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The Organizing Process by
Kianna Gill
The main objective of this internship was to learn about community
organizing by reading relevant materials and shadowing members of FPC who were
involved with IESC projects. Although there were a number of organizing efforts
that I could have focused on for this internship, I chose to observe the current
project for creating a Healthcare Corridor in Pomona. Originally commissioned by
the city back in 2003, over the next seven years very little was accomplished in
the way of establishing the corridor other then the designation of the land. In
2010 IESC took over development and began organizing major local health care
institutions, businesses, schools, religious institutions, and Pomona’s
Redevelopment Agency in an effort to jumpstart the process. Additionally, one of
the most exciting benefits that would come from creating a Pomona healthcare
corridor would be the hundreds of new jobs that it will generate for the city.
Because of my growing interest in public health and healthcare access in
communities, I was very interested to learn more about current organizing
efforts that were in effect in order to accomplish this project. Part of my
responsibility as an intern was to attend the healthcare corridor meetings led
by IESC and observe the organizing process unfold as leaders from various
medical, educational, city, and religious institutions discussed the project and
offered their opinions and concerns. These meetings were followed by a short
debriefing session where leaders within IESC would discuss what parts of the
meeting they felt were a success and what things could have gone better or been
done differently.
Another important aspect of this meeting was that after a proposal for
the corridor was made, all members of these institutions were given the
opportunity to become directly involved with developing the corridor. Eventually
after discussing what the appropriate steps were to take in this process, small
teams were formed and each group was delegated specific tasks to accomplish
before the next meeting. An example of this would be the team that was told to
undergo extensive research for the project by looking into models of other
cities that had successfully established a healthcare corridor in the past.
These cities would basically become a blueprint that Pomona could use as a
guideline in order to implement their project. Because each leader or
institution brought some different expertise to the table, these teams were that
much stronger because they were working together and making use of every
available resource.
Issues that IESC seeks to address through community organizing like crime
and safety, healthcare access, job training, and opposing the waste transfer
station are the kinds of resident concerns that organizers learn about through
individual meetings. These one-on-one’s with residents and community leaders
is another task that I had as an intern working through FPC. Individual meetings
are typically used by organizers in order to discover the issues and concerns of
individuals and see who the potential leaders in the community might be. As part
of this internship, I would arrange to meet with someone in my community each
week for no more than an hour in order to get a feel for conducting individual
meetings. I learned a lot from these conversations and began to see how
different the interests and concerns of people living in the same community can
be depending on a variety of factors. Things to consider that affect
perspectives greatly include what neighborhood a person lives in, where they
work, their socioeconomic level, and even ethnic background.
Possibly one of my only regrets from doing this internship is that I
wasn’t able to be more involved in IESC’s organizing efforts opposed to the
building of a Waste Transfer Station in Pomona. Due to various time constraints
with my classes and other school involvement, I was not able to attend any of
the crucial meetings or hearings regarding the Waste Transfer Station. This
truly is a shame as this was one of the most developed projects that FPC was
involved in and really showed community organizing at its finest. This was a hot
topic for FPC and many more citizens of Pomona as it was going to have a serious
impact on the community and potentially put the health of a number of residents
at risk.
The objection to the regional waste transfer station was on the grounds
that it would create long-term air pollution issues from an additional 610 trash
truck trips daily that would be traveling in and out of Pomona. These trucks
would be putting out dangerously high levels of NOx (nitrogen oxides that
generally are produced from the tailpipe) emissions which leads to higher risks
of acute respiratory disease, asthma, impaired pulmonary function, cancer, and
even premature deaths. Additionally, children are primarily being put at the
greatest risk as there are nine schools within a one mile radius of the transfer
station site. Another group considered being at high risk are those living in
three nearby residential areas that are 100% minority and
predominately low-income. Pomona has a higher minority and low-income
population than other surrounding cities and it was important for residents to
show those in favor of the station that they take pride in their city and
don’t want it to become the dumping site for outside trash. It was great to
see so many leaders and residents of Pomona voice their concerns over an issue
that would immediately affect groups and neighborhoods that most likely didn’t
include them.
I think it’s fair to say that before this internship I wasn’t
completely aware of just how much time and energy goes into organizing. Now
having finished my internship I can honestly say that my time observing IESC’s
efforts has given me a deeper appreciation for community organizing.
Relationships are a huge part of community organizing and although they are not
a quick fix to problems, they definitely have the greatest impact and are the
foundation for effective change. Meeting with people, getting to know them,
sharing stories and concerns, and building some kind of trusting relationship is
a long but rewarding process. To put it simply, solid relationships are not
built overnight but are absolutely worth it in the end. Not only do you have the
opportunity to learn from others during the process but together you are
empowering one another to take control of a situation. Community organizing
really is about empowering people to effectively address and solve the common
needs and issues that affect their everyday lives.
This internship helped me realize just how much power an organized,
passionate, and dedicated group of people can have in their community, and why
it is so important to get involved. Too often we are just content to sit by and
do nothing about our problems because we convinced ourselves that we can’t
make a difference. By doing so, we are putting ourselves at the mercy of those
who are in positions of power and expecting them to always do what’s best for
the entire community, city, country, etc. What we don’t realize is that these
leaders are here to serve us and it is our job to hold them accountable and make
sure that all perspectives are taken into account.
Additionally, this internship also taught me to consider in what ways
have all of us caused or at least
contributed to corrupt systems and current problems that may be felt more by a
particular group of people. When current systems and circumstances are in our
favor or to our advantage then what should be our motivation for getting
involved in other peoples’ problems? Are we even obligated to get involved at
all? As Christians I would say that yes we are. The goal of community organizing
isn’t just to find and train individual leaders, but rather to build a
community committed to preserving and maintaining an equally enjoyable quality
of life for all. It is important
that we learn to empathize with the problems of our brothers and sisters who are
being treated unjustly and victimized by corrupt systems. Once emphatic
listening and processing of mutual issues and concerns in a community have been
obtained, the next step is to move beyond that and into action. In the event
that we find that our past failure to act has indeed contributed to the
problem’s sustainability, we can learn from this mistake and commit to doing
our part in the future to correct it. Summary
In this paper
I briefly discuss what initially sparked my interest in community organizing and
why I chose to pursue an internship with an IESC affiliated institution. Several
of my internship responsibilities and experiences are highlighted including my
involvement with the development of a Pomona Health Corridor, shadowing
community leaders and organizers, learning to conduct individual meetings with
local residents, and observations made from witnessing IESC’s opposition to a
Waste Transfer Station proposal. Additionally, I consider what my internship has
taught me about community organizing as a whole and how Christians should
respond to current problems and corrupt systems that are keeping their entire
community from enjoying the best quality of life possible. |
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