Community Development and Support Workers
Assess the social and wellbeing needs of individuals and the community, and facilitate and assist with the delivery of community development and education programs.
A grant due on Friday
You are a community development officer at a local council, helping a suburb with a new program for young families and older neighbours. It is Wednesday. A grant application for a new community program is due on Friday. The residents have not been consulted yet, and your manager wants the application in on time.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
The funding round closes Friday and we have a good idea for the program. I know the residents have not had a say yet, but we can consult after we get the money. Can you finish the application today?
Finish the application as it stands, and promise to consult residents after the funding comes
The application goes in on time. After the funding comes, residents say the program does not suit them, and changing it is awkward. Consulting afterwards works less well than consulting before.
Tell Gail it is more important to spend two days listening, even if that means missing the deadline
The deadline passes and the funding is lost. Residents are grateful for the chat, but the program they wanted cannot start. Doing the right thing at the wrong cost is not always the right thing.
Run a quick survey and a chat at the shops, then adjust the application and submit on time
You hear from thirty residents in two days and change the plan. The application is stronger, and it shows real local support. It was a tighter week, but a better program.
Right, I have been here thirty years and I know what this suburb needs. We do not need more of your programs. What we need is the park fixed and the noisy skateboarders gone. That is it. Listen to me.
Note what Keith says, thank him and move on to the next person with a question
Keith is not quite heard, and he feels dismissed. Others at the meeting notice how you handled him. A polite brush-off sounds fine in the room and does not build trust.
Agree with Keith so he calms down, and promise that the skate park will be dealt with soon
Keith leaves pleased. The young people hear what you said and feel targeted. You promised something you do not have the power to deliver. Agreeing to keep the peace creates a bigger problem.
Ask Keith what he has seen in the park, and invite him to meet the young people
Keith grumbles, but he comes to a small meeting the next week. He and two skaters agree on a few simple fixes. Not everyone is satisfied, and everyone is at least talking.
I would come to the group sessions, but there is nowhere for my toddler to be while I join in. I have no family nearby. And honestly the time you chose does not suit anyone I know. Is anyone listening?
Listen, ask what would work, and invite her into the planning group
Lena helps you move the session to a time that suits parents, and finds a volunteer for a corner of toys. Attendance doubles. The best ideas for your program come from the people who use it.
Explain that the time was set by the hall booking and cannot change this term, sorry
It is true, but Lena leaves feeling unheard. You were accurate and not helpful. Often a constraint can be worked around if you ask the people affected for ideas.
Tell her you will try to fix it next term and move on to the next question in the meeting
Lena stops coming, and tells other parents the council does not listen. Putting off a fix gives people time to lose trust. A small answer now would have been worth far more.
How it went
The application went in on Friday with real names and ideas in it, Keith agreed to a meeting, and Lena took a seat on the planning group. Community development is slow, human and often untidy. It rewards people who listen first and plan second. Would that suit you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The garden nobody came to
A fictional case set in a neighbourhood house and community hall run with the help of local council.
The situation
Tom was a community development officer at a regional council. A grant had paid for a new community garden at the edge of a housing estate. It had raised beds, a shed and a nice sign. After three months only two people used it. The council wanted to know whether the garden was a failure, and Tom was asked to report back at the next meeting.
What they did
Tom spent a week knocking on doors and chatting to residents at the bus stop and the corner shop. He learned that the working sessions were all on weekday mornings, when most residents were at work. Some older residents did not feel the garden was for them, and a group of parents had no safe place to leave their children. He took these findings back to the council and asked residents to help plan new times and a small play area.
How it turned out
A Saturday morning session began with a dozen people. A year later the garden had a waiting list for beds. Tom was honest in his report that the first plan had been made without asking the people it was for, and that the lesson had cost time.
What would you do?
- Why do you think the garden was built before anyone asked the neighbours?
- How would you start a conversation with someone who does not usually go to community events?
- What do you think counts as success for a community project?