Week 11: News Article - Cheri

Article: 2013 a Banner Year For STL Startups

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/people/maria-altman

March 22, 2014 by Maria Altman

           

A community requires tax revenue to provide services such as emergency response, schools, and personnel who attend to the needs within the community such as well maintained roads, housing, and  infrastructure support (gas, electric, water, sewage, & trash).  All of these things are dependent upon an area's wealth, which is driven by the area's economy.  After attending a recent community meeting in Ferguson, I realized Mayor James Knowles and the city council understood the importance of attracting businesses to Ferguson to stimulate their city's economy.  Mayor Knowles shared that people move away from their community when it no longer contains businesses that meet the everyday needs. Thus, this prompted me to read a business and economic article written by Maria Altman, 2013 A Banner Year For STL Startups."  From this article I learned about organizations whose focus is to strengthen and grow businesses within a region such as St. Louis city and county areas.

            Joy De Long is the St. Louis Chamber's Vice President of the "New Ventures & Capital Formation."  He shared with Maria Altman the successes of the St. Louis Regional Chamber during the past eight years, which resulted this year in a total of 52 new companies with 37 of those companies focusing on technology-based services.  Additional research on www.Forbes.com revealed that technology-based companies are highly profitable due to their ability to provide services to a large number of consumers, often anywhere in the United States and even overseas.  At www.stlregionalchamber.com, I learned that the goals of the Chamber are to unite very successful business leaders in the community who will help stimulate the local economy through the creation of:

·      New public policies to create a friendly business climate

·      Higher educational attainment in areas of need

·      Opportunities for entrepreneurship

·      Opportunities for businesses to move to St. Louis

·      Encouraging innovation and economic inclusion

·      Networks to financially sustain and begin new businesses

As I reflected upon the support offered by a city's chamber of commerce, I began to more fully understand the significance of its impact upon a community and how important it is for a social worker to become knowledgeable about their city's chamber of commerce.  For example, through the Chamber's website, I learned about a non-profit organization that has the potential to become a community resource.

             According to De Long, St. Louis has a unique non-profit nationally recognized organization called the Arch Angels Investment Group, which is comprised of members committed to buying stock in new companies and mentoring potential new business owners.  This has resulted in an investment of approximately 40 million dollars in the St. Louis area since 2006.  According to De Long, out of the 235 companies started since 2006, 200 are still successfully operating today.  Addition reading at www.fundingpost.com/angelgroup revealed that Arch Angels' investors help individuals with business planning, team building, fund raising (venture capital), and training on how to generate business contracts.  The support of Arch Angels Investment Group has the potential to help start successful community programs such as Angel Baked Cookies. 

            Our Code of Ethics states that we should empower individuals and connect them to resources.  Using a strengths perspective, I believe one of the most empowering services social workers can provide is to show individuals different ways they can become financially independent.  Have you ever thought about how an individual and/or community can become more financially secure?   How would you connect an individual or community to resources to help facilitate financial security?

Week 11: News Article - Danielle I.

http://www.austinweeklynews.com/News/Articles/3-28-2014/$500K-in-state-funding-coming-to-Austin-community-groups/

This article discusses how the Westside Branch NAACP and the Westside Health Authority in Austin, IL are planning to spend $500,000 they were appropriated, but did not ask for.  State representative, LaShawn Ford applied for the money unbeknownst to the two groups.

            The director of the branch of the NAACP in question said that the money will be allocated towards the ACT-SO program that helps high-school students.  The aim of this program is to recruit adult and student mentors for students in the community to help foster knowledge.  One of the activities yearly is a competition similar to a Quizbowl in which students get the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge they have gained.

            This type of program seems like it would be useful in Lemay as it allows students to learn in a constructive, while slightly competitive, environment and allows adults and other students in the community to help foster knowledge in others.  Furthermore, it helps the students in the community learn by example.

