Neighborhoods
Responding to Economic Inequality with Nurturance, Rather than Indifference
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.
– Edward Everett Hale
Yesterday, I posted some reflections on the relationship between economic inequality and toxic stress - the kind of [...]
Economic Inequality and Toxic Stress
As a community engagement organization focused on community well-being, SCOPE is generating a local conversation about economic equality / inequality and how it relates to the well-being of everybody. One aspect I’m interested in exploring is how economic inequality relates to toxic stress, and how we might respond to both.
What is economic inequality?
Economic inequality is [...]
Feeling Energized by the Fresh Perspectives of Neighbors
Over the past three weeks, we’ve met with over a dozen individuals from neighborhoods throughout Sarasota County - individuals who are interested in working as Resident Community Changemakers in their home neighborhoods. These residents shared pictures of the places in their neighborhood they like best, described neighbor-led efforts already underway, and talked about their hopes [...]
Read All About It: Central-Cocoanut Neighbors Join Together in Fierce Devotion to their Neighborhood
In recent weeks, there have been many media reports about the local response to the mural painted in the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood of Newtown, on the corner of 10th Street and Central Avenue. As a community engagement organization, SCOPE has been anticipating headlines about the community-building brilliance of the neighborhood residents, as that’s what most impresses [...]
Attending to Equity Here in Sarasota County
This week at SCOPE we are participating in the e-conference of the Community Indicators Consortium. Today we listened to Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink, talk about “Equity, Measurement and the Future.” She defined her organization as a “community-building intermediary,” which is one way to describe SCOPE as well.
She talked about that point [...]
What is SCOPE’s Resident Community Changemakers Fellowship?
On Tuesday, SCOPE will host an information session regarding the Resident Community Changemakers fellowship, which will be starting up in January 2012. This is a nine-month fellowship for individuals who are living in Sarasota County and are interested in devoting themselves to resident-initiated, resident-led community change efforts beginning in their own neighborhood. SCOPE will provide [...]
In Search of Aspiring Resident Community Changemakers
Over the past year, SCOPE has been developing a community fellowship for “resident community changemakers.” See this January 2011 blog post for a description of what that means. In January 2012, a new cadre of local residents will begin the 9-month fellowship. SCOPE will provide weekly reflective consultation and access to various resources on community-building [...]
3rd Annual Communiplexity Summit
The 3rd Annual Communiplexity Summit will be taking place here in Sarasota on Friday, November 18th from 8:30 - 4:30 in the Community Room at the Herald-Tribune. SCOPE will be co-hosting the summit with Banyan Sprout, Inc. “Communiplexity” refers to combined theories of community and complexity which, when explored together, can yield innovative approaches to [...]
The “So What” of Resident Engagement - Laying Claim to our Core Assumptions
Recently, the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative issued a new report on promising neighborhood-based initiatives, citing five key elements of an effective local strategy:
Promoting resident engagement and community leadership;
Developing strategic and accountable partnerships;
Maintaining a results focus supported by data;
Investing in and building organizational capacity; and
Aligning resources to create a unified and targeted impact strategy.
Here at [...]
Spotted: Amazing Neighborkids at the SCOPE*10 Event!
Those of you who attended the SCOPE*10 Celebration last week might be wondering: Who were all those great kids greeting people and delivering “newspaper” programs to everyone?
They were some of the “Central-Cocoanut Neighborhood Scavenger Hunters!” The Scavenger Hunters are neighborkids who live in the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood* of Newtown in Sarasota. Since the summer of 2009, [...]