Movements need weavers and warriors
What a week.
In the last issue of Community Threads, I spoke about how voting isn’t enough - that we need to organize movements. That remains true regardless of who wins an election or which political party is in power.
We need to come together - in a highly organized, long-term, consistent way - to make collective demands for concrete changes. We need movements.
And movements need both weavers and warriors.
Why voting isn’t enough
With election day fast approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about voting.
At an event I was at a few weeks ago, someone brought up the distinction between technocratic strategies and democratic strategies - that technocratic strategies focus on policy (which is necessary, but not sufficient, to transform health in our communities) while democratic strategies focus on politics (which is all about POWER).
We can’t transform health in our communities without democratic strategies that center power.
The most important question to ask yourself when action planning
🍁Happy Fall🍁
It’s the season of sweaters and apple picking and pumpkin spice.
And my personal favorite - the changing colors of the leaves. There is this incredible tree in our neighborhood, visible from our front door, that turns brilliant shades of yellow and orange and red over the course of the transition from summer to fall. The very top of the tree has just started to change color.
HOW to get to action with your collaborative: tips and tools for brainstorming, prioritizing, and more
Is it just me, or are you feeling the Maycember vibes too?
In addition to counting down to the end of the school year and to summer, I know many nonprofits and coalitions are also nearing the end of their fiscal year, which means new grants and projects might be on the horizon - so it’s a great time to think about what effective action planning looks like.
Get to ACTION to transform health in your community with PoP Health's action planning framework
I have an extra hop in my step and a desperate desire to GET. THINGS. DONE. (Currently at the top of my home list is tackling a round of Spring cleaning, beginning with our completely out-of-control basement…but I digress).
How about you?
In our work with community coalitions, getting to ACTION is often a major pain point. So let’s dive right in.
The perils of trying to be everything to everyone
I was facilitating a coalition meeting recently and the conversation ended up going in circles for a bit - someone would propose an idea for a message or an activity and someone else would respond explaining why that wouldn’t resonate with or convince members of their community.
After a few rounds of this, someone interjected with a powerful idea - it’s one I’d heard before and you likely have too, but it bears repeating: Let’s say 20% of the community are strongly with us and 20% of the community will always be against us, no matter what we do. That leaves 60% - maybe we can focus on them instead of the 20% we’ll never be able to sway.
15% and 15x solutions
Do you ever feel powerless to tackle the big problems your community faces?
I often feel that way, and I think many of us do.
On the other hand, do you ever feel like our solutions aren’t enough - not big enough, not disruptive enough, not transformational enough?
The value of ONE right door
Have you heard the phrase "no wrong door" before?
A Google search didn't bring up a standard or formal definition, but the description I found that most aligns with my understanding of the concept is this:
"The vision for No Wrong Door is that every door in the region’s healthcare and human services system should be the right door with a range of services being accessible to everyone from multiple points of entry."
This is a lovely and logical idea in theory.
But I have come to question how well it works in practice.
Just do it. Then iterate.
Whatever idea you’ve been mulling over, considering, planning for…just do it.
Now, I know it’s not that simple (in most cases).
Maybe you can’t "just do it” because you don’t have the authority. Or because you need to assess the potential consequences. Or any one of a dozen other perfectly valid reasons.
A fish, an elephant, and an iceberg: Orienting community towards root causes and systems
When a community is trying to address a public health problem, the immediate causes are often the most apparent.
Too many youth aren't physically active. Why? They don't understand the value of physical activity or the consequences of not being active. What should we do? An education and mass communication campaign to help them understand this value and these consequences, so that they are motivated to be more active.