Training to Change the World

By Sara Varela, Community Building and Organizing program

October 25 to the 28 marked not only NeighborWorks Community Leadership Institute (CLI) in Orlando, Florida, but also my nine year old’s birthday, Hurricane Sandy passing through the East Coast, the closing on my house and much more. So needless to say, things have been crazy recently. However, it's worth stopping to reflect on the great things that came out of the CLI and why it matters.

The CLI is an annual gathering of 110 different resident volunteer teams from across the country. NeighborWorks America holds the event because we believe that residents are in the best position to make substantial positive impact in their communities, and that their impact will be even greater if these leaders are trained in best practices and can learn from the experiences of others.

Attendees are part of teams, each comprised of six to eight people who live nearby and come together to address a specific problem. During the CLI, team members participate in top-notch trainings with some of the best instructors in the country. Teams who submit an Action Plan to NeighborWorks America receive a $2,000 seed grant to help them leverage local resources and see their plans turn into reality.

These plans lead to great community projects, like the Sabor del Northside community festival in Houston, Texas, where schools, businesses, artists, community organizations, and residents came together to put on an event attended by more than 1000 people. Other CLI-related projects have included a cross-state safe prescription drug disposal program, a safety awareness fair, community gardens and youth leadership programs.

The CLI supports these community enhancement projects by providing a contagious, positive and invigorating experience for attendees that helps them to go from concept to completion. The CLI instructors are not what you might expect from a big corporate training event. Each of them was passionate about their work, so much so that their energy radiated from every classroom. They have taught me important skills, but most importantly, they have inspired me as have many of the participants who strive for greatness, to overcome obstacles and to expect positive change when communities join forces to solve their problems.

Dorothy Richardson mural from the Orlando
Neighborhood Improvement Corporation

The CLI is also the time where we honor the Dorothy Richardson Resident Leadership recipients, people who exemplify a spirit of service and a commitment to a better future in their communities. For profiles of these amazing people, check out nw.org/drawards. There’s also a great video there with stories about what a difference resident leaders can make.

Adding to these indoor activities, the CLI had practical workshops and tours of the Orlando communities. We also had a virtual presence via Twitter (see Storify summary) and a Facebook group for participants. Using these tools, attendees could comment on their experiences, talk with others and tocapture the event from their perspective.

It is the first time I’ve see so much interaction and engagement online from so many people. The Facebook group allowed many of us to meet in person, to learn what was happening in the sessions and tours, and hopefully it will continue to capture the energy and enthusiasm of participants as they implement their action plans over the next year.

Tap Bui (center) with her team from Mary Queen of Vietnam
from New Orleans. She was my partner in one of our sessions
and it's great to keep in touch using the Facebook group.

I am really hoping we can continue to see updates, photos and videos from every single team who attended the CLI. It would be fantastic if we could keep up with the successes, road blocks and challenges of the teams as they go back to their communities.

Overall it was a tremendously successful event that reminds me why I do what I do, and which I believe can change the world, one community project at a time.

Building Grassroots Leadership in South Carolina

By Hillary Rowe Wiley,
NeighborWorks America
public affairs and communications
advisor, Southern District

NeighborWorks America began in 1968 as a result of resident leaders who took up a charge to improve their neighborhoods (history here), so it makes sense that resident empowerment is still a crucial component of what we do.  One of the best ways we have found to promote resident leadership is to strengthen ties between local groups so they can develop their own networks, share and build best practices, and ultimately work toward solutions for complex challenges.

Last weekend NeighborWorks America’s Southern District, in collaboration with South Carolina Associations of Community Development Corporations (SCACDC) sponsored a Grassroots Leadership Institute (GLI) in Greenville, South Carolina. In keeping with our goal of engaging a variety of public and private partners, our partner SCACDC attracted the support of the City of Greenville, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, TD Bank, GCRA and Homes of Hope.

The GLI attracted around 150 diverse grassroots leaders, ranging in age from young adults to retired citizens, all banding together to experience “Empowering Your Community from the Ground Up – with Real Solutions for Real People in Real Neighborhoods.”

Classes taught residents a variety of skills, including how to build safer communities, promote healthy living, develop political clout and strengthen personal leadership skills. Panelists included Southern District Director Donald Phoenix, South Carolina State Representative Chandra Dillard, and SCACDC President and CEO Bernie Mazyck. “Connecting with the community - being in conversations with emerging leaders to retired residents, sharing best practices and learning from folks at the grassroots level is the foundational work necessary to stabilizing and transforming communities,” said Phoenix.

Donald Phoenix with Rep. Chandra Dillard and Bernie Mazyck

During the event, I spoke of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s leadership principle: “looking for the gold” or positive in every situation. I chose this theme because I know community development can focus on everything that isn’t working – blight, drugs, poverty, all the things that can undermine a neighborhood’s stability and success. As a result, sometimes we forget to look at community assets. All too often we get into what is known as the failure habit – which is focusing on and complaining about everything and anything that’s not working. This can lead to feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, so it’s important to celebrate successes and focus on the positive.

I hope that as a result of the institute, many community leaders will return to their neighborhoods with new connections and new knowledge that can support their projects, and with expanded sense of possibility for what their communities could become. So far, what we heard at the conference supports this goal. One local pastor who had just returned to Greenville after a four-year stint in England, was initially unsure of the GLI saying he knew few people in Greenville and did not yet feel part of the community. However, by the conclusion of the institute he was fired up saying, “This was great! Now I’m connected to so many people, and I now know what to do to help create and change community on a level that’s very different from my traditional pastor role. Thanks so much. This was really great!”

I am proud what we’ve achieved already and I look forward to the stories and photos we’ll be gathering from all the local successes.

Inspiration from New Orleans

By Alexandra Chaikin,
Online Media Project Manager

For the past four days I’ve been very lucky. I have been working in the vibrant, complex city of New Orleans at the NeighborWorks Training Institute, meeting many of the people who make positive social and economic change possible in communities across this country.

Every day I’ve heard new stories of success and transformation – turning superfund sites into urban gardens, empowering residents to build anew after Katrina, partnering with banks to stem foreclosures, the list could go on. What’s been most striking to me is the accumulated knowledge of the conference attendees and their willingness to share that knowledge, and receive knowledge from others, in service of the greater good.

I also saw with clarity the importance of NeighborWorks training division staff in making this exchange of ideas possible. I believe passionately in the value of online media (hence my title!), but it is the in-person conversations that often inspire new or improved courses of action. I applaud our staff for their work behind the scenes organizing the classes and meetings in a way that enabled these discussions.

For those of you who could not attend, or who want a quick reference for inspiration, here were some of my favorite quotes and photos:

Photo by Chad Klawetter via Instagram

“Our city is not in a rebuilding phase; it is in an opportunity phase.”
–Brian Lawlor, director of housing policy, City of New Orleans at resident leadership symposium

 “The Community Building and Organizing program has already surpassed its goal of developing 7000 resident leaders.”
–Eileen Fitzgerald, CEO of NeighborWorksAmerica at CB&O dinner

“The challenge is to constantly expand ordinary people's self confidence.”
–Marie Kennedy, keynote speaker at resident leadership symposium

The photo and quotes were submitted via Twitter. You can see more on our Storify page. You can also visit the Leaders for Communities site for materials and discussion related to the May 9 symposium on resident leadership. To learn about all of NeighborWorks' efforts in the Gulf, visit our website.