By Todd Chas, special to Charleston Currents | Two local grassroots organizations, Building from the Block Up and CharlestonGOOD, are teaming up to host a free three-day series of workshops based on the understanding that collaboration is the key to increasing our positive impact on our community.
Chas
As event organizers point out, “There is no shortage of wonderful people, organizations and businesses working to make the Lowcountry a better place to live. As volunteers, consultants and entrepreneurs ourselves, we are inspired daily by the ‘good’ that surrounds us. But let’s face it, we all know there are obstacles to our best efforts and intentions: lack of knowledge, lack of resources, lack of ideas, lack of time, lack of connections, and lack of coordination in our efforts.”
The #GOODSHARING Conference aims to address these issues by bringing people together to collaborate for good. Over the course of the three-day free event from April 2 to 4, we will have the opportunity to assess where we are, identify shared issues, brainstorm solutions, develop resource lists, expand our community networks, and embark on revitalized or nascent community projects and programs.
Our goal is to not only provide a meaningful experience but also to serve as a catalyst for a coordinated and collaborative community building movement here in Charleston.
Working together will help all of us be more effective. We hope you will join us for any of the sessions that you can.
Conference schedule
(all meetings are in the auditorium of the Charleston County Public Library, 68 Calhoun Street, Charleston)
Breaking out of Silos for Good: Thursday, April 2, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Let’s re-frame our understanding of single-issue service delivery into a collaborative community that serves together. ‘There are no single-issue lives, so our service should not be a focused on a single issue. Together, we can “weave individual initiatives and collective endeavors into patterns of unified action.” We can also raise our collective capacity for coordinated project management through the development of shared calendars, volunteer pools, and other technical resources.
Vision for the Future: Youth-Led Community Building: Friday, April 3, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Today we feature the work and perspectives of youth empowerment specialists and our young community builders who bring refreshing idealism to the table. Local youth leaders will guide workshops on enhancing youth power in our work. The fruit of the day will be the formation of a Youth Builders Network created to support the work of emerging leaders from across the Lowcountry.
Creative Collaborations Jam: Saturday, April 4, noon to 4 p.m.
The final day of #GOODSHARING will focus on developing our ability to create novel ‘projects’ through consolidating the assets and connections made during the conference. We will spend the afternoon mapping the visions, passions, and resources we can all contribute. We will also create and launch new and sustainable projects to be executed in the next 2 months.
ABOUT BUILDING FROM THE BLOCK UP: Building from the Block Up is an organization and resource network created to strengthen cooperative youth led social enterprises by nurturing their ideals into actions and awakening their dreams into reality: Block by Block. We envision a renewed and regenerative force of youth-inspired projects and enterprises that can begin building the just and sustainable future we all need.
ABOUT CHARLESTONGOOD: CharlestonGOOD is a grassroots media outlet and incubator designed to celebrate, support and inspire the positive people, projects and possibilities that make life in the Lowcountry so rewarding. Through our interactive community media project, targeted grassroots support services, and collaborative community partnership development, we seek to more effectively educate, empower and engage people toward the common good.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Use our feed
Send us your comments
