Change they can believe in...

We hear so much about sustainability in discussions of poverty reduction – and with good reason. Money, supplies, programs and even facilities coming from the outside are only temporary solutions and once the providing organization exhausts its funds and exits a community, life typically returns as usual. While it might be easy to put blame on an organization for leaving a community, it cannot be an end goal that an organization remains to prop up a community as a long-term solution. So how does an organization assist a community to achieve sustainable change?

While there is no one cure-all prescription, the Vincentian Center for Social Responsibility (VCSR) program’s innovative approach combines resources for increasing income and financial assets with resources to develop a community’s human potential. VCSR brings the residents of Southville the important concept of collaboration and organization. Through developing resident’s self-esteem, teaching them how to express their thoughts and feelings, and bringing them together each week, VCSR helps community members realize that their voices together can make them much more powerful than they can be alone. Community members spoke about their new sense of community that did not exist when they lived along the railroad. They described how VCSR had brought many of them out the isolation of their homes to interact with their fellow community members. They are able to speak with confidence and passion about the plight of their community. They are knowledgeable about the problems they face and they have ideas about how to overcome them. While there is still much work to do, if VCSR left their community today, I don’t believe life would return as usual. I believe these residents would be able to take over the process for themselves. And ultimately this is the end goal that can lead to sustainable change – empowerment.

It is also important to recognize who is being empowered in the community – and it is overwhelmingly women. Because the vast majority of the participants are women, it is the women who are gaining self-esteem and life skills. It is the women who are earning additional income for their families, saving money and beginning to become the decision makers in their homes. It is the women who are organizing themselves, and the women that are the rising leaders in the community. While women’s empowerment is a goal within itself, I believe there is also a correlation to poverty eradication.

As VCSR works to extend its reach to the greater community, I believe it needs to start handing over pieces of the responsibility to Southville community members. They are ready, willing and it would be an opportunity to build further leadership skills. Participants who’ve completed the first two years of the program should serve as facilitators for the new batches. Community members should have a voice in determining what the next livelihood program will be. And ultimately, they should lead the process for creating change in their community.