More than 200 people and 30 South LA community organizations gathered at Bethune Middle School this morning to discuss aspects of healthy living and the needs of their neighborhoods.
The event, Building Health Communities, was a celebration of sorts, an opportunity for nonprofits and active residents to come together and meet face to face. The California Endowment and Social Action Partners sponsored the event, which included drumming, dancing, poetry readings, and a resource fair. South LA is one of the 14 communities statewide the California Endowment selected to be a part of its Building Health Communities program.
After breakfast and some performance art, Dr. Sandra Villanueva, Ph.D., led the crowd through a collaborative exercise in asset mapping. Traditional research like surveys and polls tend to show the issues and problems with an area, Villanueva explained. But asset mapping takes a different approach–it shows the strengths of an area and looks at the gifts and talents the residents, associations, and institutions of an area have to offer. Business owners, grant writers, artists, and musicians all took turns standing up, demonstrating some of the abilities and skills community members possessed.
Asset mapping, Villanueva said, is all about “making the invisible visible.” The motto seemed to apply to the entire event–people were happy to have their voices heard. Even when addressing tough issues, as people chatted, swapped business cards and exchanged ideas, a feeling of hope and enthusiasm prevailed.