Ford was quoted as saying, "Some individuals believe we should stop spending and pay down our bills, but our communities are hurting. We should spend money where it's needed," Ford said. "We have to empower the West Side, especially our kids. We need to broaden the net and bring in more youth, and strengthen those programs that already exist.” 

This article was relevant to our classwork as it depicts a struggling community.  However, it was particularly relevant to my work in Lemay as it shows groups getting an influx of money and the process of determining how to appropriately spend it.  This is somewhat comparable to Lemay’s influx of dollars after the casino was built.

Ford also said, "Austin is struggling with the schools closing.  There's a lack of a YMCA and a lack of programs for kids to go to college and better themselves. In Austin, the kids are at-risk and we have to do something to keep them from becoming at-risk."  Again, this is relevant to much of our work in the community as there are many at-risk youth in all of the communities involved.  Ford aspires to provide resources for these youth.

            How do you think a program similar to the ACT-SO program would help your communities?  If you were in charge of allocating funds in your communities, which groups would you allocate funds to?  How do you think funds in your community would be best spent?  Do you think this is too much power for one or two individuals to have?

Week 11: Reading Blog - Alisha

Communities Revisited: The Best Ideas of the Last Hundred Years. by Suzanne Morse

Two important terms discussed in this article are prevention and sustainability. When working with communities, it is important to begin with initiatives that prevent problems versus making solutions for problems once they occur. Sustainability refers to programs that continue to address the issue over the course of time versus for a short period of time.

This article focuses on three ideas that have made a difference and stood the test of time. Those three ideas include the following:

·         creation and expansion of community development corporations (and their intermediaries)

·          the practice of asset-based community development

·          vehicles to provide affordable capital

These three ideas include the essential elements of any change strategy, which are a structure for change, a vision for change, and a strategy for change.

According to this article, in order to continue improving communities we must do the following steps:

·         Continue to invest in understanding what works and what actions are needed.

·         Engage the public at a deeper level in deliberating about the choices and possibilities before us

·         Match policy and funding to the outcomes of the first two.

In the future, a successful community will be one that can pull together and utilize the tools and resources to improve its own situation.

It is my opinion that this article provides the guidelines for any community leaders trying to improve their community. After reading this article, I wonder what other ideas are important to consider when working with communities. Considering how important capital is, I also wonder what is being done to make obtaining home loans and rehab loans accessible for low income residents. As a community leader, do you think these ideas are the most important to consider when working with communities? If so why? If not why?

Week 11: Lit Review - Danielle I.

Ghiso, M., Campano, G., & Simon, R. (2013). Grassroots Inquiry: Reconsidering the Location of Innovation. Language Arts, 91(2), 105-112.

In the article, Grassroots Inquiry: Reconsidering the Location of Innovation, Maria Ghiso, Gerald Campano, Rob Simon, discuss restructuring the concept of literacy and how to make a community competent in literacy.  The article analyzes the following questions:  Where do new ideas come from?  How can people change communities?  What roles can teachers and family members play?  The writers feel that all of these questions can be answered by using a grassroots approach to innovation in the classroom.

The article states, “In the field of literacy, the evolving nature of texts and practices to include multiple modes, media, and forms of interaction, coupled with the increasing diversity of student populations, has challenged educators and researchers to rethink school practices in ways that are more attuned to this multiplicity.”  This is particularly relevant to the communities we are studying in class as most of them have varied socioeconomic statuses and cultural difference.  The article emphasizes the importance of the idea that there are various forms of literary competency and schools as institutions need to uses these variations to their advantage. It says, “Literacy itself is not an autonomous technology that invariably leads to progress. Rather, there are multiple literacies related to issues of power, identity, and ideology that must be investigated in their local contexts.”

The article then goes on to define grassroots problem solving as such, “Problem posing and problem solving—processes that seek to make visible power dynamics and address inequitable conditions. In this sense, grassroots innovations are not discrete “fixes” but ongoing commitments to a broader vision of educational justice.” They also say that the fundamental belief of grassroots problem solving is that teaching and learning is best achieved through community input and needs to be relevant to the context of the community.

