Huntington

We enjoyed a productive and eye-opening session with John Lord last month during the national conference in PEI. Focusing on “Expanding and Engaging our Climbing Team”, John provided us with some new tools to engage our communities and draw on their strengths for our own benefit.

Not only is John a community researcher, social innovator and author, but he is also the founder of the Centre for Community-Based Research in Kitchener, Ontario and a partner with the Facilitation Leadership Group. He introduced our group to a better use of our often limited resources by changing the way we connect with our communities.

“A good way to build connections with your community is to start by mapping your community,” John explained. “Every community has assets (people and places) that we can draw on for our personal connections and for the connections that strengthen our local chapter.”

Because so many of our volunteers are isolated in their communities and limited in terms of time and resources, it’s crucial that we find alternative ways to achieve more for our families and chapters without asking more of our volunteers. John’s interactive workshop provided everyone with renewed energy and techniques to help transform how they relate to and mobilize their communities. We discovered ways to identify strengths and connections in our communities, expand our personal networks and understand the power of asking.   

Most of us are afraid of asking for help or feel a sense of shame when we can’t do something on our own. But “asking” doesn’t have to synonymous with charity, John explained. Instead, it can be framed in hospitality, inclusion and social justice.

Optimal growth means recognizing that we all have individual strengths and capacities, and the same applies to our communities. As we think about building teams and connections with other community members, we always need to look at people’s assets and strengths. “Let us look at the strengths in this room – it illustrates the diversity of gifts that constitutes a team,” John pointed out. “Although each person has a variety of strengths, some people say that each of us also has a core gift.”

Everyone walked away that day with a few key insights: creating hospitality, intentionally building networks, the power of asking, mapping and knowing the strengths of our community, and building partnerships with people and places where we can find common ground. We were given concrete steps that our chapters and area representatives can use to make the most of each community’s resources. A detailed, easy-to-follow outline of those steps is below.

1. Decide if you would like to reach out more into your community and if you would like to mobilize others to help with fundraising informal support and public awareness. If you are an Area Representative you could do this same process on your own or with some family members or close friends.

2. Discuss the process listed below with you chapter executive  to see if these steps are practical

3. At home each person:
a.  Draws out you own personal web by using the following directions: http://www.huntingtonsociety.ca/english/content/?page=141 
Each chapter executive member draws one

b. List the strengths in your community amongst your
i. personal networks identified in a)
ii. your neighbourhood (whatever you define as a neighbourhood )
iii. associations of common interest with Huntington disease
iv. parts of you community that provide a psychological sense of well-being

4. Brings these lists to a meeting specifically designated for planning

5. At the meeting using a flip chart brainstorm as a group (no one judges any ideas until you are finished listing them) and jointly create a map of your community with places and people that are strengths and possible connections in the community. The map should include:
- Key people that might understand our story
- Key places that might welcome us
- Community association groups of common interest that we might be able to affiliate with

6. Use the exercise to list the first few steps you would like to take in reaching out.
It is wise to select steps that are important, but relatively easy and quick to accomplish with high degree of success to get you going. 

As a chapter, start by assessing your strengths in the following areas.
(If your chapter is new, assess the skills and experience that you can draw on.)

• Volunteer recruitment/development: Do you want to stay the same or grow? If you want to grow, by how much? Where do you need help the most? What skills are needed for each position? Drawing a personal web can help you identify links to possible volunteers.

• Family support: What would family support look like if the current obstacles did not exist? Is there more that you could be doing for local families with the most pressing needs?

• Public awareness: What would public awareness look like if the current obstacles did not exist?

• Fundraising: What would fundraising look like if the current obstacles did not exist? What kind of activities would you like to focus on? Are your events generating as much revenue as possible, given the energy and money they involve? What new avenues would you like to pursue?

• Advocacy: Is this an avenue you want to pursue? What are the most pressing issues that you could eliminate or minimize if you took action?

• Multidisciplinary Clinics: Do you need one?  Is this something that you would like to adopt as a project together with national office?

Remember: the process of discussion is as important as the end results.

Next, decide what end results you want to achieve over the next two to three years in each area. Assume there are no major barriers. This is a time to brainstorm ideas - don't judge any suggestions, just write them on a flip chart.

Then give your members five sticky dots each. Ask them to vote on the ideas by sticking a dot on the flip chart next to their top five priorities.

Now discuss the ideas that received the most dots and come to a consensus on your chapter priorities.

Next, decide what end results you want to achieve over the next two to three years in each area. Assume there are no major barriers. This is a time to brainstorm ideas - don't judge any suggestions, just write them on a flip chart.

Then give your members five sticky dots each. Ask them to vote on the ideas by sticking a dot on the flip chart next to their top five priorities.

Now discuss the ideas that received the most dots and come to a consensus on your chapter priorities.

As you're discussing priorities, think about the resources your chapter has available to work towards those end results:

• Human resources: How many members does your chapter have? What health limitations do they have? How much time can they commit? Are there other groups in your community, such as service clubs, that might be willing to help?

• Financial resources: How much money will you have to spend? How much money do you expect to raise? Are the costs within HSC's guidelines?

How important is this activity relative to others that you may be considering? How important is it in terms of HSC's National Strategic Plan? How important is it considering the human and financial resources of your chapter?

Now you need to develop a detailed plan for each priority. A simple way to do this is to use a worksheet with the following columns:
• activities
• steps involved
• person responsible
• resources required
• indicators that will measure successful achievement
• timeline for completion

Have all members of your group discuss how you will reach your goals by answering the following questions:
• What activities will we do to accomplish our priority?
• What steps are involved in each activity?
• Who will be responsible for making sure each activity gets completed?
• What resources do we need to complete the activity?
• What results do we expect from each activity?
• When do we need to complete each activity?

You should complete a similar worksheet for each priority on your list. These become your chapter plan for the coming year, and the basis for your chapter budget.

Important note: When your plan has been completed, don't leave it on the shelf - it should be a working document. At each chapter meeting, discuss your progress. That way, everyone is focused on common goals and energized by the chapter's achievements.

The next step in your planning is creating an annual calendar. Transfer the timelines from your work plans onto a calendar and give a copy to each member of your chapter.

Then at each executive meeting, take a moment to review it and make sure you are on schedule. If you need to, make changes to your calendar.