Tuesday, October 15, 2013

ANNE GLOGER Director East Scarborough Storefront

ANNE GLOGER, DIRECTOR AT THE EAST SCARBOROUGH STOREFRONT, DESCRIBES THE COMMUNITY BENEFITS THAT COME FROM INTENTIONALLY INHABITING THE SPACES IN BETWEEN

QUILTING A THRIVING COMMUNITY

educing isolation, breaking down silos and developing comprehensive strategies to improve lives in marginalized communities. Having worked in the priority neighbourhood of Kingston Galloway/Orton Park (KGO) in Toronto for the past 13 years, these are all expressions I have heard many times. I have also seen a number of really fabulous initiatives being launched and individual successes achieved in neighbourhoods across the city. In talking with Alexis from the Ontario Trillium Foundation the other day, I likened these initiatives to squares of beautifully crafted needlework: beautiful in and of themselves but if strategically knit together, they would not only have individual and collective beauty, but they would make a quilt that would have the added important feature of providing much needed warmth. The quilt analogy may seem somewhat fanciful. In a neighbourhood like KGO, however I believe it is the concept of knitting together the work of dozens, if not hundreds of people, that makes the difference between isolated successes and a thriving community. The knitting together of plans, ideas, hopes, dreams and the great work that comes out of them is the role of the East Scarborough Storefront (The Storefront) in KGO. If youve ever been to a presentation on what The Storefront does, you have likely seen me, or one of my colleagues, drawing interconnected circles that describe the work we do knitting together the work of residents, non-profit organizations, academics, businesses, architects, urban planners and more to form a complex quilt that is changing the very nature of the neighbourhood. Currently The Storefront helps to facilitate six networks, all of which are made up of multiple organizations and individuals each with their own vision and mandate but all working towards improving lives in KGO. I was asked yesterday by a member of the Board of the Metcalf Foundation, what exactly it means to facilitate networks. I was delighted to be able to quote one of Metcalfs other board members who, when I described what we do said simply, I get it, youre a broker. Thats exactly what we are. We broker relationships between and among people and organizations who may otherwise be working in isolated silos. Certainly, brokering these relationships fosters innovation as can clearly be seen in projects like the Community.Design.Initiative, Neighbourhood Trust or any of the Community/University initiatives taking place in KGO. But what does it mean for a resident living in a neighbourhood like KGO? It means that in their neighbourhood there is a network of supports and opportunities with multiple entry points. So, a young man may come to The Storefront looking for employment services. There he will find access to a variety of employment supports and introductions to people who can help him develop his skills and find a job. But thats not all. By connecting with The Storefront, he can also be connected to legal advice, youth groups and counselling. By being at The Storefront, the same young man may connect with a community volunteering opportunity, a free course provided by University of Toronto Scarborough or he may join a residents group and help make change in the neighbourhood. He will find opportunities to meet mentors and hone his leadership skills. He will also find literacy programs, sports clubs, art instruction and so much more right in his neighbourhood. These opportunities individually are important to people living in the community, but, like the squares of a quilt, they are so much more effective when knitted together. It sounds extremely complex, and it is, but it is also very simple. The Storefront, as knitter or broker pays attention to the spaces between individuals and organizations. We strategically connect them so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This role of knitter or broker has been described in the Collective Impact literature as a backbone organization. The literature has yet to identify the huge potential of the neighbourhood backbone organization; an organization grounded in the community that develops strong relationships with residents, organizations, institutions and policy makers and ensures that each of them knows what the others are doing. If we want to move beyond individual isolated successes, we need to focus on the spaces between specific initiatives. A neighbourhood backbone organization can stitch together place-based strategies. For example these strategies can link various initiatives that support residents to become civically engaged, or that champion support for newcomers, or improve employment outcomes or that address crime and poverty. If we focus on the spaces in between the individual initiatives, the place-based strategies can intentionally knit them together so that each neighbourhood can have the quilt of opportunities that people need to thrive.

NEIGHBOURHOOD BACKBONE ORGANIZATION(S) CAN STITCH TOGETHER PLACEBASED STRATEGIES

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