Community Strengths Form Basis For Improvement

John Kretzmann has a unique way of looking at neighborhoods: He lists the things they do right rather than dwelling on their problems.

“I think we are rediscovering the wisdom of our grandparents,” said Kretzmann. “It was common sense for them to turn to their neighbors for help. We’ve moved away from that.”

Kretzmann, a longtime community organizer, has worked in neighborhoods and cities for 30 years.

He traveled around the United States for three years, listening to stories in neighborhoods, discovering what makes communities work.

“Our charge was to find success stories and learn from them,” he said.

Connie Nelson, a Northeast neighborhood leader, has seen Kretzmann’s ideas work in her community.

“This is so radical, because in the past, we have based everything - our organizations, our funding - on our problems, our deficits,” she said.

“Using this model, we look at a neighborhood’s resources, energy and talent to help strengthen it. A neighborhood doesn’t have to rely on outside help,” she said.

The Northeast neighborhood is filled with examples: Shaw Middle School opens its gymnasium to the neighborhood for Friday night basketball, and The Neighbor-To-Neighbor Program in the Bemiss neighborhood united Boy Scouts and other groups to install fire alarms in homes.

There are thousands of other ways to bring the talents available in neighborhoods together for a stronger community.

That’s the idea behind Kretzmann’s two-day workshop, “Building Communities from the Inside Out: Mobilizing Your Neighborhood,” scheduled for Oct. 17-18 in Spokane.

“Strong neighborhoods help strengthen families, and vice versa,”said James Pippard, professor of social work at Eastern Washington University and a fan of Kretzmann’s theories.

“In the past, more problems have meant more money for communities - for programs, to fight crime - so community leader were used to looking at the negatives of their neighborhoods instead of its assets,” said Pippard.

“Building communities is really complex,” said Pippard.

However, the process begins simply enough.

“It starts one person at a time, building relationships,” he said. “It doesn’t mean big meetings all the time, but you need to build relationships and build a network.”

It can start with small gatherings in living rooms.

“The best way to do it is one-on-one,” said Pippard. “Communities can easily do it themselves if they learn how. It’s not rocket science.

It may be as easy as asking a neighbor to take on a task, then saying “thank you” when it’s done.

Other steps include incorporating schools, churches and other community gathering places into the process and redefining their rolls.

For example, asked Pippard, why do senior citizens need their own hot-lunch program? What if they ate hot lunch at school with students?

It could work. It would also provide contact between two groups that rarely connect.

It’s just an idea.

Sponsors include EWU, the Northwest Foundation, Metropolitan Mortgage Foundation and the city of Spokane Office of Neighborhood Services.

“Communities are really hot now,” said Pippard. “People are talking about neighborhoods. It’s a healthy thing.” , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WORKSHOP TIMES Here is the schedule for John Kretzmann’s workshops, “Building Communities from the Inside Out: Mobilizing Your Neighborhood”: Oct. 17 7-8:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 318 S. Cedar Oct. 18 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Libby Center, 2900 E. First (session filled). Preregistration is required for the Oct. 18 session. More information is available by calling Jim Pippard, 359-6480.