Speaker: Jose Ballester, Associate Director of Member Action, Universalist Unitarian Service Committee
Dr. Ballester presented a primer on organizing for social action, plus the prospect of support for significant projects from his office. The model he used was the work camp. Often, a work camp is a site in which volunteers live and work for a specific time on a specific project, such as rebuilding a church that was burned down. It can be less intense, however, including a single day or weekend effort. The primary purpose is to expose volunteers to the experiential learning and community organizing which can only be done in a community with a need.
How is this done?
It starts with an IDEA to answer a need in your neighborhood, in your congregation, or in your state to correct some wrong such as an environmental hazard, prejudiced law enforcement, endemic poverty, etc.
| The idea must fit the needs and aspirations of the community as well as the resources available. As an example, a UU church decided to do outreach to its mixed African-American and Latino community. Knowing they had a really good music program, the planners at the church decided to take their choir into the community to give concerts and workshops, hoping to get some of their neighbors interested in becoming a part of this. The project bombed. When the church people then asked neighborhood leaders, "What are the problems here that we could help solve?" they were told that the school kids in the community needed good breakfasts. They set out to do that, but soon realized that it was going to be expensive. So they took the choir to other parts of town to give concerts to raise money to support the breakfast program. When the neighborhood people got to know the church people who were providing the breakfasts and realized that the church's choir was working to support the program, they began coming to the church and even joining the choir. |
This raises the five basic questions which must be answered for every project: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY?
Arrange for People: Community representatives, task-oriented people, visionary people and money people are all needed. Money must be not only raised but tracked, "and, yes, the Government does care where the money went."
Who will do the work? It may be all youth, all adult, or multi-generational, and some combination of community residents, volunteers and/or special resource partners, depending on the particular situation and project. Regardless of the mix, all parties should participate in the planning and development for the work.
A typical work camp or program will need a Crew Chief, an Administrator and a Pastor — people need time out, the Sabbath off, and/or an opportunity to cycle in and out if they are to avoid being overwhelmed.
Plan Logistics: Housing and food may be needed for many projects, and that means food transportation, storage, preparation, etc. You need to know about food allergies and food preferences. "Taking the fatback out of the beans [after cooking them] does not make them vegetarian and it certainly doesn't make them kosher."
Do Public Relations and Celebrations: Get the news out to potential helpers and partners, help to validate the project and build morale, and bring pressure to encourage goodwill and cooperation. In Nashville during General Assembly, several volunteers, including three veterans of a project in Yakima, Washington, went out to gain practical knowledge by helping with composting in a community garden project. They contacted the local television stations and received coverage on the evening news.
Follow Up: After the project is finished, and particularly between phases, keep in contact, revisit, bring your children — the children of the community you're helping will be there, after all.
Say "Thank you!"
A cookbook is coming in October or November to help congregations start planning community social action programs. Direct help may be offered to groups that have answered the basic questions listed above. Jose Ballester can be reached at 1-800-388-3620, ext. 219 or by e-mail at jballester@uusc.org. The UUSC web site is at http://www.uusc.org.
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