Module 5 Thinking about Gifts and Life in Community Cam’ Can – Support Worker Training The Importance of Community

Sharing Ordinary Places  In this module we explore  The gift that people have to contribute  linking Gifts and Capacities to opportunities and connections in community

What do we mean by community? John McKnight ‟ s definition of community is as follows:-  Community is the social place (sense of human connectedness) experienced within families, neighbours, neighbourhood associations, schools, clubs, civic groups, local enterprises, churches, ethnic organisations, temples, local unions, local government and local media.

Working in community  Supporting people with a disability to have good lives in their local community is the core business of Cam Can. So we need to be;  Intentional about community building  Principled in our approach  Individualised in our thinking

People with a disability contributing to community “ Every single person has capacities, abilities, gifts and ideas, and living a good life depends on whether those capacities can be used, abilities expressed, gifts given and ideas shared.”

How can you support people to contribute their gifts and connect with community?  Community Connections do not always occur naturally, particularly for vulnerable groups.  Your role as a supporter is to enhance community connections and allow a person to “shine” and to demonstrate the gifts that they have to give to community.

Gifts Poster o To do this well we need to know the gifts and strengths of the person that we are supporting in order to find meaningful opportunities in community. Exercise  Let’s think about a person you are working with….. We are going to get to know them with the aim to connect the person to their local community.

Remember we are looking to develop positive roles  A library member  A gym member  A member of a club  A customer  What else?

Now lets look at opportunities for the person that you support that may be possible in his/her local community …….

What ideas have you come up with?

Building relationships and community connections takes time ……..If at first you don’t succeed  Keep at it – keep the person well and truly in the centre of their community  and remember Rome wasn’t built in a day