Community Solutions and Hidden Jewels: A Response to the White House Blog

Recently, a White House blog President Obama’s community solutions initiative and the “hidden jewels” that emerge during this search – innovative community organizations that every day find new and creative ways to meet local challenges.  The White House’s Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Melody Barnes, had traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to visit a literacy promotion program; she was especially taken with this particular program’s ability to bring together diverse members of the Des Moines community.

But it is important to note that community jewels – hidden or otherwise – don’t just emerge out of thin air.  The kind of sustained success and institutionalized status these organizations enjoy come as the result of hours and hours of hard work and the devotion and commitment of countless community members.  Often, just keeping up with community needs is so all-consuming it’s no wonder these organizations stay hidden – they are so results-oriented there is little time for self-promotion.

The Innovation Center has had the good fortune to work with many unknown organizations, our very own hidden jewels.  These organizations, like the program in Des Moines Ms. Barnes visited, are successful, in part, because of their unique ability to unite diverse communities.

But what about an organization – what capabilities or qualities, what strengths or strategies – qualifies it as a verifiable community jewel?  And if these organizations don’t have the extra resources to spend on press, how do we know a jewel when we see one?  

In my experience, I feel it before I know it.  In other words, there’s just something so uniquely special about these organizations that it gives them a wholly different air than run-of-the-mill youth programs.  Roca, in Chelsea, MA and TOCA (Tohono O’odham Community Action) in Sells, AZ are two of my favorite examples.  The first time I visited both Roca and Toca I felt a poignant, nearly palpable, emotional presence of simplicity and humbleness and sincerity that overcame me when I walked in the door – and never fails to overcome me every subsequent time I visit.  When a community program is a jewel, all that it stands for is infused in every aspect of its work.  At the Innovation Center, we call this an organization’s essence.

When we take a closer look at and break down the essence of a community jewel, an emphasis on and hunger for constant learning is a unifying aspect.  Jewels never tire in their desire to learn in service to their mission.  Whether this means making adjustments to current programs, instituting new ones, or better preparing staff to respond to growing community issues, it always entails listening closely to the young people the organization serves.

Learning from other organizations also feeds this hunger for knowledge, and when jewels of community organizations meet up the result isn’t typical, one-sided conferences or convenings, but rather multi-relational, true learning groups.  President Obama’s community solutions agenda has the potential to create deep, sweeping change if hidden jewels across the nation connect in the name of learning.

Periodically, over the course of the next several months, we will be featuring on this blog our own hidden jewels of partners.  These organizations are making incredible strides in their communities and influencing the way the field practices its work.  We’ll be highlighting what makes them unique and so successful so that others may learn from their work.

Do you know of a hidden jewel in your community?  Tell us about it – we’d love to hear from you and may feature your organization on our site!