            The article also emphasizes that integration is not as important as acceptance.  The authors argue that it is less important for immigrants to be integrated into white culture and more important for those in the community to accept the unique qualities these immigrants have to offer.

            This article was particularly relevant to my studies in Lemay.  Lemay has a large Bosnian population and the two people I interviewed within the district (one the ELL director and one, the college counselor) said that fostering the inherently good qualities that cultural differences bring is imperative to the success of the Lemay community.  The ELL director also said that it is important to recognize that academic language is not the same for all cultures and it is important to recognize that different cultural competencies can impact the abilities of students to perform.

Week 11: Lit Review - Stephanie

Kubisch, A. C., Auspos, P., Taylor, S., & Dewar, T. (2013). Resident‐centered community building: what makes it different?. National Civic Review, 102(3), 61-71.

This article is very interesting as the content applies directly to what we are doing this semester. The article identified a set of ingredients that are needed for effective resident-centered community building. However, the article only provides the ingredients, not the recipe for the work as each community has its own unique history, conditions, capacities and potential.

The article stresses the importance of including residents in the community-building approach, which is an aspect of community work that is often left out. The authors of the article go on to explain that when residents are genuinely at the center of community building, a different process unfolds; relationships become the center of the work.

The article outlines that there are three types of relationships that must be built and maintained in resident-centered community building. Those relationships are:
1) Relationships among residents
2) Relationships between residents and neighborhood institutions
3) Relationships between residents and community change agents.

The article explains that relationship building is so important because the core of resident-centered community change work is about building personal relationships among people who live in the neighborhood. But why is relationships building so important? The truth is that relationships are the core of a vibrant community. As relationships are built, neighbors develop friendships, share information that useful and help each other out. Neighborhoods that are with a lot of trusting social relationships are high in “social capital” which is correlated with a pleasant, safe and nurturing community.

So, my question to the class is, how has your experience with building relationships in your community been this semester thus far? Difficult? Easy? Uncomfortable?  Has it unfolded at all? Has it been a simple task to include residents in the process of exploring your assigned community?

Week 11: Reading Blog - Ella

Communities Revisited: The Best Ideas of the Last Hundred Years. by Suzanne Morse

In “The Best Ideas,” Suzanne Morse, a Professor at the University of Virginia explains that when exploring ideas on community development it can be hard to know which strategy to use.  She pointed out that legislative strategies and policies are usually our initial thought, as well as specific examples of places and projects that have changed the future for communities.  Even within the best examples are things that could have gone better or didn’t work out quite as they should.  An example given was the housing and financial policies of the early Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  With this policy in place there was still redlining and a lack of support for home ownership for minorities which contributed to the decline of urban neighborhoods.

Professor Morse believes that as we look toward the next hundred years of work in and with communities we must use strategies that prevent problems rather than react to them.  She also wants us to include the “gold standard” of best practices when creating program initiatives.  Best practices include ideas that have stayed with the issue for the long run, not being deluded by the positive and negative ebbs and flows that all social issues encounter.

According to the reading Professor Morse strongly believes that our lack of progress as a nation has rested less on political infighting over values and philosophy and more on our lack of consensus that the systemic issues of day-poverty, education attainment, and environmental quality-require by definition strategies for prevention and long term action.

She gave three ideas that she believes incorporate prevention and the ‘gold standard.”  They encompass necessary elements of any change strategy: a structure for change, a vision for change, and a strategy for change.

1. Creation and expansion of community development corporations, CDC (and their intermediaries) – they understand community involvement, shared power, systemic issues, and holistic development from an individual and local perspective to a national reality.  A critical piece of the CDC process is when residents see their neighbors as problem solvers, not just problems.

2. The practice of asset-based community development – this practice disassociates place and circumstance from individual capacities.  It thinks of new creative ways to incorporate the capacities of people, the culture of the community, and the existing building and space.  This concept challenges communities to think about and build on what they have,  not what they don’t have; it helps people have “new eyes” about themselves and their surrounding; and it shifts the conversation from thinking of citizens as objects to fix to assets to tap.

