or men- toring experience. Once people begin this type of work, it quickly becomes less intimidating, and people can overcome their fears. If you can persuade someone to volunteer once, there is a solid chance that you can transform them into a lifelong contributor. The most difficult part is usually getting them to take the initial step. EPILOGUE: TELL YOUR STORY The Epilogue is yours to write. You may have established a network of mentors, or placed tutors in the classrooms of struggling schools. You may have opened youth groups and music ensembles to children who never could have participated other- wise. Your community asset-mapping project may have resulted in an innovative program that benefited hundreds of children, or it may have had a life-changing impact on only one. And this is just the beginning. Tell the story of your experience discovering and unlocking community-based programs for children to others. Be in it for the long haul, and guide others along the path with you. Everything you learned and achieved in this process will inspire others, and, through your stories, community-based programs for youth can spread like wildfire. COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING UNLOCK 32 SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS 1. What groups does your church/park/library/school/organization sponsor? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What community groups use your space as a meeting place, or where do you meet? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. In what ways does the community use the church/park/library/organization? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What resources and activities do you have or sponsor that children could access? This could include meeting space, existing youth groups, musical ensembles, support groups, sports leagues, transportation (car, van, bus, truck), etc. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Part of our vision involves connecting children with community members who want to share their gifts, skills, and talents. We are especially interested in retirees who want to volunteer as tutors or mentors, and in men and women who are willing to teach children how to build skills, such as tuning up a car, building a house, or playing an instrument. Would you be interested in sharing your skills and interests with a child? Which members of your congregation/organization/association do you think might also want to participate in these types of activities with children? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. How can you help connect us with potential volunteers? Would you be willing to make an announcement, help parishioners complete the SKILLS CHECKLIST (see page 32), or participate in other ways? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Whom else should I talk to? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ COMMUNITY ASSET-MAPPING UNLOCK 33 SKILLS CHECKLIST Name: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Neighborhood: __________________________________________________ Phone: ____________________________________ Days/Times Available: _______________________________________________________________________________________ What are your skills, abilities, and gifts? b Singing b Carpentry Skills b Technology (radio, TV, DVD, computer, etc…) b Playing an instrument b Auto-Repair Skills (_____________) b Fishing b Transport (car, van, bus, truck) b Production b Mowing Lawns b Construction b Painting b Electrical Skills b Plumbing b Drawing b Tutoring b Handiwork b Pottery b Mentoring b Child Care b Sculpture b Writing Grants/Letters b Cosmetology b Photography b Writing Reports b Hair Design b Other art skills b Typing b Elder Care b Theater b Making Phone Calls b Agriculture/Farming b Dance b Cooking/Baking Skills b ________________________ Have you ever taught a class? ________________________________________ If so, what subject/grade level? _________________________/______________ AYJA MEMBER LIST Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program Big Brother Big Sister of Greater National Alliance and Mental Illness (ADAP) Birmingham of Alabama The University of Alabama 1901 14th Avenue South 1401 I-85 Parkway Box 870395 Birmingham, Alabama 35205 Suite A Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487 Montgomery, Alabama 36106 Birmingham Faith In Action Alabama New South Coalition- 2100 4th Avenue North Southern Poverty Law Center Montgomery Chapter Birmingham, Alabama 35203 400 Washington Avenue 838 South Court Street Montgomery, Alabama 36104 Montgomery, Alabama 36014 The Children's District P.O. Box 24894 VOICES for Alabama's Children Alabama New South Coalition- Montgomery, Alabama 36124 P. O. Box 4576 Birmingham Chapter Montgomery, AL 36103-4576 908 7th Place SW Federation of Child Care Center Birmingham, Alabama 35211 of Alabama 100 Black Men of Greater Montgomery 3703 Rosa Parks Avenue Post Office Box 241713 Alabama Possible – From the PO Box 214 Montgomery, AL 36124 Alabama Poverty Project Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0214 C/O Ed Brown/CEO P.O. Box 55058 Birmingham, Alabama 35255 Legal Aid Society of Birmingham 2027 1st Ave N Alabama Poverty Project Suite 1004 Southside Baptist Church Birmingham, Alabama 35203 1016 19th Street South Birmingham, Alabama 35205 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Written by Ebony Howard Research and additional writing by Cyrus O'Brien Edited by Jamie Kizzire, Phillip Ward and Danielle Lipow Design by Scott Phillips and Sunny Paulk Photography by Bill Starling/Mobile Press-Register (page 6); Michelle Leland (page 10); Edward Badham (page 16); Real Life Poets Eryka Perry (page 26) © 2012 Southern Poverty Law Center

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