Organizing 101: Building the capacity and power to make the healthy choice the easy choice through community organizing

Part I. Learning and application Presented By: Carrie Draper, MSW Policy and Community Outreach Director Mary Wilson, MPH Capacity Building Director Part II. Stories from the field Presented By: Erin Eisele, Community Organizer LeTanya Hall, Community Organizer Coleman Tanner, MPH, CHES Community Coordinator

The Center convenes people interested in improving nutrition and eliminating health disparities, builds capacity to conduct research on these topics, and elevates the prominence of nutrition equity as a public health priority.

nutritioncenter.sph.sc.edu

To find more information about: Policy and practice briefs Healthy Eating in Context Symposium March 21 Seminar Series Working groups Our 57 affiliated scholars

Who

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Wha

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• The goal of the project is to improve food systems by building connections, strengthening resources and empowering communities to create change.

• We have established partnerships with 4 community groups that aim to improve the local food system to prevent childhood obesity.

Summary Background: Most childhood obesity prevention efforts have been unsuccessful. The few successful examples have built community capacity to create systems level changes. No research describes how to effectively build community capacity for food systems changes to support children’s healthy weight. Long-term Objectives: To catalyze food systems changes through obesity prevention coalitions using community organizing and develop a model of the community capacity development process. To develop the capacity of community leaders. Year One Objectives: Identify partner communities, develop educational programs and capacity building institutes, assess community capacity for systems changes, convene food summits, conduct photo voice studies, identify issues for organizing campaign development. Evaluation: Year one objectives were met, and the ethnographies of the early change process are under development. Conclusions and Implications: COPASCities empowers communities to engage in effective and sustainable food system change models and strategies needed to prevent childhood obesity.

Sonya J. Jones, PhD, Holly Pope, PhD MSPH, Susan White, MEd, Mary Wilson, MPH, Jason Craig, MA, Casey Childers PhDc, MS, Paola Romero, BS, Amy Splittgerber, MEd, Darcy Freedman, PhD, James Thrasher, PhD, Terry Wolfer, PhD at the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, University of South Carolina

How: Community Organizing

1-1s Building relationships among people with food systems issues

Surfacing food systems issues

Research Cut and analyze an issue

Build power relationships with change agents

Develop leaders Capacity building Mentoring Formal education

Action Demonstrate power Accountability for decision makers

Celebrate, evaluate, reflect Share food, stories, plan for next action

What: Food Systems Changes to Support Healthy Weight in Childhood

Community-identified issues with food system •Too many food dollars leaking from local communities •Lack of access to healthy, affordable food •Lack of local production, labor for production •Lack of local distribution

Distribution hub for small producers

Community garden for families (TANF work release)

Farmers’ Market with Community Kitchen (Accepts SNAP and vouchers)

Statewide advocacy campaign for healthy foods for children

Who: SC Community Coalitions

Oconee

Pickens

Anderson

1

2

3

5

4

GreenvilleSpartanburg1 2

37

65

4

Laurens55

56

Abbeville

McCormick

Greenwood50 52

51

Cherokee

York4

31

2

UnionChester

Lancaster

Fairfield

Newberry

Saluda

Edgefield

Aiken

SRSBarnwell

1929

45

Allendale

Bamberg2

1

Hampton

2

1

JasperBeaufort

Colleton

Charleston

Berkeley

4

2

Orangeburg

4

5

3

2

1

Calhoun

Sumter

2

17

2

1Lexington21

4

3

5

Kershaw

Lee

Chesterfield

Darlington

Florence4

1

32

Marlboro

Dillon

2

3 1

Marion1 2

7

Horry

Williamsburg

Georgetown

35

Eat Smart, Move More Chester Eat Smart, Move More Lexington Eat Smart, Move More Aiken Eat Smart Move More SC Midlands Local Food Collaborative Eastover-Lower Richland Business Association

Why: To Better Understand How Communities Can Prevent Childhood Obesity

S C Co m m u n it y Co a l i t io n Ca p a c i t y 89 Community coalition leaders and members were invited to complete an online survey about their Coalitions capacity to realize food systems change through community organizing

M… Pla… Media Advocacy (n=42) Mean SD

Working with reporters 3.0 1.1

Working with editors 2.6 1.0

Draw media attention 2.1 1.2

Develop paid media campaign 1.6 1.2

Community Organizing (n=46) Mean SD

Protests 1.6 0.7

Information sharing 2.8 1.0

One-on-one meetings 1.8 1.0

Demonstrations 1.2 0.9

Frequency with which coalitions used organizing strategies in past year (1=never, 6=weekly)

Issues: Healthy food is expensive Kids and adults prefer junk We can grow food here People are relying on the food pantry

Developing leaders •Community garden with TANF recipients •Cooking and social club in housing community