3. Vehicles to provide affordable capital – is critical to: all phases to self sufficiency and that our financial support system be affordable, fair, and accessible, (particularly for women and minorities).  One vehicle is micro lending, the notion that small loans can lead to big results has been a paradigm shift in the development world.  

Professor Morse says that these three elements move us closer to Margery Austin Turner’s concept of place-conscious development.  This approach thinks about how to revitalize the places in which people live, how to enable people to take advantage of opportunities that are located in different places around the region, and how to make connections between where they live and regional opportunities.

I was enlightened after this reading.  I agree with the critical piece of the CDC process in that this approach/attitude will unite communities and increase positive outcomes for residents and their neighborhoods.  I didn’t ask residents in the Ferguson community how they can see their neighbors as problem solvers, not just problems.  Their answers may have redirected my ideas on community development.  Social workers can use these ideas to strengthen their clients who can then strengthen their communities.

Questions: What strategy can you use in your assigned community to help your residents see their neighbors as problem solvers, not just problems?  Do you believe that by providing vehicles to affordable capital people and communities will become self-sufficient?  Why/Why not?

Week 9: Lit Review - Jennifer

“Strategic Geographic Targeting in Community Development: Examining the Congruence of Political, Institutional, and Technical Factors” by Dale E. Thomson.

http://uar.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umsl.edu/content/47/4/564.full.pdf+html

My assigned community this semester is Ferguson, and one setback that I have heard fairly consistently from residents concerns the vacant houses in Ferguson.  The article I chose deals with a project undertaken in Detroit Michigan, in which Strategic Geographic Targeting (SGT) was attempted.  SGT is basically the process of allocating and targeting a large number of resources to a specific area.  A selected area is chosen when the area is believed to maximize multiplier, interaction, focus, and neighborhood spillover effects.  A multiplier effect occurs when investment in the community triggers other private investments.  An interaction effect occurs when investment in the target community interacts with supplementary investments.  A focus effect occurs when key members working in the community realize the needs of the community.  A neighborhood spillover effect essentially facilities investments in other close neighborhoods due to the magnitude of impact in the target community.  Efficiency-based SGT (EB-SGT) takes this a step further by factoring in necessary demographic data that would maximize these aforementioned factors to stimulate economic development in other communities around the city.  This criteria often points to “middle neighborhoods” — neighborhoods that are not ridden with poverty, dilapidated, or rich and affluent.

Basically, the author of the current study did what we are doing now — he conducted 40 interviews with key government officials, staff from community development agencies, nonprofits, and analyzed numerous documents to determine what factors were responsible for the failed EB-SGT.  The author surmises that, although Detroit was a prime city to study, “political, institutional, and technical factors” (Thomson, 2011) impeded the success of the project.  Specifically, government officials did not use the appropriate methods to find optimal EB-SGT communities, and the focus of many agencies was on “high-need,” or impoverished communities.

When I began to read this article, I was thinking of just Ferguson, but I now think that this EB-SGT approach might be more applicable to all of St. Louis.  It is interesting to consider what neighborhoods/municipalities would be “targeted communities” that would have multiplier, interaction, focus, and neighborhood spillover effects that might lead to economic growth in nearby, lower-income communities.  The article also reports that EB-SGT was attempted in other cities such as Baltimore, Dallas, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, etc.  I wonder what the results were and if those cities saw success…  I guess that’s an area of future research!

Of the 10,074 housing units in Ferguson, 1,211 are vacant!  Thus, this data supports the concerns of Ferguson residents.  I would be interested to hear from those of you assigned to other communities… Are vacancies also a problem?  How do your numbers specific to housing compare to the Ferguson statistics?

Also, do you think that this approach is in accordance with social work?  Is the middle-class under-prioritized due to a focus on lower-income populations?