Inspirations for building community
If you take I-80 all the way to San Francisco, the very last exit will take
you right into the Haight-Ashbury district. That is where the freeway ends and
so many dreams have begun.
Haight is a street of dreams. Why? Because once, for at least one summer, there was an awesome sense of community there.
But the legacy of that Summer of Love has gotten all confused in the years since. If you go to the Upper Haight -- Haight and Ashbury -- the legacy today seems to be one of bumper stickers and tied-dyed T-shirts. People are literally shopping for a sense of community.
If you go to the lower Haight -- say Haight and Fillmore -- you'll find
another group of people looking for community, too. But too often their hopes
for community have been crushed in a struggle just to stay alive. Some in the
lower Haight are young and have run away. Some are trapped in poverty. Some have been reduced to begging.
I think every community has its Haight and the very same divisions within it. It's certainly true in each of the communities where I have lived.
But lately, I've also been thinking that it could be the task of social workers to create a new Haight, a true Haight. We could do this wherever we are.
We could say to those who are shopping for community: This is not something you can buy. It is priceless. We could say to those who are struggling just to stay alive: This community wants you, wants to help you restore your dreams.
Perhaps, just perhaps, we could bring together those who are shopping and those who are struggling. They would have a lot to give each other.
One could easily say that's not a very realistic idea. And it does seem kind of crazy if you look around and see the divisions in our communities.
Yet isn't that exactly what Jane Addams set out to do when she started that settlement house. Isn't that what she meant when she talked about the importance of a "mutual exchange" among the citizens of a community.
posted by Tom Gilsenan @ 6:20 PM
19 comments
19 Comments:
Tom-
I believe that social workers are creating communities even in un-like community situations. For example: Social workers can help bring a struggling family closer together. And of course social workers are helping create a brighter future in the communities in which they work for. To me, that is common sense for social workers to start with clients at one intersection and travel to the next until the dream and goal has been successfully completed.
-Lisa Assid
I think that these people will naturaly find and gravitate towords each other. I think that we generate what we want and bring it into our lives.
I think that for a lot of our communities we are completely divided. The social issues that the working poor face are not the same social issues that the middle class face. I too think we should try to come together and try to understand how we can be of help to someone even if we cannot help ourselves. I also feel as though the many political problems that we have are ignored because people are too busy to be bothered with something that does not directly effect them. If we could come together and find a common need for change then maybe, just maybe we could start a revolution to stop the crimes against all working classes in the political system.
Angie
I have meet some people that are living in poverty and they seem content with the way that they live, living on the streets, I just don't see how they would want to live like that but I was told that some homeless people don't want help and that even though they might not have a place of their own they are still able to find a place that will feed them, or a place they can get out of the cold for awhile. I come across a gentlemen that needed a ride so I gave hime a ride, he wanted to go down by Falls Park he had said that they is a place down that he could set up camp. It got me wondering about how many people actually live back in the woodsy area. I thought to myself that there could be a totally different world of people living in the woods. At the same time I felt bad and ever since then have been thinking that there has to be someone or something that can help these people.
I think it is so unbelieveably important to have a sense of community. I think the farther we get the less many communities have that. If everyone would do a little something to help their community and help the people in it, our world would a much better place.
I agree with you, the towns or cities are definatly spilt into different categories. That is where people get the rich nieghborhoods, the ghetto neighborhood, and the middle class area.
I think it would be great to have a place where everybody felt like they were somebody. Your analogy about Cheers is right on. We all need a place where we feel welcome and feel that everyone is happy to see us and listen to us.
I do think that is what Jane Adams set out to do. The thing is that communities want just that, community but without working towards it. I just moved to Brandon and it is all new to me but I will never get that sense of community if I don't go out and try to be a part of it. Talking to neighbors, meeting other parents, finding out just how to get invovled with what happens here.
YES I DO AGREE, OUR COMMUNITY IS DIVIDED. WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE UPPER HAIGHT AND THOSE THAT ARE IN THE LOWER HAIGHT, WHICH IS SAD THAT THIS IS HAPPENING HEAR IN AMERICA THAT THE ARE PEOPLE CAN NOT SHARE THEIR WEALTH. I THINK AS SOCIAL WORKERS WE NEED TO WORK ON HELPING THOSE THAT CAN NOT FIND HELP. IF YOU SEE SOMEBODY IN NEED TRY AND HELP THEM, THERE'S A SAYING THAT IF YOU CAN HELP SOMEBOY GET OF THE GROUND,YOU ARE ADDING A BLESSING TO YOURSELF. I KNOW SOMETIMES IT IS HARD BECAUASE OF THE WAY THINGS ARE,THE POOR GETS POORER AND THE RICH GET RICHER. HOW CAN WE BREAK THAT CIRCLE. AS A NATION WE NEED TO WORK AS ONE TOWARDS ONE GOAL HAVE A MUTUAL EXCHANGE LIKE JANE ADDAMS SAID. WE NEED TO WORK TOWARDS BUILDING OUR OWN COMMUNITY HELP EACH OTHER.
