Programs & Services > Community and Neighbourhood Development > 10th Anniversary
Community and Neighbourhood Development 10th Anniversary
Deborah Konecny - FAIR Co-ordinator
Social advance depends as much upon the process through which
it is secured as upon the result itself.
Jane Adams
The process is the most beautiful part.
Quincy
Jones
There are many issues in the community that are important to urban families with very young children. When the parents or caregivers are facing poverty or adaptation to a new country on top of the usual demands in raising pre-schoolers, it often seems overwhelming to take on the additional task of getting involved in the community. That doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t want to. But how? And will "my" voice count? Families are Important Resources (FAIR) was developed to provide the opportunity, skills and tools to help parents voice their concerns and take action.
FAIR, a Growing Up Healthy Downtown (GUHD) project, aims to determine which issues are most pertinent to the parents of young children living in the city and to address the barriers that prevent them from voicing their concerns and taking action. In the process, the children, always welcome to accompany the adults, participate in their own separate activities. The parents and caregivers are free to focus on building their skills through a variety of methods including workshops, discussion groups and role playing. The families learn how to become more involved in the community in a way that will enrich their lives beyond the three years of the FAIR program.
FAIR Coordinator, Deborah Konecny of Family Service Association of Toronto, believes that it is the voyage rather than the destination that has the biggest influence and longest lasting effect. "I facilitate processes. My job is not to provide services and programs. My job is about transformation," explained Deborah.
This was exemplified at a workshop for Parent Action Groups, which "are like mini coalitions where parents decide on what issues they want to work on and what actions to take," Deborah said. "They got really excited about the need for cultural sensitivity for service providers. A great issue, but because they were so passionate about it and it is so close to them, they could never move beyond their own personal stuff to taking action." Deborah suggested that they start by "building skills around being spokespeople and writing letters around the living wage." That is something everyone could agree on.
To help the Parent Action Groups create effective letters, a workshop was given on how to write clearly and interestingly. So, the group had an issue, a plan of action and the skills to follow through. Deborah told the parents, "These skills you are learning will apply to what you want to do – to give workshops to community service providers on what cultural sensitivity really means. That’s brilliant." Fair is FAIR - it is also a beautiful process of transformation.
by Jane Schmidt
- Kim Hinton - CND Manager
- Michele Lupa - former CND Manager
- Deborah Konecny - Family Are Important Resources Co-ordinator
- Naga Ramalingam - CND Community Development Worker
- Abdirahman Sabriye - Community Development Worker
- Salma Sarour - former Building Bridges Co-ordinator
- Shokofeh Dilmaghani - CND Community Development Worker
- Sophia Ali - GUHD Co-ordinator
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