Global Facilitators Serving Communities was founded in 2002 as a 501c3 organization to support local efforts in facilitating sustainable change in communities and organizations in crisis. Their work has spanned a global reach in the United States, China, the Philippines and Latin America. Their impact has helped in Katrina in New Orleans, hurricanes and tornadoes in Asia and environmental disasters in Latin America. Contact them at info@globalfacilitators.org.
Human resilience is the capacity to survive. It is as much about release from the past as about endurance in the present and arrival in the future. [adapted from Barry Unsworth, “Never Far From Dispair” in NY Times Book Review, 29 March 2009]
Change is external, causing internal adjustments; learning/rediscovering coping skills; decision-making under stress; evaluating consequences of decisions, for citizens and for communities and responsible leaders, agencies, etc.. Importance of remembering that leaders are also citizens, going through their own process while being responsible for well being of community. Our workshop has techniques to address these issues.
What is Community Resilience & Self-reliance? After a crisis, how do you and the community rebound? How does a community find their strengths to help one another and move forward as a community? Crises include: N eighborhood fire local school is vandalized Neighborhood children injured/killed in bus accident Snowstorm cuts the power for days, people freeze to death Local plant/factory closed, putting thousands out of work People displaced by Hurricane Katrina, no permanent, housing, jobs Bridge collapse Earthquakes, mudslides, bush fires, drought Change : Normal will never be the same What resources do we have within our community? What do we need temporarily? How do we rebuild our social infrastructure? How do we help ourselves through the process, allowing us to recognize our losses, figure out what we need and how to get there