Strangers Don’t Live Here Anymore
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- Created on Monday, 27 May 2013 14:50
The push towards community involved and helping others to help themselves is not new, but there are some amazing new ways to go about it. From “pay it forward” good deeds to suspension coffees, the willingness for people to do a little good in their day is inspiring.
Peter and Carmel Keyes, two of Warrigal Care’s Albion Park Rail community members, found out more about the principles behind driving community inclusion at an ABCD Facilitator Training Workshop earlier this month.
ABCD stands for Asset Based Community Driven, it is an approach to community-based development, based on the principle of community-driven development rather than development driven by external agencies.
The technique uses conversations as a starting point to uncover individuals’ assets - their skills talents, knowledge and experiences. Through having these conversations communities can devise ways to utilise these assets, helping both the individual to feel worthwhile and the communities to benefit as a whole.
As Peter puts it “The ideas and plans come from them sharing stories. You can’t impose it on them, it just doesn’t work. If we can get people talking to each other it becomes as though strangers don’t live here anymore.” Peter and Carmel are now planning to take to the road to inspire other Warrigal Care communities with the ABCD approach.
“Our philosophy at Warrigal Care is centred on making sure older people are in a position to make their own choices,” said Ian McClintock, Warrigal Care’s Executive Manager Community Services. “The ABCD program reinforces this message, giving participants the tools and inspiration to make their own changes and connections in their community. We’re very lucky and proud that our residents feel so passionately about the Warrigal Carecommunities they live in.”
