Briefly describe the community that the project is working with
Skylight mental health is a community mental health mental service which believes in the capacity of within a person to enjoy a meaningful life. Skylight staff usually works alongside their staff to connect with the community to learn and explore and make space for new orportunities.Skylight has a number of social programs that provides a way for people to socialize and develop new friendship and develop a range of activities in the area. A range of programs are offered in different disciplines including music, art, cooking and Bush walking. Community Hub Murray lands is one of the social development projects that are undertaken by skylight. The Project targets men from different age groups and diverse backgrounds, they include the youth, the veterans, and the indigenous people from the Murray lands district. The people that the project works includes those that are interested in learning new skills or they are lobnely and they want to want some form of companionship
Briefly describe the community development project (background, context, goals and aims, and resources, including funding)
The Murray lands community project aims to provide a shed that will provide an avenue to engage all the men from diverse backgrounds and ages. In this shades, the groups will be able to share and, disseminate and preserve skills and brainstorm on other abilities that can benefit them and the community at large. The project aims to help men and women to interact and social with each other while being productive. The project will encourage the men to learn new skills and upgrade those that they might already have acquired using the tools and skills that will be provided at the shade.
There are many activities that the project will get the locals to be involved in.Men will be primarily required to interact and share hobbies together with interests that will contribute positively to the community. There are regular meetings that re held at the start and at the end of every week. The project aims to provide a place of fulfillment and joy and peace to all who are interested in joining the project. Anyone joining the project will be introduced with a brief meeting with the other members to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.
Briefly critically analyze how the project works towards social justice and empowerment
A lot of focus has been placed on women and a lot of welfare societies are channeling their contributions towards the women self-help groups when compared to men. With the presence of such like projects it is certain that men will be given a new leave and now they will have a place that they can come and interact positively without the fear of being victimized. Instead of gathering in other joints whose serenity doesn’t guarantee peaceful interactions, the shed provides the ultimate experience for men from different ages and backgrounds. This in itself is social justice. Empowerment can be generated when the ideas are freely shared and an environment to learn new skills is encouraged. Sharing of the skills will motivate men under different capacities to be entrepreneurs and create employment at different levels. This in itself I a form of empowerment. A lot of ideas will be shared and the daily interactions will act as an eye opener for this groups to think outside the box. It is only through skills that these people can rise from their comfort zones and try to make a life out of themselves.
Briefly critically analyze how the project works towards social justice and empowerment
Every method or concept is certainly usually defined by principles that determine is very true nature. The principles are basic identifiers that define the concepts down to its simplest state. Just like the materials used in the construction industry play a role in the overall structure of the building, the principles of community development lays down the structure that any viable development project can adopt. The principals of community development incorporated by this project include the following
Empowerment
Psychology has it that people will always do something that they are motivated to do. Empowerments acts a motivation vehicle for the community to pursue a cause genuinely and avoid the possibility of making it appear as if they are being forced to do it.Empowerment is what prompts the things to get done. The community project in this case has provided an avenue where the people can meet and learn new skills. The constant interactions between these people will most definitely invoke their abilities and they will certainly develop something that will of the greatest interest of the community.The project will also encourage men to learn new skills that are important for their survival and also upgrade on those that they already have
Another community and development principles embraced by this project is inclusion and diversity. As addressed earlier, the project will aim at absorbing all the people from the different ages. The project will also aim at achieving gender balance by making sure the margin ratio of women and men employed is equal.
Discuss how you would work alongside community members on this project, utilizing learning from this course to justify your approach
Collaboration and participation will be ideal for the success of the project Just as the name suggest, community development requires to be done as a communal thing. A lot of expectation is expected from the communities from men and women from Murray lands Community. The project aims to provide a suitable venue where all men of different ages, youths, veterans and other groups will be engaged. As the group aims to disseminate share and preserve skills, it will require that all the people involved participate actively. For the men to learn new skills, they will be required to actively participate in those process. The waste collection process is not a walk in the park and that is why it will be required that each homestead make arrangements to manage its waste to easy up the collection process. The residents will be provided with dustbins to put any type of wastes that they generate. From there it will be easier for the employees tasked with the collection of the waste to collect it and move the wastes to the next process.
With all the stakeholders involved, my main aim first of all will require that I inculcate trust, acquire some supporters within the community that will help me in championing the course of my project. It is equally important to make sure that the needs and the interest of the community dwellers are taken into consideration.Comunity engagement will also be relevant on this course. A strategy will be required to have all the community and the stakeholders and the community involved to make sure that the project implementation is smooth and cyclical
The consultation process with the community dwellers will be integral in creating the desired relationships. This makes it easier to leverage the existing community resources and assets to use in the funding of the project. At the same time, the creation of the relationship will help in identifying the hurdles that the project is likely to face, this may include what may likely hinder the project or slow down the implementation of different facets of the project.