Busi Moshoeshoe
I very much liked your essay. It was nice to hear part of your story tonight in class (Friday), it gave me some insight into the people living in lower Haight. There was one comment in particular that caught my attention. "... we could bring together those who are shopping and those who are struggling. They would have a lot to give each other." I found those few sentences very inspiring. It seems as if everyone gets wrapped up in saving themselves. If they could just look at one another and come together and form some kind of community, there is no doubt that they would succeed in atleast living a little better.
Mutual exchange is exactly what Jane Addams set out to accomplish. However the different classes of people have to be willing to work together for this to have lasting positive effects. I doubt greatly if the power elite class is willing to give up its money, power, and control to the working poor to become a product of "Mutual Exchange". Some examples of this would be the power elite class marrying within the power elite class and mainting class status with generational legacies. This would be a great resource for the community, but in a dog eat dog society, it is difficult to incorperate without a social reformation.
I think that every community can be restored, it just takes one more to step up and take the lead to make it the way they want it. You want people who live in the community to put their suggestions in too because they live there and the will take more pride in living somewhere they helped make better.
This would be a great thing if we could accomplish it. Unity in comunities would help eliminate soo many things, such as poverty, drugs and more obscene things. I feel it is a good thought for all social workers to remember.
Linsey a
Tom-
I truly agree that each community has its own divisions such as Haight. The community that I grew up in was a smaller community. However, even in small towns you have division. It may not be as obvious as upper and lower districts in bigger cities but there are divisions even in a community of less than 2000 people.
No matter where a person lives, there are levels of socioeconomic segregation and I believe the division of a community begins to happen in this way. However, does this really make a difference as long as people feel as though they belong to a group or are in someway linked to a community?
I definitely believe that social workers can link communities together and need to look specifically at what each community needs. I believe that it is important to recognize what each community needs and how best to address their needs.
~Amber Corey
I think that every town has its own Haight. Take a walk around any city or town and you will see the division of people. Sometimes it’s easy to spot, like in New York City or Los Angeles. Other times it is hard to see. I think the country would be some much better if we could bring a sense of community to everyone and show everyone that there is a place for them in this country. So many people are looking for a place to belong and feel that they are unwanted by everyone. I think that social workers play an important part in bringing everyone together and forging that sense of community in everyone.
Rachael H.
I think that in every community people are trying to fit in and have a close knit that they feel they can trust. It is not only in communities but also in everyday life. People trying to find a group where they can be themselves, and have no one judge them. A group where people act like them nad have the same values and beliefs as one another. I think that in both groups and communities, people just need to trust one another and understand and appreciate everyone for being the individual that they are.
Becky
Inspiration for Building Communities
I think ever community has its Haights. I don’t see it so much in Aberdeen for being so distinctly though, but I never thought homelessness was a problem in Aberdeen still I started in Social Work. When Jane Adams started the settlement house I think she had amazing thoughts and expectations for these. I think there are certain ways that people could help even out the haights in communities so that it’s not such a distinct factor between the wealthy and the ones in poverty it will just take someone to step up and help everyone out.
Inspiration for Building Community
I have this friend who is a retired nurse. She and some other ladies started this group called Women of Hope. It was for women who wanted a group that they could talk to other women and talk about issues that they are having; abuse, weight, health. The women get to go to art museums, out to a good restaurant, to a place that they might not have the opportunity to go if they had to pay themselves. It usually meets about once a month and Diane (retired nurse) usually provides lunch and toiletries items. Also, Diane provides passes to the YWCA for women who want to workout. The group is funded by grants.
My mother and I have been in this group for a few years now. It has grown to about 30 women. I have been around these women to know that they either come from shelters or that they are living in poverty. Mother and I never take the toiletries because we can see that the other women need them more than we do. It is disheartening to see how exciting they get over receiving a roll of toilet paper or shampoo.
This year for the Christmas party I have decided that I am going to provide a care package for each woman in this group, with my own time and money just because I have learned so much from these women, the struggles that they go through daily. I just want to do my part in helping in any way that I can.
Margaret W.
I love the "Women of Hope." Great work -- great group work -- but in a very ordinary (rather than clinical) setting.
Post a Comment
<< Home