Frequently Asked Questions about the Community Living Campaign

Many long-time leaders in the senior and disability community sought to find a new and more effective way to make San Francisco a world class city when it comes to including seniors and persons with disabilities as full contributing members. Sure, part of what is needed is having appropriate services and support. But asking the question “what services do you need?” really limits the response, tends to fragment the groups in the way services are fragmented, and keeps the focus on need, not on the whole person and that person’s capacity for friendship, participation and responsibility as a full member of society.

So when we began asking the question “what do you need for a good life?” the responses were ones that resonate with us all, regardless of age, background, disability, and economic class. A universal set of values helps unify our work.

Campaigns imply movement, growth. Campaign leaders look out for and respond to opportunities, to changing conditions. Campaigns build on existing social and political relationships and evolve new ones. They are a tool to involve new people, develop leaders, and raise public awareness. They thrive on hard work, creativity, commitment. They celebrate victories and build life-long friendships. And it may lead to an organization in the future, but one that is developed from the grass-roots with a long term plan for sustainability.

Living in community is the opposite of being isolated and alone. Too many people in San Francisco live lives of isolation and loneliness. Others, though connected through work and friendships, are looking for ways to contribute, to have richer, more meaningful lives, to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

We are in the process of building small, intentional communities that have at their heart a senior or person with a disability. These communities grow slowly and deliberately, based on mutual interests, shared experiences, the transforming power of kindness and the belief that a good life, regardless of age or disability, is only possible with caring relationships that foster respect, mutual assistance and the ever-present possibilities for celebration. These networks can be supported with a new personal social networking site at www.tyze.com.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead was once asked a similar question. “How can a small group of committed citizens change the world?” Her reply “Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” And those of us involved in social change over the years tend to agree. If one small group can make change, imagine what would happen if you had 20, 30, even 40 small groups of committed citizens who shared common values related to creating a better life, regardless of age or disability. And what if you provided ways for them to help, support, and empower each other? What if those of us who have knowledge and experience with advocacy and organizing are part of these networks and use what we know and the relationships we have to work for change?

Put another way, we are using our social capital to help one another. In some ways, the recent Presidential campaign provided an example of how President-elect Obama used the power of social networks and the techniques of community organizing to get his message out. Friends communicated with friends, mobilized each other, and together brought about an important change.

Yes, but in a way that puts the concerns facing those seniors and persons with disabilities that we care about front and center. By creating an intentional community with a senior or person with a disability at the heart, we begin to see and experience the world as they do. In a way, their goals become our goals. We gain a new appreciation for the struggles we may soon face and we are inspired by the courage and resilience that we see. Most of all, we begin to understand how important it is to be a part of communities where everyone is valued and everyone is called to contribute.

We are beginning to bring networks together through our annual Tea Dance and Silent Auction and through inclusion in other events that we help organize related to economic security, healthy aging, disability rights and the like.

As the networks develop, we will look for opportunities to help them tell their story. We are working with others to help us improve our storytelling skills and prepare to share our stories. As we tell our stories, others will find us and will use our experiences to inform and support others. These stories will help bring issues and ideas into focus.

Building these intentional communities is the work of the CLC’s extended staff of friendly, skilled Community Connectors. They are “glue” that helps invite people to participate and helps build the relationships. Each of the networks will be asked to have a representative help plan these events, and help mobilize other groups that are now part of their network – churches, union retiree groups, neighbors, families, and friends.