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| Lakewood Youth Summit: Youth identified barriers that were keeping them from reaching their goals; these barriers were broken this day! |
Five years ago, a small neighborhood organization in Charlotte decided to become a National Community Resiliency Project (NCRP) partner and underpin all its programs with the Three Principles approach.
That organization was the Lakewood Community Development Corporation, a feisty group of local residents who were focused on revitalizing their inner-city neighborhood. They had formed a non-profit in the early nineties to advocate for better housing and community safety, making significant improvements in affordable housing, utility and street improvements.
Lakewood’s median household income is low -- only half that of Charlotte as a whole. The percentage of single-parent households in Lakewood is high -- three times that of Charlotte as a whole. And the number of Lakewood residents who never graduated high school is also about three times that of Charlotte. The statistics (from City-Data.com) create a bleak picture of a struggling community, but what’s happening behind the statistics?
A seed has been planted, and as Lakewood Community Development Corporation Executive Director Dave Nichols says, “You plant the seeds, you never know how they will grow.”
“My feeling at the very beginning
was to approach this using what
we had at the time and see
what could happen in Lakewood”
The first seed got planted when Nichols and another Lakewood resident were given and read Modello: a Story of Hope for the Inner City and Beyond, by Jack Pransky. Based on that reading, Nichols sought out an opportunity to meet Center for Sustainable Change co-founder Dr. Roger C. Mills in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and attended a three-day, youth-focused workshop applying the Principles. Later, at one of the Center’s week-long Summer trainings in Saratoga, California, Nichols met Mary Martin, who at that time was helping to get things off the ground in Des Moines, Iowa (another National Community Resiliency Project site) by putting it out to the entire city -- inviting people from a wide variety of agencies in Des Moines to various meetings and trainings around the 3 Principles. Nichols’ small-non-profit had a very specific focus: the small community of Lakewood with a total land area of only half a square mile and a population of 750 residents. He knew that his approach would have to be different from Des Moines.
“My feeling at the very beginning was to approach this using what we had at the time and see what could happen in Lakewood,” Nichols said, inspired by outcomes in communities across the United States that have been exposed to Principles-based community development.
Nichols’ feeling was, “If it was truly impactful here [in Lakewood], it would organically spread to other areas of Charlotte.”
Any type of gathering became a
venue to discuss the Principles
and their application in people’s lives.
The ‘little community that could’ quietly went about training hundreds of Lakewood residents in the principles of Mind, Consciousness and Thought -- usually integrating the training into meetings, classes or workshops on topics of immediate concern to children, youth and adults, such as parenting, gang awareness, ‘girl power,’ and safety. Any type of gathering became a venue to discuss the Principles and their application in people’s lives. Community barbecues, movie nights, conferences and park festivals became opportunities for residents to explore the greater possibilities in their lives, their families and their community.
Prior to the NCRP, Lakewood had a reputation as one of the worst neighborhoods in the city. During the first year that Lakewood became an NCRP partner, the number of aggravated assaults in Lakewood dropped by 50 per cent, and declined an additional 25 per cent in the second year of the program. At the same time, reports to police from Lakewood residents rose, signaling a new trust in law enforcement and a willingness to cooperate.
The number of senior citizen residents rose because older folks no longer felt they had to move out of the neighborhood for safety reasons. The school dropout rate for neighborhood children decreased by 50 per cent. The percentage of students scoring at or above grade level increased to nearly the same level as the city-wide average (to a less than 1 per cent difference). The results were proving to be consistent with outcomes from other communities across North America that have integrated the Three Principles approach into community development efforts. (See outcomes from Awakening the Beloved Community: Report on Year 2 of the National Community Resiliency Project.)
Other Charlotte agencies are seeing
what is being accomplished in Lakewood
and want similar outcomes in their own fields of endeavor.
Individuals from the broader Charlotte area were invited to various 3 Principles-based events and, apparently, interest percolated. Today, Nichols’ insight is proving correct. “An awareness of the Principles and their applications are somewhat organically being introduced in the broader community of Charlotte,” he said.
Other Charlotte agencies are seeing what is being accomplished in Lakewood and want similar outcomes in their own fields of endeavor. The adjacent neighborhood of Thomasboro, particularly the school there, is pursuing a commitment to introduce the 3 Principles to help transform the school culture.
As a result of one of the city’s larger drug prevention and treatment centers, Anuvia Prevention and Recovery Center, participating in a drug awareness and prevention program in Lakewood that was modified to allow Lakewood CDC to include regular discussion about the Principles, that agency is also moving towards getting their entire prevention staff trained in the Three Principles. Once per month since spring of last year, Anuvia Prevention Specialist Jenny Wade has been sharing the Three Principles with people in drug treatment. She shares readings from The Serenity Principle, by Principles-based psychologist Joseph Bailey, and they talk about different ways to deal with life’s challenges. “Not everyone gets it, but more often than not people are, like, ‘Hmm, I never thought of it that way.” Program evaluations show that treatment clients find the discussions to be meaningful.
Wade herself was introduced to the Principles through collaborations between Anuvia and Lakewood CDC on programs for youth. A turning point for her was attending a two-day training facilitated by CSC Co-director Gabriela Maldonado-Montano. “That was my first real exposure to what the training was about, and from there I was able to use it personally and professionally,” Wade said. An understanding of the Principles has helped her with what she calls “higher-level thinking.” She said, “I observe thoughts rather than being held hostage by them.” Wade brought her enthusiasm for the Principles to the Prevention department and helped initiate training for the staff planned for the fall. Supervisors from other Anuvia departments will sit in. “I think that will lead to getting the rest of the agency interested,” Wade said.
While a Principles-based approach gradually reaches more sectors in the city of Charlotte, the goal in Lakewood is the same as it always has been: to improve the quality of life for neighborhood residents. The current focus is on intensifying learning so that residents can deepen their understanding of the Principles. To that end, Lakewood Community Development Corporation is a hub of activity, with recent programs and accomplishments, underpinned by the Three Principles:
- “Bullying - Finding a Better Way,” six-week workshop in bullying for middle and high school students
- Youth leadership summit, full day program for youth featuring role models and speakers
- “Lakewood Through My Eyes,” 12-week photo program for youth
- Employment Development, two-day adult workshop
- “Peaceful Parenting” four-week program for youth, adults and grandparents
- Received grant from the Charlotte Mecklenburg African-American Community Fund to conduct a 6-week youth leadership empowerment program (for vulnerable high school African American males)
- Received City of Charlotte Neighborhood Matching Grants for 3P-based programs
- Dave Nichols invited to speak in Washington, DC at a presentation following the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication
- Lakewood Preschool continues to utilize the Principles in its 3- and 4-year-old classes and to incorporate 3 Principles in its parent education program
To learn more about the National Community Resiliency Project in Lakewood and other sites, contact the Center for Sustainable Change. The NCRP is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
by Maureen Latta, Grants Manager, Center for Sustainable Change
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