Asset mapping for specific outcomes

In both the demonstration projects in Dandenong and Warrnambool, taking stock of assets in the community was a main objective.

A multicultural audit

In the community involved in the Dandenong community building demonstration project, approximately 130 different nationalities were represented. Community workers felt that the people had many skills and strengths which were not being acknowledged in the paid sense, if at all. The specific aim of the project was to find out what people wanted for their community, rather than impose ideas upon them, and to match the skills people had with opportunities in

This approach involved the training of volunteers to gather information by going out into the community and running workshops with groups, as well as by undertaking individual interviews. Volunteers were English-speaking members of the community, representing some of the nationalities within it. This was an attempt to connect the diverse cultural mix and build networks within the community. The outcome was that data were obtained from approximately 300 people in the community who would otherwise have been difficult to access.

In keeping with community building aims, the workers were very mindful of not focussing on deficits and of portraying a positive concept.

‘What are the positives that haven’t yet been celebrated? What can you do for your community?’

While most of the information gathered pertained to people’s likes and dislikes about the community, their visions and ideas about the future were paramount in deciding what projects would be established when the resource audit was completed. The intention was to match identified skills and talents with future projects, in the hope that people might become engaged in community building and enhance their own well-being.

Just having a conversation about how to change things changes the way they perceive the community, and the way they perceive life.

Workers reported that volunteers developed many skills during the process. Many of them wanted to continue their involvement in future community projects. In this respect, capacity building was evident.

One aspect that did not work well was the term ‘community resource audit’. It was not considered to be user friendly. Other terms such as ‘skills bank’ and ‘strengths survey’ were considered along the way, but the issue was not resolved: the workers claimed that they became stuck with it.

A service gap revealed and addressed

In Warrnambool, workers became aware that services were not evenly distributed across the community. This became apparent during consultations with residents in one particular neighbourhood.

They can’t get access to services, even though we have all these services that are funded to deliver there.

After confirming the paucity of services in that area, the community workers wanted to learn why this was so. They planned a service provider forum, inviting all services in Warrnambool. One of the main agendas at the forum was to map service delivery and demonstrate that there was a lack of coordination and communication between providers, which ultimately meant that the needs of the community were not being met. The forum was well advertised, both in written form and by word of mouth, and was subsequently well supported. Approximately 90% of service providers attended, including aged care, child and family services, disability, and many more.

A large whiteboard was utilised to literally map the areas in Warrnambool where those services were operating. Workers described the whiteboard technique as a successful ploy, because of the visual aspect. The gap between what was being delivered across the whole Warrnambool community and what was delivered in the target neighbourhood became evident.

It was raw hard data there in front of people’s eyes. It was hard to deny that something needed to happen. Everyone was slightly surprised by that gap.

The outcome was that a residents’ group was formed to ensure that residents have a voice in the services provided to their community. Residents and service providers also formed the Service Delivery Reform Group to work toward change.

4.5 Story telling

For many community projects – notably those hoping to stimulate and engage community members to think, talk and work together – the simple strategy of telling and listening to each

used to capture rich descriptions of experience and practice so as to build an elaborate store of knowledge about a community and its members’ lives.

When a group of people come together who do not know each other well, one of the most natural things is for them to commence with personal life snapshot stories. The stories lead them to identify things in their past and current experiences which connect them.

Overall, story telling has proved to be a relaxed and easy tool both to understand and apply. It has been applied successfully in projects in the early stages of engagement as well as in consolidated projects in which community members, the community worker and many of the methods are well established. In any environment, the naturalistic style of telling personal stories to others was a comfortable, non-threatening strategy. It yielded rich information and provided strong opportunities for relationship building and reflection as the basis for the development of informed community action plans.