August 2023 Newsletter: Renewing Civic Faith, Proving Change is Possible
Our approach is rooted in a practical philosophy of civic faith. It holds that placing people, community, and shared responsibility at the center of our shared lives will create a more just, fair, inclusive, and hopeful society for all. Growing civic faith demands that we Turn Outward.
Community Roundtables in Jackson, MS, and Selma, AL, Explore How Communities Move Forward
Earlier this month, Rich visited Jackson, MS, and Selma, AL, for a series of roundtables with community leaders in each city. Both communities are like so many parts of our country today: in danger of being left out and left behind as the nation moves forward. Both have experienced chronic and acute stress, anxiety, and trauma stemming from ongoing injustices and crises. Jackson continues to face ongoing water supply and trash collection crises. And Selma is still recovering from tornadoes that ripped through the area in January. In addition, both continue to deal with decades of disinvestment, discrimination, and broken promises.
These communities, and others like them all over the country, face two underlying challenges. First is the condition of people. Some are afraid to step forward. Many feel hopeless. It’s common for people to feel fragmented and work in silos. Second is a reliance on resilience. Each community is incredibly resilient and rightfully proud of that. For them to have survived the headwinds they have faced is notable and not to be dismissed. Yet the problem with settling for resilience is that it can become a cycle of getting knocked down, getting back up, but being stuck with the same reality as before. When nothing changes, trauma compounds and inequities grow rather than narrow.
Still, Selma and Jackson have what it takes to get on a more equitable, fair, just, inclusive, and hopeful path forward. Each of these cities is home to leaders and community members who want to build a community that works for everyone. They are seeking to reset and catalyze a new path forward. One that is marked by shared purpose. One that pushes beyond a status quo that isn’t working. In Jackson, a whole constellation of groups and individuals have emerged to act in concrete, doable, and achievable ways. They are rebuilding the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods, installing new neighborhood lighting, changing community policing, and initiating clean-ups and demolition of blight. Every day, new people are joining a movement to catalyze a chain reaction of actions that can spread like a positive contagion.
Meanwhile in Selma, Rich and Lawrence Wofford, the President of the Selma-Dallas County Branch of the NAACP, described the community’s path forward in a joint op-ed published in the August 12 edition of the Selma Times Journal. They wrote: “People in Selma can overcome differences, ignite engagement, move forward—and create renewed hope. Let’s be clear. The challenges are real…. For many, Selma’s identity is stuck in the past. It is struggling to build a better future as many simply seek to bounce back to the way things were before the storms. But it doesn’t have to be this way.”
“This Work is Reminding Me of Who I Am”
When scores of public innovators recently gathered in Alamance County, NC, for their first workspace since going through the Getting Started Lab, they brought their stories with them. For three months, the action teams had been gathering public knowledge in the community. The area is home to strong leaders who have made positive inroads to build upon.
But long histories of division and distrust were also top of mind for people in the room. As one woman put it, “I had lost sight of myself in the negativity over the years. I was feeling like sitting back and letting this just be the ugly way things are.” She said the Harwood approach was changing her outlook and opening her eyes to new possibilities for moving forward. “This work is reminding me of who I am,” she said.
That’s not to say this work has been easy. The innovators at the workspace identified challenges they faced with their community conversations: getting started, finding diverse voices, staying neutral as a moderator, operating outside of their comfort zone, engendering trust, recruiting reluctant participants, and fearing unknown outcomes.
Yet team members stuck to the Key Mantras: Turn Outward, Get in Motion, Start Small to Go Big, and Create a New Trajectory of Hope. Best practices for community conversations emerged as they worked with their Harwood coaches and the Institute’s partner, Impact Alamance. Public innovators verbalized these discoveries as the following: “Follow the guide, trust the process.” “Work with allies you know and trust.” “Communicate frequently and with a personal touch.” “Be intentional in selecting moderators.” “Go with the flow, find comfort in silence.”
But something more than team wins was happening in Alamance County. Individuals were feeling the impact of the Harwood approach in their thinking and behavior.
One woman told the group she felt “on the fence” about the Harwood approach during the first lab. “Then I realized that the commitment to be a part of this required self-evaluation. Do I have the time, and do I want to?” She decided to start using the Harwood approach outlined in the North Star in her daily life. “If I can see change, then I can commit. I applied this to the way I communicated with my daughter, and she instantly wanted to talk to me more. And when I started to forget the parts, I cut apart the North Star and put it all around to remind me. And I started to see, ‘This can work if we apply it in small ways in our teams.’ Now I show up.”
