Now Begins the Process of Staying Together

Update on the Backyard Initiative

Many of the Allina Backyard Initiative participants are describing the process of community engagement as “trustworthy”,” “deeply instructive,” “nurturing,” “Informative” and completely surprising.

The Process
Since December of 2008 there have been 11 dinner dialogue gatherings. Each gathering has held the attention of 28 ”“ 70 people of various ages. The youngest is 6 years old and the oldest is a 74 year old resident. The 74 year old resident told the story of organizing the residents in his apartment building after being so inspired by the knowledge gained while attending 8 of the 11 dinner meetings and participating on the very active Assessment Team.

He left one of the Assessment meetings fired up. He had seen several drug dealers on the block where he lived. He was feeling frustrated and angry because as he stated, “no one was doing anything” suddenly he realized that the no one included him. He stood up and started knocking on doors inside his building asking people to come together for meetings about the drug dealer. He then called the SAFE office, then the councilperson”'s office, the mayor”'s office. Each office staff provided support and encouragement and within two weeks the house where the drug activity was happening was closed.… Read the rest “Now Begins the Process of Staying Together”