The City of New Westminster invited Finding Home to present to their seniors advisory counsel. The purpose was to share key findings and outcomes from the recent Finding Home seniors’ dialogues that were held with Seniors Services Society’s “Out and About” program participants. These dialogues produced educational posters that synthesized the highlights of the dialogues. As a result, the seniors advisory counsel decided to poster the City of New Westminster with the Finding Home educational posters in community centres, libraries, health facilities, seniors organizations, and public schools. Our hope is these posters will contribute to all the ways New Westminster is working hard to create an age-friendly community. Read more…
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During Finding Home™ South Asian Punjabi seniors’ dialogues at South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, participants explored the root cause of Elder financial abuse in their communities. They all agreed one of the root causes was raising boys to be selfish. As they explored the different ways girls and boys are treated and taught in their community, they realized there are several ceremonies to celebrate boys and men’s long lives and health but not the equivalent for girls and women. Consequently, this dynamic group of seniors hav ...... read more
In July, a dedicated group of seniors from Vancouver Island gathered for a Finding Home™ seniors' dialogue series hosted by Eldercare Foundation, Vancouver Island Health Authority and Saanich Parks and Recreation. Dialogue participants explored the meaning of home, making connection with others and life transitions. They decided to turn their new awareness into action and have started Conversation Cafes for ...... read more
Our first Finding Home™ seniors dialogue series on Elder Financial Abuse was with a multicultural seniors group. The dialogues were hosted by North Shore Neighbourhood House and John Braithwaite Community Centre. During the dialogues participants explored the meaning of home, ways family members can take advantage of seniors, and strategies to prevent elder financial abuse. Out of the dialogues they have started a phenomenal Victims To Champions Seniors Speakers Bureau ...... read more
The ways in which we respond to personal, community and global challenges are rapidly changing. Whether it is loss of language; a lack of affordable housing; displacement through war or flood; or fundamental institutional changes, many people from across cultures and sectors are yearning for belonging, connection and safety or a sense of home.
We are certainly in a time of transition and change. Some conceptualize our current situation as being within humanity’s cyclical patterns. For example, Arnold Toynbee argued that, prior to the rise of a new era, violence increases and people tended to respond to stress, conflict, and change with less creativity and more rigidity. In addition, peo ...... read more
I was invited to give key the keynote address at Alberta’s provincial restorative justice conference “Fostering A Restorative Worldview.” As part of my preparation, I researched the origins of each “restorative” and “worldview.” I first drew from my research in Worldview Skills and started with the root of the word ‘worldview’ which comes from the German word “weltanschauung” and means “a comprehensive conception or image of the universe and humanity’s relationship to it.” This understanding of ...... read more
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Residents of a mixed housing unit shared their top 10 red flags you may be dealing with “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” during a Finding Home dialogue today. Participants shared experiences about predators and con artists and came up with tips on prevention and recovery. They all agreed that what makes people vulnerable to predators is loneliness, feeling unappreciated and lack of social support. Read more…
Midway through Finding Home’s launch dialogue in 2007, where over 155 participants from diverse backgrounds explored the concept of Finding Home in our current global and local contexts, a participant asked, “How do we make sense of all these individual interpretations of what creates home and arrive at a sense of ‘collective home’ where we can all belong?”
In response to this question, Dianne Shiner from Whidbey Institute relayed a story about working in a foster care project for unaccompanied refugee children. The staff, one day discussed what they felt was the one indicator that cut across diverse cultures and indicated when a child felt a sense of belonging. After many discussions they identified what became known as the “refrigerator factor”. When a child feels comfortable enough to go to the
refrigerator on their own, open the door and help themselves to the food knowing it belonged equally to them – this indicated that a child felt at home – that they truly belonged.!
In reflecting on her story, the challenge was put to the group “How do we create a world, a town, a home, where people feel they belong and can come to the refrigerator and help themselves?”
Posted on February 27th, 2007 in Uncategorized. Tags: Belonging, Cross-Cultural, Dialogue, Newcomers