She was hardly alone in feeling the impact. One public innovator said, due to the Harwood training, “I’m connecting with my community, being the person who invites and welcomes, who approaches.” Another said, “I’ve learned to ask questions and really listen before I interject.” Yet another emphasized a new appreciation for “celebrating those small wins.”
Alamance County public innovators are still in the first year of their learning journey. But the group is determined to grow the chain reaction they’ve begun to unleash by gathering public knowledge and engaging the community. They are expanding their networks, listening more intentionally to the community, and letting go of their biases and preconceived notions.
Their efforts are far from complete. It is just the beginning. Yet their actions are putting Alamance County on a more purposeful path, one that is grounded in shared purpose and a renewed sense of hope. As one innovator put it, “This work has made me feel so deeply connected with the community. It also leaves me encouraged to see so many others that are invested in the growth of Alamance County.”
Just like the Alamance County public innovators, you can start a chain reaction in your community by applying the Harwood approach. Learn how to get started by joining Rich Harwood for our next New Basics Webinar: The North Star on Thursday, September 14 at 12 pm Eastern.
Proving Change is Possible: Reading, PA’s Workspace
Reading, PA, was once named the poorest city in the country. It’s a narrative that has stuck to the community for years. But enough people in Reading believed the area could thrive again and that people’s shared aspirations for a better life could be achieved. That led to them partnering with The Harwood Institute.
Now deep into the action phase of the initiative, three teams composed of committed leaders and community members are taking action on English as a Second Language, After- and Out-of-School Activities, and Early Childhood Education.
Reading public innovators recently gathered for a workspace—a strategic, shared space designed to reground people in the work, innovate together, and engage in civic learning. Our President and Founder Rich Harwood told the gathering, “Some people don’t think change is possible in Reading. But you’re proving otherwise.”
Indeed, each team is making progress in their focus area. One participant shared that engaging in this work “has taken me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to look beyond my work to really listen to what others bring to the table.” For another, it has resulted in them “going to where people are instead of expecting them to want to be involved or reach out.”
As Rich told these innovators, “The work we’re doing is important to Reading and the rest of the country. The change we need is going to start in local communities like Reading.” There is a lot of work still to do in Reading. Many challenges exist. Yet these public innovators are putting Reading on a more purposeful path forward as they start small to go big. As one workspace participant shared, “Turning Outward is contagious.”
News from the Studio on Community
The Harwood Studio on Community was established in 2017 to create the time and space within the Institute necessary to explore new areas and innovate around complex civic challenges, and to be a space where individuals can spend time at the Institute to develop their own ideas and skills.
The following reflections come from Jax Martinez Franks, a rising junior at George Washington University who joined the Institute as a Studio Associate this summer.
Taking a page From the Studio
This year, The U.S. Surgeon General released a report called “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation”. It detailed the recent downward trends in social networks and social participation. A year ago I would have been completely overwhelmed by these findings. How can our country succeed if it is full of people who have no ability to connect with those around them? But after my time working in The Harwood Studio on Community, I feel hopeful.
This summer I have been focused on research taking place in Ohio, specifically Logan and Union counties. Every day, I read accounts from people in these counties that they feel abandoned and isolated within their local community. This disconnection inhibits peoples’ ability to create change because they aren’t even sure who relates to these feelings.
It may be disheartening to learn that so many people feel disconnected, but it doesn’t have to stay this way. And no one wants it to. When conversations take place in Ohio, it doesn’t end with everyone feeling despondent. Many times, people try to make plans right there and then to change the community for the better. Every conversation ends with progress they hope to see in the near future. This shows that people have hope for change. People are not stuck in their ways. They are striving towards a better future for their family, friends, and for themselves.
How Can the Harwood Institute Help You?
We want to hear what’s happening in your community. And we want to know how we can help you and your community get on a more hopeful path forward. Sign up to discuss what you want to achieve in your community and what we can do to assist you with a member of our network engagement team!
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The LAtest From Rich
Save One Life. Start There.
If you save one life, you save the world. It’s a teaching that suffuses faith traditions across the world. Yet clearly, saving just one life does not save the world. So why is this teaching so central to the daily religious practices of people across the globe? What is really being instructed here? If you save one life, you have made an intentional choice to step forward.
