As coaches, we ask questions and listen, and speaking for myself, this is where I often learn and grow along with my clients. Earlier this week I saw how this dynamic had a similar and very inspirational impact on a group of people who didn’t even realize what was happening to them until they began to talk about it.
This group is a committee of twenty Bayview Hunters Point residents doing community outreach using a quality of life survey to gather data for a CDC funded project related to health disparities. The majority of the committee is African American and many of them live in public or low-income housing and suffer from, or care for children with, the diseases that show up disproportionally in the 92124 zip code. However, the demographic of the area is changing. African Americans are still the majority, but are now only 41% of the residents, with a growing number of Asians, Pacific Islanders, Whites, and Hispanics. This changing demographic was shared with the team and they were asked to do their best to bring back surveys that reflected that diversity.
With this phase of outreach completed, it was time to facilitate the celebration meeting, and for the evaluation, I led a plus/delta discussion. The unanimous and inspirational plus was how each member felt more connected to others in their community; how they didn’t realize how much they had in common with their diverse neighbors – people that they usually didn’t talk to, let alone ask them questions that tapped into their personal values. The experience of inquiry and listening has transformed this group of community outreach workers into advocates with a true and deeper sense of community and appreciation for each other.
Wow. I love this work!
