Weekly Objectives and Achievements
Week 7
Objectives:
- Individual completion of AER outline.
- To confirm the meeting time with our first community partner.
- To contact more potential community partners via email.
Achievements:
- Exchanged outlines for feedback within the group during the tutorial session.
- Confirmed the meeting time with the first community partner, and communicated with the second community partner to schedule a meeting.
- Contacted some other potential community partners but didn’t have response from them.
Week 8
Objectives:
- To visit the first community kitchen to introduce our project and obtain information by using the survey questions.
- To have a group meeting in person or online after the first meeting with the community partner to refine strategies when approaching community partners.
Achievements:
- Had a successful meeting with the community partner, and had the chance to visit their kitchen. However, the supervisor who met with us had to talk to the management team for the confirmation of participating in our project, so we didn’t get the information we needed for the survey.
- Decided as a group to send our project proposal and consent form to community partners who showed interest in our project before scheduling a meeting to make the actual meeting more efficient.
Week 9
Objectives:
- To share personal and group Moments of Significant Change within the group.
- To schedule meetings with community partners.
Achievements:
- Built partnerships with two community kitchens in the Kerrisdale and Marpole areas, and scheduled meetings with both of them.
- Created a chart for the group’s Moments of Significant Change.
- Had a successful meeting with the first community partner, and gathered all the information needed for the survey. We were not allowed to take pictures during the visit, but the community partner will be sending us pictures of their facilities later this week or next week.
Week 10
Objectives:
- To meet with the second community partner on Monday.
- To call potential community partners who haven’t replied to our email.
- To complete the online survey based on the data obtained from community partners.
- To analyze the data obtained and present them in a table format.
- To start drafting the final report.
- To try to schedule regular group meetings.
Moments of Significant Change Workshop
Description
The Moments of Significant Change Workshop was an activity that allowed the group to define and reflect on several moments when a significant change occurred during the progress of our project. During the tutorial session, each group member individually shared own moments of significant change related to the project in a story form, and as a group we eventually selected ten events as Moments of Significant Change that most significantly influenced the group, and rated the level of influence of the event to each group member. Ratings were analyzed and incorporated into a chart (Figure 1). This activity allowed us to evaluate the performance of the group and think about areas of improvements. This also created an opportunity for us to address unforeseen issues, while acknowledging the differences in the way we felt about certain moments throughout the project.
Reflection
Through the discussion, we noticed as a group that most of the events elicited similar influences to all group members. Challenges did arise when our expectations couldn’t be fulfilled. However, by developing a better understanding of the issue we have been facing, new interests and expectations have been developed accordingly, facilitating the group’s performance. For example, when the project was first assigned to us, some of the members did not find this project appealing. But through the progress, detailed knowledge about the project and the understanding of the way we could contribute to the community through the project have changed our initial impression of the project, and the group’s attitude towards the project has become more positive.
As shown on the chart (Figure 1), the event of ‘attending first community partner meeting’ has been an encouragement for all of us. Although we were not able to obtain the consent of participation from that community partner during that meeting (we’ve eventually built a partnership with them and will be revisiting them next Monday), but they kindly shared some of their thoughts on community kitchen programming with us, one of which was having regular meetings with other community kitchens and/or foodbanks in the same area to generate a weekly schedule of operation (i.e. on each day of the week, at least one community kitchen or foodbank should be open and provide free food) to better serve the community. An eating area with round tables was also provided by the community kitchen to provide the opportunity for people with different backgrounds to chat together. This meeting has changed our perception and understanding of a community kitchen from simply ‘a place for people to gather and prepare meals together’ to a place that not only provides safe and nutritious food but also plays a role in helping people build positive networks and improving the community (City of Vancouver, 2015). The cooperation between various community facilities which is the goal of our community partner could also positively influence the community development. By cooperation, the possibility to achieve goals that couldn’t be achieved by a single organization could significantly increase, and limited resources could be combined and efficiently used for the community development (Dogarawa, 2010; Zeuli, 2002). The gathering of several community organizations that share similar interests and goals could also build a shared ‘community vision’ leading different organizations to a common goal through strategic directions that are approved by all organizations (Ontario Health Communities Coalition, 2009). During the gathering, an opportunity is also created for community organizations to seek for support on initiatives, making it possible to establish more programs that could be beneficial for the whole community (Ontario Health Communities Coalition, 2009). If possible, our group hopes to help make the gathering possible through the project or outside the class by working with community organizations as volunteers.
The Graceful Dismount
To successfully complete the project, our updated strategies include:
- To create a to-do list and update it as the project progresses;
- To gather information based on the survey during the visit to the other community kitchen next week;
- To try to build partnership with one or two more community kitchens in the following week by calling the organization or visiting them in person to introduce our project;
- To systematically analyse and present data in a tabular form;
- To compare the programming available at different community kitchens and to understand the challenges they are facing in terms of food safety and accessibility;
- To assign tasks equally to each group member with agreed deadline;
- To schedule regular group meetings (either online or in person) after the drafting of the project report is started;
- To communicate efficiently within the group and with Sam (the TA) to ensure the group is on the right track; and
- To strictly follow the assignment rubrics and complete tasks before the deadline.
References
City of Vancouver. (2015). Community Kitchen. Retrieved from http://vancouver.ca/people-programs/coummunity-kitchens.aspx
Dogarawa, A. B. (2010). The role of cooperative societies in economic development. Journal of the Department of Public Administration, Ahmadu Bello University. Retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1622149
Ontario Health Communities Coalition. (2009). Community development strategies. Retrieved
from http://www.ohcc-ccso.ca/en/book/export/html/380
Zeuli, K. (2002). The role of cooperatives in community development. Retrieved from
http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/pdf/Bulletins/bulletin_09_02.pdf