P r o g r e s s o n c a m p a ig n d e v e lo p m e n t Eat Smart Move More Chester •Farmers’ Market opened, SNAP will be accepted soon • 5 community leaders hosting house meetings and collecting photos with community residents Challenges: Community engagement with organizer

Eastover-Lower Rich land Business Assoc iat ion •Entered into partnership with County Library to develop community garden •Identify strategy of sharing seedling starts to facilitate 1-1 Challenges: Land ownership dispute surfaced in planning phase Midlands Local Food Collaborat ive •Engaging Black Farmers in the Collaborative to assess need for distribution hub •Connecting with school administration to understand better how to distribute local foods to children Challenges: Including people who have not traditionally been engaged in local food movement

Co n c lu s io n s f r o m Y e a r O n e South Carolina has coalitions that are working to prevent childhood obesity with limited success. These coalitions are young, often still in the planning phases, and are interested in food systems changes. They have limited experience with community engagement strategies that are associated with successful community transformation. COPASCities has hired community organizers to engage communities in a systematic process of engaging people living, eating, working, and praying in partner communities in food systems change. Community organizers are in the 1-1 relationship building phase of community organizing in most communities. In Chester, research and issue selection are currently underway, using photo voice. In this phase, we find that organizers are challenged to use “old-fashioned” communication methods, such as face-to-face conversation and door knocking. However, these methods have been highly effective in turning people out to COPASCities events in partner communities. Community organizing can transform the capacity, membership, goals, and outcomes of community coalitions, but faces numerous challenges related to the power structure of communities.

Lexington County Eat Smart Move More Food Summit. June 25, 2013

Funding Source: Agriculture and Food Research Initiative • Program Name: Childhood Obesity Prevention: Integrated Research, Education, and Extension to Prevent Childhood Obesity • Program Code: A2103 • Grant/Award #: 2012-69001-19615

Ca s e S t u d y Co m m u n it y 1 : U s in g P h o t o V o ic e R e s e a r c h t o S u r f a c e I s s u e s

Part I. Learning and application

“Contemporary public health is as much about facilitating a process whereby communities use

their voice to define and make their health concerns known as it is about providing

prevention and treatment.”

Minkler, Meredith. (2007). Community Organizing and Community Building for Health. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press.

“We believe that community organizing must occupy a central place in health education, health

promotion and related fields.”

Minkler, Meredith. (2007). Community Organizing and Community Building for Health. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press.

Social Change Professionals as… Conscious Contrarians 5 Dimensions • A particular world view or set of beliefs and values about

people and society • A power analysis that rejects the dominant ways of thinking

about power and how power is distributed • A deliberate selection of work (community organizing) that is

consistent with the first two • Doing things differently and, in the process, challenging

traditional ways of thinking • The increasing willingness to openly confront issues of racism

and demonstrate cultural humility while engaging with others in our increasingly diverse society and world

What is “community” ? Communities have been defined as:

(1) functional spatial units that meet basic needs for sustenance, (2) units of patterned social interaction, (3) symbolic units of collective identity, and (4) people coming together to act politically to make changes.

What is a “healthy community”? • WHO: A healthy community is one that is continually creating

and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential.

What is “community organizing”? “A process through which communities are helped to identify common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and in other ways develop and implement strategies for reaching the goals they collectively have set.”

• Minkler, Meredith. (2007). Community Organizing and Community Building for Health. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press.

Key concepts in community organization

1-1s Building relationships

Surfacing issues

Research Cut and analyze an issue

Build power relationships with change agents

Develop leaders Capacity building Mentoring Formal education

Action Demonstrate power Accountability for decision makers

Celebrate, evaluate, reflect Share food, stories, plan for next action

ActionDemonstrate power

Celebrate, evaluate, reflect

1-1s Building relationships Surfacing issues

Build relationships Listen for concerns Invite participation

Research Cut and analyze an issue Build power relationships with change agents

Meet with public officials Identify potential solutions Practice skills Develop relationships with public officials

Develop leaders Capacity building Mentoring Formal education

Skill building Transform the capacity, membership, goals, and outcomes of coalitions

Action Demonstrate power Accountability for decision makers

Targets Asks Tactics

Celebrate, evaluate, reflect Share food, stories, plan for next action

What worked? What didn’t? What’s next?

Integrating Community Organizing and Community Building into Your Everyday Work Questions to Consider 1) What projects are you currently working on in communities? 2) How was the need for this project identified? 3) How do you engage with the community members whose

issues you are trying to address? 4) Have you asked members from the communities to serve on

your leadership team? Why or why not?

No worries!... It’s not too late!

ACTIVITY… Integrating Community Organizing and Community Building into Your Everyday Work

Part II. Stories from the field