Engaging the stakeholders and the community will make it easier for me to explain the vision that I have towards the project. When the vision is understood, it will easily be shared and in one way or the other a number of people will come up to support the project. A lot of concerns have been placed on male gender and the fact that most of them are not being productive.
Before rolling out the project, it will be equally important for me to design a comprehensive consultation strategy. The consultation strategy will basically allow the members of the society to bring on to table suggestions that can make the project better. Primarily the consultation process will aim at contextualizing the project by incorporating the views of the locals. The consultation process will aim also to explain to the community what they stand to benefit if at all the project will be successful.Consultaion will also make it easier to understand the legal framework that define the community projects. This is necessary as it ensures the smooth implementation of the project without or few legal battles.
It will also be important to put into consideration the fact that the project must respond to the local needs. The vision of the project must correspond to the assets, resources and the needs that are within the community. Factors like the social demographics, language, the local history and culture will be addressed, this makes it easier to tailor the message to the community by clearly addressing the needs. Understanding this will be new way out in understanding and avoiding the hurdles that might be experienced at the implementation project. It is also important to dedicate time and resources to identify the cultural assets and creative resources that you can build upon.
The following is some of the way in which I will involve the community
New slaters/flyers
I will be dropping of letters on postal walks to all the households within the community and the business in the neighborhood get to understand of the project.
Using information sessions and town hall meetings
The meetings will provide a form where I it will be easier for me to interact with the people from the community. First of all I will be making presentations about the project and its benefits and then request the members to ask questions to make clarifications.
Information open houses
I will dedicate myself to book appointments in different houses in the afternoon to meet the community dwellers personally and talk to them about the project. These format can be useful in diffusing anger or mistrust that could be developing. It will provide a tangible way in which people with the contrary opinion to be heard and be helped or be enlightened about the importance of the project or the value that the project will be creating to the society. This will also help to avoid inconsistencies and during the implementation process of the project.
Use of the e-bulletin and the social media
This will involve gathering the list of emails and constantly remind the subscribers about the ongoing project and possible allow them to give views in regards to what is happening.
Hoarding and signage
While the project is under the progress, it will require protective hoarding that will make it possible to include images, information and website addresses.
Community events
One way to get the audience will be to participate in the community organized events. This will provide a way through which the community ca be enlightened about the ongoing project and the benefits that accompanies it.Sometimes it can be very difficult to land on this community based events or due to the protocal,it may be impossible for you to given the desired time to explain what is happening. To avoid this, I can as well organize an event in the community within the community to specifically raise awareness about the project. This can be done inform of a football tournament or a charity event within the area.
Interviews and face to face communications
Meeting people face to face and interviewing them will be one of the way to engage the community in the projects. Of course there are a number of concerns and the only way that they can express this is through the interviews. Interviews can also help to determine their expectations in regards to what they expect from the project and how likely is it that they will benefit from the project (Gilingham, 2007). The internet also will be maximized. Tools like the request for expression interest will be used to send emails to the community dwellers who issued them. Luckily, there are many people who are connected to the internet. The Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) is a briefing document that may be used as a tool to stimulate and assess interest in a project and to solicit useful information from interested parties.
Discuss the community development roles and skills that you would use
As a community development expert, am excited about bringing about social change and improve the quality of life around the area. On that regard therefore I will be working with a number of individuals from different backgrounds and interests’ will act as the link between the people and the authorities that are in place. We will also work hand in hand with people with well-wishers as we seek to raise funds or the project.
My responsibilities will include dedicating myself to make sure that the project makes sense to the locals by constantly sharing the vision and the benefits that will come about after the project has been successfully implemented. I will also be in charge of responding to the queries and making sure that issues raised by the locals are properly addressed .Empowerment and active involvement of the community in this project will certainly have a hand in propelling the project and making sure we move towards completion in a steady and smooth manner.
There are a number of skills that are integral to the success of the project. The first skills is communication skill. With these skill, I will be able to ta address all the concerns of the locals together by making sure that they are satisfied with whatever response that answers their querry.Networking skills are also very crucial in this context (Palincsar, 2008). You have to work with a number of people from different backgrounds and at the same time you work hard to make sure that you have enough resources to help in your project. In this regard therefore it requires that you keep in touch with a number of people that you can rely on whenever you are in need of something.
References
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