Presenter:

• Kimberly Schmit, Director of Community Praxis, University Neighborhood Partners, University of Utah
• Erick Garcia, West Valley City Resident and Partnership Manager, University of Utah, University Neighborhood Partners

Join us for our March Storytelling Session

University Neighborhood Partners (University of Utah), has been building equitable partnerships with the University of Utah and west side communities in Salt Lake City for 20 years. The work is relationship based, utilizes a strength based approach at its core and has led to systemic changes, as well as community led transformation. In 2020 University Neighborhood Partners (UNP) was asked to move its commitment into West Valley City, the second largest city in Utah. This move has proven a new opportunity to utilize an ABCD approach from the get go. The partners are numerous; with many faculty and departments from the university working with dozens of West Valley City entities, including government organizations, nonprofits, community-based organizations, etc.  

As this effort gains huge momentum, fueled by the plans for a new University of Utah hospital in the area, UNP has been working hard to create a Resident Committee that is made up of unaffiliated West Valley City residents who are from a wide range of demographics and are reflective of the community, as a whole. This group is co-leading an asset mapping process in West Valley City through a planning year. The results of their work will guide the university's movement into the community for years to come.  

This is a story that is currently unfolding and is strength based in its heart and soul. Part of the story is understanding how ABCD can be used when working in an entire city.  It is also about how UNP and the Resident Committee work to slow down the university as an institution, supporting long-term partnership development rather than one-off engagement. Further, it is about the strength of moving at the pace of the community. And, lastly it is also about the strengths of each Resident Committee member and how their culture fosters and guides critical practices that lead to sustainable, authentic and transformative partnerships.

To register for this free event please visit our Eventbrite page.

Overview

Between January and May 2022, The ABCD Institute will host a series of virtual story sharing sessions on "ABCD in Higher Education." The series will showcase examples of how faculty, staff, and students at universities and colleges are intentionally doing - or trying to do - their work using an asset- or strengths-based approach, within their institutions or in their work with community partners.

Stories might include programs, initiatives, or short-term projects that illuminate successes and challenges. This is not limited to best practices and could include efforts that have been difficult at best.

Stories - along with associated tools and resources - will then be compiled and shared through an ABCD Institute publication, edited by the ABCD in Higher Education Work Group. All storytellers and session participants will be invited to join the work group moving forward.

About the ABCD Institute

The ABCD Institute is a nonprofit organization located in Chicago at DePaul University’s Irwin W. Steans Center. The Institute’s origins go back to the early 1990’s when John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann published their best selling community development book, Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Towards Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets. Their original research at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois began a global movement to shift  the lens through which communities were often viewed - from broken places to places of possibility. The stories of local change they discovered was happening under the radar and their analysis of how it was happening changed the understanding of community building. The ABCD Institute is at the center of a large and growing movement that considers local assets as the primary building blocks of sustainable community development. Building on the skills of local residents, the power of local associations, and the supportive functions of local institutions, asset-based community development draws upon existing community strengths to build stronger, more sustainable communities for the future.

The ABCD Higher Ed working group is a work group of the ABCD Institute that focuses on promoting the use of ABCD principles within the context of higher education with particular emphasis on how universities can be assets to their local communities.