Community Weaving Experience Opens Next Phase in Chicago Community Weaving Initiative

The Community Weaving Chicago Experience is scheduled to take place Tuesday, April 28th, 2009, 6pm - 9pm, at Living Water Community Church (6808 N. Ashland Blvd. Chicago, IL 60626).

The free event will include food and non-alcoholic beverages.

This event is part of the Community Weaving Chicago Initiative spearheaded by a group of community members and organizations who are weaving people together by hosting Community Weaving Experiences in Chicago.

These events offer people the opportunity to connect to one another and begin solving problems impacting their lives, organizations and communities. Families are suffering and neighbors are networking to help one another and preparing to respond to natural or man-made disasters! We live in uncertain times. Good Neighbors pool resources, form Family Support Networks, organize recreational activites and workshops, spearhead special initiatives and lend a helping hand to neighbors in need.

Local agencies have partnered in the effort to help weave people together so they can help themselves and others! If you want to start a community garden, a clothing exchange or food coop don't miss this event.

Good Neighbors will be connected to mechanics, lawyers, mediators, facilitators, gardeners, plumbers, truck drivers, employers, babysitters, room mates and new friends!

To learn more about Community Weaving go to: www.communityweaving.org
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INSTRUCTIONS TO REGISTER FOR FREE AS A GOOD NEIGHBOR:

Register On-line
Just go to www.GoodNeighbors.net website using Internet Explorer browser to sign up as a Good Neighbor.

Enter information in upper/lower case.

1) Go to www.goodneighbors.net
2) Click on "Sign up for free" button to the left of picture mosaic
3) Enter User ID: CWCHICAGO
4) Complete the registration form
5) Submit form
6) List resources in each category (follow instructions carefully to save time or skip if you want)
7) Submit

Direct inquiries or requests to Gaston at 312.793.4088 or Fred at 773.410.3446.

Partnering for Change builds momentum!

The Partnering for Change (P4C) gathering on March 27, 2009 was a great success! Participants are now connected to an amazing group of movers and shakers in Chicago who care about the community. The Co-Conveners from the Black Oak Center, IDHS-Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness, Greater Chicago American Red Cross, Heartland Alliance and Fresh Taste are to be applauded for their efforts to assemble such a diverse group representative of a broad cross-section of Chicago.

Chicago Leads the Way in Community Weaving America Initiative

We spearheaded the Community Weaving America initiative following the election of President Obama and have been looking for six communities around the country to serve as demonstration sites to commence Community Weaving America. This initiative is a citizen engagement "process" model that increases community capacity to create more resilient communities that are adaptive to change.

The seven-phase implementation process takes approximately six months to implement. Each community identifies conveners from across community sectors to create the initial invitation to engage people in the process. Each phase informs the next phase, which in turn brings on board a broader cross-section of community and thereby growing the effort. The technology at www.goodneighbors.net weaves resources of the people and institutions together and makes them accessible to all.

The six sites will have an opportunity to collaborate on a larger grant. Each site will come up with a portion of funding for CW implementation. A Master Weaver will be assigned to work with each site. The grant will pay for the administrative costs to sustain Community Weaving over the first year.

Chicago became the first of the six sites to commence Community Weaving three months ago and is now entering Phase III. Attendees at the last gathering included Federal program directors from Dept of HHS, County staff, the American Red Cross, social service providers, emergency preparedness organizations, faith-based communities, foundations and local citizens. Below is the email to follow-up the gathering. It offers insight into Next Steps following Phase II: Partnering for Change event on March 27th.

We will train Community Weavers in April in Chicago who will be the linkages between formal and informal systems and create the reciprocal feedback loop to create an adaptive system between grassroots and institutions.

Let us know if you are interested in being a convener of a CW pilot project in your own community.

This initiative would not have been possible without the generous contribution of the Jeffrey Noyes Foundation who provide the seed money for the Community Weaving America Initiative.