Lessons

"What We've Learned So Far on Involving All Neighbors"

Promote associations between people.

• Inclusion is about building relationships. From saying hello to a neighbor to developing partnerships to create a neighborhood event, inclusion happens when one person makes a connection to one other person, who connects with another, and so on.

Build inclusion in your own neighborhood, for everyone - there are no recipes.

• There are many different ways and opportunities to be inclusive. Strategies and techniques for building inclusive neighborhoods will reflect the neighborhood's uniqueness. One neighborhood might develop a project while another might support organizational efforts to be more inclusive. A third might use several approaches. There is no one right way to do this work.
• Inclusion involves working on neighborhood projects and issues that concern everyone in the neighborhood. Any effort aimed at activating more neighbors builds inclusion.

Be patient, and be leery of expectations for speedy and measurable outcomes.

• There should be a vision for creating inclusive neighborhoods but hard and fast outcomes shouldn't be the main focus. Wonderful unanticipated results may surprise you and fixed expectations may result in disappointment.
• Successful inclusion doesn't mean big numbers. Typically, neighborhood leaders and organizers feel successful even when a relatively small percentage of the people in a neighborhood get involved. In the same way, it is unrealistic to expect 100% involvement and it is unrealistic to expect all persons with disabilities to want to get involved. So there will always be room for improvement.
• Building inclusive communities is dynamic, a work in progress. This means that community inclusion is never completely achieved. More can always be done.

Build a foundation so neighborhood inclusion can flourish.

• Inclusion requires "neighborhood tending." Everyday encounters and neighborhood activities that weave lives together can be created to encourage the involvement of neighbors who are isolated and uninvolved.
• There already exist neighbors and neighborhood organizations ready, willing, and committed to including people who may be uninvolved for one reason or another. Start with them because they are interested and inclined to do this work.
• Inclusion requires many people working together. Spread the tasks among many people to prevent burnout and strengthen an organization's know-how.
• People get involved and stay engaged when their skills and interests are recognized, utilized, and nurtured. Often this recognition and encouragement can lead to other neighborhood involvement.

Understand the limits.

• Relationships between neighbors, friends, and acquaintances are voluntary, unpredictable, and unscheduled. These kinds of relationships cannot substitute for the special support needed by persons with developmental disabilities, like support from a hired helper.
• Including those who have been historically segregated requires knowledge and resources. That may mean giving small grants to neighborhood groups or hiring someone to help the person with a disability to participate in a neighborhood activity until both they and the neighborhood group feel comfortable.

Realize that it's about everybody, including you.

• Building inclusive neighborhoods calls on everyone to contribute their interests, ideas, and skills in large and small ways. Some people may need help or an accommodation to make this contribution; others can do this on their own. In either case, individuals taking action is the starting point.
• It is essential for those involved in building inclusion to respect differences and to expect that people will want different things, have different abilities and perspectives, and behave differently from one another. Have a place and role for everyone.

Good intentions and volunteerism are necessary ingredients - but not enough.

• Incremental advancements toward inclusion take time. Inclusion takes long-term thinking, long-term commitments, and long-term funding.
• People working on successful inclusion efforts rely on outside resources - funding or expertise - and on opportunities to learn from one another. The value of partnerships and collaboration should not be underestimated.
• You don't have to have a Department of Neighborhoods to build a program to promote neighborhood inclusion. There are many other organizations rooted in the community with resources, knowledge, and more importantly, the will to act. But it's helpful to have a community organization that holds similar values - outside of the disability system - for this to work well.