“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble,” - John Lewis
Competency 5: Communicate and Interact
Develop an understanding of the needs and values of specific communities
In my Affordable Housing Planning course, my group was tasked with identifying, assessing, and providing recommendations based on the housing needs of residents of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The specific demographic that I assessed for the development of this affordable housing plan was the minority communities. The specific barriers that I identified for minority communities were poverty, employment status, average household income, and available household characteristics. Based on my research and knowledge gained in the course, I was able to provide recommendations for the minority communities that include: (1) an increase in housing voucher offerings - with a specific expansion in the types of apartments that accept these vouchers (2) inclusionary zoning law improvements (3) revamping the existing lottery system for housing assistance (4) diversifying tax incentives for corporations and (5) an increased usage of unoccupied housing in the area all of which I believed would assist minority communities in breaking the barriers that separated them for affordable housing. Through this assignment, I was able to learn and execute methods that housing administrators use in order to determine the depth of need and provide potential remedies for those needs.
Develop an understanding and demonstrate a commitment to the values of representative bureaucracy
In my Introduction to Community Development course, we were tasked with formulating a simulation of a local “charrette” for the City of Auburn/ Opelika. Our goal was to host a charrette in order to allow the community developers and planners the opportunity to poll the community about their ideas for remedying the transportation community. A charrette is similar to a town hall meeting; however, it typically requires more structure, resources, time, and collaborative participation between professionals and community members. My personal role in this charrette was to be a community member who was in favor of the proposed public transit system and request that our leaders fostered an environment where community members could share their needs and expectations of their elected officials. A leader truly committed to upholding the values of a representative bureaucracy, would consider employing mechanisms like a Charette to foster transparency and trust with their constituency. This assignment allowed me to learn practical applicability skills to employ these types of mechanisms as a leader in the bureaucracy. It also revealed how difficult it can be to juggle every stakeholder's interest while also considering the procedures and relationships that you also have to maintain.
