Center for Participatory Change
STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION
In our Board and staff planning sessions, CPC has refined our mission and vision and taken a closer look at the strategies we use to carry out that mission. Our mission is to help people recognize their own power, work together and transform their communities. We have a vision of people transforming Western North Carolina, creating just and inclusive communities. They believe they can make change, know how to make change, and take up the challenge to do it.
After reflecting on our past work and future goals, we have identified four main strategies, or directions for our work, that will help us achieve our mission and work towards our vision of the future. These strategies are outlined in more detail here.
Racial Justice
Despite the successes of the Civil Rights movement, racial discrimination remains deeply ingrained in our society, and it affects nearly every aspect of our lives, from employment and education to housing and health care. Initially, CPC's strategy to address these issues focused primarily on programs and projects in communities of color, but we have since realized that is only part of a broader strategy that includes:
- Work to develop strong leaders and strong organizations within Latino, African American, Cherokee and immigrant communities.
- Work to help European American members of community groups understand and address issues of racial prejudice and privilege.
- Work to develop opportunities for multi-racial, multi-cultural gatherings, networks, and partnerships, as a way to build relationships and start tapping the power that we all have in working together.
Economic Justice
Poverty and economic exploitation are also major social problems in Appalachia, for long-time residents and recent immigrants alike. CPC's economic justice work centers around a vision of an economy that sustains, rather than exploits, our regional natural and cultural resources; that provides everyone with the opportunity to do safe and productive work; and that provides them with a living wage in exchange for their labor.
Our economic justice work also includes several themes:
- Collective entrepreneurship: Support for community groups that have come together to create new, locally-controlled economic opportunities, such as farmers markets, the projects of the Smoky Mountain Native Plants Association, or the handmade notecards of Manos Unidas / Hands Together.
- Workers rights: Partnerships with organizations like the Western North Carolina Workers Center, Latino centers and immigrant advocacy groups, which provide education and support for immigrant workers, address issues of exploitation, and help conscientious employers understand their opportunities and responsibilities.
- Alternative economic opportunities: Helping low-income people connect with other resources and organizations, like Mountain Microenterprise Fund, that can provide support and training for them to engage in grassroots economic development on their own terms.
Community Support
CPC's Community Support work includes assistance for a broad range of organizations whose primary focus is not racial or economic justice. These include:
- Community based nonprofits, such as family resource centers, that help people meet their basic needs by providing services within a framework of empowerment
- Organizations that work for the safety and empowerment of women, particularly women's shelters and domestic violence organizations
- Other community organizations that foster participation in order to strengthen families, children and communities.
This strategy is important for CPC's mission because it allows us to be responsive to the needs of a wider range of community organizations, and because it provides broader opportunities for coalition and network building in the grassroots sector.
Strengthening the "Grassroots Sector"
We often hear about the "business sector," the "government sector" or the "nonprofit sector," where the term 'sector' means a division of a society that plays a major role in shaping that society. We believe that there is also a "grassroots sector," which includes small, community-based nonprofits, grassroots groups, volunteer projects, and community centers-any effort where people come together to make changes or improvements in their community.This "grassroots sector" overlaps with the nonprofit sector in some ways, but is less formal and more pervasive in American society. Most people engage their community in some way-as a volunteer, through a church group, with a neighborhood association, in school projects, or as a leader in a grassroots group. This kind of participation is a relatively pure form of democracy, where people use their skills and power to influence their community in a direct and personal way.
A large part of achieving CPC's long-term vision is helping the people and groups in Western North Carolina's grassroots sector come together in coalitions, partnerships and gatherings. By coming together, different groups start to recognize that their efforts are part of a larger movement. They can share experiences and successful strategies for social change. They can also start to identify shared issues and learn to build power as a region, providing a foundation for a movement that will grow beyond local projects to create a broader, longer lasting social transformation.
This work involves lots of networks and gatherings, including:
- Joint trainings or workshops for several groups in the same geographic area
- Issue-based gatherings, such as the "Encuentros" for Western North Carolina's Latino-led organizations
- Gather Together, the annual gathering for all of CPC's grassroots partners and other community organizations in Western North Carolina
Copyright © 2003 Center for Participatory Change
Home | About CPC | Our Programs | | Grassroots Partners | Self Development Fund
Friends of CPC | The Toolbox | Publications | Links | Contact CPC
All rights reserved. Contact CPC for permission on reprinting or use of materials on this site.