'Face' based not 'place' based

"It's about faces - not places" - these are words that will stick with me from my time on Monday spent in the company of David Derbyshire - a community development worker in Hamilton, Ontario. David is a truly remarkable and inspirational (and incredibly modest) individual who clearly cares deeply about people and  about communities - 'faces not places'.

Core to David's approach is the connections and relationships he skillfully builds with and between people in the communities he works in. David sees himself as a 'conduit' for action and for building capacity in individuals and communities to enable them to identify and mobilize the assets they have. He takes a truly asset based approach and seeks to "empower people to do what they want to do".



David in the McQuesten Community Centre -
just two of the communities many 'assets'

I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon and evening with  David  where we visited some of the communities he works in and met some of the people he has worked alongside and inspired. First stop was the McQuesten neighbourhood, a public housing area inhabited by, what David described as, 'the working poor' (people living close to the poverty line).

Hamilton is a place with large inequalities in life expectancy. There is a 21 year gap in life expectancy between the lowest and highest rates.  There is also high unemployment in sections of the city due to industrial decline. McQuesten is not untypical of other parts of the city in having a diverse community made up of people from many different countries and cultures. Racism has been problem in the past and David told me that there was a time when people across the street from one other would not talk to each other. Now things are very different.

 As we walked around the community - David seemed to know everyone by name and issued a warm, "Hi - how are you?",  to everyone we met - he was always greeted with a positive response - and sometimes a question or a request for information.

We visited several people in their homes who were universally full of praise for David and the support he gives to them and to the community. Rose - who recently won the David Derbyshire 'Citizen of the Year' award (an award the community established in recognition of David's valued input) said she wouldn't do any of the activities she's involved in if it wasn't for David.

We visited Pat who chairs the neighbourhood Planning Team. Pat told me how she loved living in the area - and really valued the opportunity to make so many new friends and connections with people from different backgrounds.



Sign in McQuesten Community Centre



 We bumbed into Michael - a young man, who having grown up in the community,  has encouraged other young people to get involved in music as a diversion for other, less positive, activities.



David in the McQuesten Community Garden.



With David's facilitation, the McQuesten community has identified and mobilized a huge has a range of  'assets' including: 

• A community garden where residents can grow their own fruit and veg (many people urged me to go and see the garden and are justly proud and pleased that it exists).
• Block parties and community BBQ's where neighbours get together for a social gathering, sharing the work of planning, organising and providing the food
• Several colourful and well maintained playgounds
• Lots of green space
• A community centre -  which is valued and well used and provides a whole range of activities and services. As we walked around the center, I met the leader of a club for young girls which sought to address issues of low self esteem and low confidence through providing activities aimed at improving physical, mental and emotional health





One of McQuesten's Playgrounds



Later that same day, we attended the Planning Team meeting for another neighbourhood - South Sherman. We sat outside the meeting venue (a local church) on the grass in the sunshine and waited as people arrived and sat down to join us.

Community Planning Teams meet once a month and are made up of service providers, education,  local businesses and local residents. A range of issues were discussed including the approval a small grant for $300 for a community BBQ and how to deal with concerns about pollution from a local factory without jeopardising the employment opportunities the company provided. As David put it - as well as presenting a potential issue - the factory was also an asset and they needed to invite the asset to 'play nice'.

This comment from Celeste, who runs 'Property Angels', a service which seeks to provide  help with property repairs and needs - sums up the value of taking an asset based approach and of communities working together, and highlights the social capital that can result;

"what I love about it is that people who didn't know each other -

now know each other  - and help each other..."

You see- David was right - it's about faces - not just places.

Read more about the Community Development work in McQuesten here.