Thinking about community connecting

1
Thinking about community connecting

• Learning to see differently

2
Building skills within existing services
Supporting Dreams
Connecting - Circles Relationships
Communication chart
Matching staff and those using services
Collecting/reinforcing learning with the 4
questions
Using what is working/not working
Important to/Important for and the balance
between them
Clearly defining staff responsibilities
3
What you see depends on what you are looking for

• People who use services are seen as taking rather
  than giving
• Peoples gifts and potential contributions are
  overlooked
• Services are scarce and few while community
  resources are rich and varied
• A culture of scarcity causes opportunities to be
  overlooked and potential connections missed

4
We have an un-natural view of natural supports

• We see developing natural supports as if it were
  a recipe
• Go to the same grocery store at the same time for
  6 months, stir and get 2 natural supports
• We dont allow for the trial and error learning
  that we do when beginning the process that leads
  to friends
• Leaving the work to 1 community connector per
  agency or area will leave most people lonely

5
Broad success in Community connecting requires -

• First and foremost a different way of thinking
  about people and their communities
• A set of skills that can be taught
• Having the thinking and the skills spread across
  as many people associated with each person as is
  possible
• Expectations of everyone to try carefully and
  respectfully and that success only happens
  where it is OK to fail

6
Connecting skills fall into 3 areas

• How we look at each person
• How we look at the communities in which they live
  and spend time
• Putting the 2 together and then
• Knowing when and how to build on what gets
  started
• Knowing when and how to sustain connections

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Looking at each person

• Knowing what is important to, important for
  and the balance between them
• Recognizing gifts
• What is the person good at
• How are they smart
• What do others see in them
• How are they already contributing to the lives of
  others
• Understanding these are complex and interactive

8
Looking at communities

• Having ways to see the varied possibilities in
  the communities
• Formal and informal associations
• Places where people hang-out
• How people pursue their varied interests
• Where are the opportunities to contribute

9
Connecting as process an example

• Look for places where the person would be
  welcomed
• Find someone who enjoys spending time with the
  person (with staff present)
• Someone who enjoys spending time with the person
  without staff being present
• That person invites the person who uses services
  to do something somewhere else without staff

10
The power of contributions

• Connecting through volunteer work
• Looking for the opportunities
• Setting up for the spaghetti supper
• Helping during the flood

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Remember

• Friends come from acquaintances people move
  from the outside in
• Some of our activity buddies stay as that
• Most of us try 5 things to find 1 that works