Appendix I -- Community client reflection

Kendra Rhodes
January 13, 2009
Reading response #1

In reading the first part of the book. I found it interesting about how to begin thinking about community as a client instead of an individual. I feel like it’s something of a skill to be gained, and practiced. I’m so used to thinking of individuals in terms of strengths and weaknesses, it’s hard to begin making that transition into thinking of a community having its own sets of strengths and weaknesses. Mostly it seems difficult for me because as soon as I identify a strength that may come from a community, it automatically gets related back to an individual and I translate that community strength into an individual strength.
Also, something else I really like about the book is often times when he talks about helping out… he says something like: Doing things WITH people instead of FOR people. Or WITH communities instead of FOR them. It is just more that adds to the strength based approach to things. Also related to that is what he said about not being able to help a community that does not believe in itself. The community has to be able to envision its own success before efforts will be successful. One more piece to help me begin thinking of communities as clients.
This conceptual thinking ties to learning outcome #2. Analyze community systems and structures, and design and evaluate processes to initiate and sustain change through specific strategies, tactics , activities and social policy advocacy.
I think this concept is important to my mastery of the learning outcomes because it is a fundamental concept in beginning to study communities and how to perpetuate change within them.