I think you are making the box too small Mike. You cannot judge NRP participation by how many people attend meetings. There has to be other ways to measure participation. Participation in a neighborhood survey or focus group is participation. Participating in a program or project funded by NRP dollars is participation. Attending a festival or event paid for by NRP is participation. Using a facility paid for by NRP is participation.
The fact that "regular" monthly meetings in neighborhoods is predominantly attended by white people may be making a statement about how meetings as a rule are interpreted by different cultures. Not everyone is going to attend a monthly committee or be a board member. However, they will fill out a survey either in writing or on the phone if they are asked to. They will participate in a focus group if you accommodate the barriers that prevent them from participation. They will send their kids to a program that is funded by NRP. They will use a facility that was paid for by NRP. They will attend a festival or event paid for by NRP funds. Attending meetings and benefitting from the expenditure of NRP funds are two entirely different things. I do not mean to say that I am not concerned about the lack of participation from people of color or low income people at neighborhood meetings. It concerns me and many of the neighborhood volunteers I work with. Many of the neighborhoods I work with including the one I live in have done outreach to low income people and people of color in an attempt to increase meeting attendance. The results have not been successful for a variety of reasons. Lack of resources for interpretation into various languages is one barrier. Lack of funds to pay for aggressive organizing. Lack of relationships with leadership in the various communities. Lack of personal empowerment in many cultures based on years of history is a reason. But, attempting to organize these people just to get them to come to your meeting is limiting. It is just as important to organize people to participate in whatever way makes them feel comfortable. That could be a program, event, festival, survey, focus group, project etc. and not a meeting. I have said for a long time we cannot judge the success of this program solely based on who shows up at a meeting. That being said, I think we need to look for other opportunities beyond neighborhood meetings to engage the greater community. Neighborhood volunteers should be thinking out of the box about how to engage people in their community in a way that is comfortable for them. When Whittier did it's Phase I plan review, they did focus groups with all the representative communities in the neighborhood. Extensive efforts were made to do outreach to communities of color. Accommodations were made to remove the barriers that would prevent people from participating. Whittier was successful at gaining involvement and participation from hard to reach communities because they tailored the outreach to those communities. As a result, the information the neighborhood recieved came from people in all walks of life and all the different cultures in Whittier. Whittier was able to proceed confidently into it's Phase II NRP plan knowing that they were informed with solid information that was derived from a representation of the whole neighborhood, not just a small portion. None of this would have happened if Whittier depended solely on monthly meetings to accomplish this. Barb Lickness Whittier NRP Staff ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
