Putting Social Capital to Work in Kansas!
Stephen B. Fawcett
Work Group for Community Health and Development
University of Kansas
An Important Truth
Our ability to change things is bound up in our relationships with others.
Today’s Conversation
1. The idea of social capital2. Change through relationships3. Personal reflection and planning
The Idea of Social Capital
• Story of Overbrook—Change through relationships
After-school program (safe places)Senior Dance for youth and elders
(caring relationships)Community Service Club for 1st – 3rd graders
(opportunities to serve)
The Idea of Social Capital
Definition—Resources that flow from our relationships with others
Relationships contribute to:Material resourcesEmotional resourcesAbility to change things
Social Determinants of Health and Development :
1. Social connectedness2. Efficacy—ability to change things
Path of Change
See
Connect
Change
Through Relationships
Seeing—Focuses Attention on…
What is (assessment) What ought to be (vision)
Seeing—A Common Vision in Overbrook
• Caring relationships between children and adults
• Safe places• Service to others• Youth as change agents
Personal Planning for Change—Reflection on “Seeing”
• What do you want to see in your community?
• Consider: the groups to benefit; the issues that matter to you
• If your vision were realized, what would things look like?
Path of Change
See
Connect
Change
Through Relationships
Connecting
• Strengthening social networks and ties• Building bridges across groups
Personal Planning for Change—Reflection on “Connecting”
• Who will you connect with to make what you want to see happen?
• Consider the social networks and ties that may be important; the needed bridges to those outside the group
• What additional connections are needed to fulfill the vision?
Path of Change
See
Connect
Change
Through Relationships
Five Strategies for Change
1. Providing information and enhancing skills
2. Modifying access, barriers, and opportunities
3. Enhancing services and support4. Changing the consequences5. Modifying policies and broader systems
Personal Planning for Change—Reflection on “Changing”
• What specific change will you seek to address your vision?
• Consider the different strategies• For this change to occur, what
relationships need to be in place?• If this change occurred, what would it
mean to you? To the community?
Why change things?
“We are connected in an inescapable web of mutuality.” --Martin Luther King, Jr.
What affects any of us, affects all of us.
Discernment—Communicating Our Change Plan to Others
1. Does this plan for change feel right to you?
2. Does it seem right to others who care about you and your community?
3. Do you have the opportunity?
Path Toward Building Healthier Communities in Kansas
Seeing Connecting
ChangingFor an electronic copy of the “Personal
Plan for Making a Difference”, go to the KU Work Group’s website http://ctb.ku.edu/wg/
Building a Path
Seeing
Connecting
Changing
Healthier Communities
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