A collective approach to the world

 Community workers always view any problem through the lens of the community and its core elements: the people. Self-care isn’t just for individuals. Because community, anti-oppression practice, climate crisis, or neoliberalism all share a fundamental and common element: the human. Therefore, when a human or person practises self-care, the impact extends beyond that individual to the entire environment.

For example, an individual wears a mask primarily to protect themselves from germs; it is a form of self-care. However, the entire community also benefits, as masks reduce the spread of germs. This lessens the pressure on hospitals. It has been observed that when hospitals are very crowded, minoritised groups receive less support than whites. Therefore, masks help reduce this oppression. Neoliberal ideology promotes keeping all vaccines private, meaning people or governments must pay large sums to acquire them, and poorer countries or individuals might not access them. For those individuals, wearing a mask is a simple solution.

ACE (Alternatives for Community and Environment)

 Environmental Justice Organization: ACE (Alternatives for Community and Environment) https://ace-ej.org/

 

Mission: ACE (Alternative for Community and Environment) works for low-income and Black people in the Massachusetts community to remove environmental racism and classism and achieve environmental justice by creating a healthy and sustainable community.

Vision: ACE works to solve problems one by one of the root problems of environmental justice by giving decision-making power to the excluded community.

Work: One of ACE's many works is to increase the accessibility of energy-saving housing to low-income people; ACE assists developers and architects in building certified LEED Zero or certified passive house designs.

My recommendation: ACE may open this offer to everyone. Whoever needs assistance to build a certified LEED Zero building design or certified passive house building design can communicate with them and ask for help. If we want to improve our society, we must engage everyone.

The Four Strategies to address community problems

 Four fundamental strategies are available to neighbourhood groups to address community problems: community organizing, advocacy, service delivery or development. There is no right or wrong strategy - each organization has to choose among them constantly. Each group should specialize - the skills needed to do a good job in one are seldom those required by another. Sometimes, groups use a combination of strategies. What is important here is that you know what you're doing - that the method matches the strategy you've chosen, and that they both match the mission the group has adopted.  

Community organizing: is characterized by the mobilizing of volunteers. Staff roles are limited to helping volunteers become effective, guiding the learning of leaders through the process, and helping create the mechanism for the group to advocate on their own behalf. Community organizing almost always includes confrontation of some sort. The people who want something get themselves together to ask for it, often the people who could give them what they wish to get jumpy. Community organizing strategies include meeting with corporate or government decision-makers to hold them accountable for their actions, designing programs for others (not the group) to implement that meet the needs of the community, and aggressive group action to block negative developments or behaviors (highway construction that leads to neighborhood destruction, etc.).

Advocacy: It is important to distinguish between “Individual Advocacy,” which can be understood as “Service Delivery,” and Advocacy Campaigning (Social Advocacy), which is about broad transformative change to laws, legislation, corporate accountability, etc. Most Campaigning is Advocacy-based as it seeks a specific change (i.e. Making texting illegal, stopping corporations from polluting, making housing accessible, raising the minimum wage, etc.) You advocate FOR BROAD CHANGE, not individuals

Service Delivery is characterized by doing FOR people. Often, professionals like lawyers or social workers will attack a problem on behalf of those perceived as unable to speak for themselves. This is understood as being an “advocate.” Job referral services, counselling, client referrals, social work, training for job readiness, homeownership counselling, and business plan preparation training are methods that fit into the Service Delivery strategy.

Development is a strategy that gets the group directly into the business of delivering a physical product. Generally, groups select a development strategy because the normal course of events is not meeting the area's needs. The profit motive either does not bring private developers into the area - they can't make enough money - or it brings them in to do the wrong thing - they are converting moderate-cost rental units into yuppie condos. Development could mean housing, commercial or even industrial development. Development methods require, like the other two strategies, particular skills. Many groups have struggled to achieve good results in housing development with staff whose training, experience and interests are in community organizing, causing pain and suffering for the group and the staff. This is unfair. If we understand the distinction between the strategies, we can see the different resources needed for the methods that fit within them.

Adapted from “Community Organizing: People Power from the Grassroots,” D. Beckwith & C. Lopez 

About me and why did I get this Diploma

 My name is Shahana Shafiuddin. I was born in Bangladesh. Because of my parents' jobs, I lived in Saudi Arabia for two years during my childhood. Then I started living in Bangladesh again, and about eight years ago, I came to Canada, to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. So, I have seen different cultures and communities from my childhood.

I like to see new places. That's why, after getting a job, I visited Malaysia, India, Bhutan, Nepal, UAE, and Canada. I have seen different cultures and communities in these countries. One thing I found very common among all nations is that the general people are very nice.

I became a Canadian citizen and have lived in Canada for about eight years. I first lived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for six years, and then I moved to the GTA, Ontario.

I have Canadian work experience in Customer service and Security. In my last job, I worked in a non-profit organization. While making my career, I also volunteered at the Saskatoon Open Door Society. Over there, I have taken volunteer training in the Settlement and Cultural Training program for Volunteers, Refugee awareness, Strengthening Leadership in a diverse community, etc. I have visited some memorable places for the indigenous people, like Waskasu. This place was a metis people’s city. Then, they fought with the new settlers, and the war destroyed their community.

I have met many indigenous people in Saskatchewan, including Cree, Inuit, and Metis. Some were my colleagues, and some were my son’s school friends. I found them very soft in heart, generous, and helpful.

I wanted to work as a community worker on newcomers or climate issues, so I took a program to study called “Community Worker.” To work in a community, I must learn about different neighbourhoods and Indigenous people and work with them to empower them and have a better community.