TA L I A J A C O B S O N, M A J O R P R O J E C T S P L A N N E R , O D O T R E G I O N 1

M I K E D A H L S T R O M , S E N I O R P L A N N E R , WA S H I N G T O N C O U N T Y

I A P 2 C A S C A D E C H A P T E R R E G I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E2 0 1 4

Reaching the “Unreachables”

?

Barriers to reaching the “underserved”?Term of art ≈ Title VI/EJ:

• Communities of color• Communities in poverty• Immigrants & refugees

communities• Communities with

limited English proficiency

Also used as political code

Image from the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization, accessed 6/12/2014

What We’ll Discuss Today

What kind of relationship?

Four steps for working with underserved communities

Small group exercisesImage from the Center for Intercultural Organizing, accessed 6/12/2014

Ground Rules

1. Share your wisdom

2. Use your words

3. Get comfortable with discomfort

4. Screw up with heart

Image from the Center for Intercultural Organizing, accessed 6/12/2014

Speed dating Long-term partnership

What Kind of Relationship Are You Seeking?

Image from Autostraddle, accessed 6/12/2014 Creative Commons (CC) license by Karthikeyan Pandian, accessed 6/12/2014 at Wikipedia

Step 1: Reaching Out

Doing your homeworkFinding connectors,

ambassadors, & leaders

Culture & making the approach

Translation & interpretation

Image from the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization, accessed 6/12/2014

Step 1: Reaching Out

Google TranslateEnglish→Spanish→English

“Have you ever made a strange young man with no trans or home, which has been rejected by her family and has no where to go, what are their needs? … In Oregon, the time to celebrate our legislators and school districts responsible safety laws-existing schools is upon us.”

Why Google Translate sucks!

Original English text:

“Have you ever asked a homeless queer or trans youth, who has been rejected by their family and has nowhere to go, what their needs are? … In Oregon, the time to hold our lawmakers and school districts accountable for existing safe-schools laws is upon us.”

Text from the Portland Mercury, accessed 6/17/2014

Step 2: (Re-)Building Trust

Going where the community is

Avoiding accidental intimidation

Hearing & acknowledging the past

Having a conversation on their terms

Understand who they trust

Image from James Rojas, accessed 6/12/2014

Step 3: Demonstrating Value

Image from the Center for Intercultural Organizing, accessed 6/12/2014

Helping them decide if you’re “worth it”

Committing to honesty

Investing locallyMaking the most of

their timeFinding space for

what matters to them

Step 4: Sustaining the Connection

Deciding between personal & institutional connections

Making the hand-off, if needed

Ideas for relationship-building Image from the

Native American Youth and Family Center, accessed 6/12/2014

Small Group Exercise

YOUR MISSION: YOU HAVE $2 ,000 , $20 ,000 , OR $200 ,000 TO DESIGN A

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PLAN FOR A DIVERSE

COMMUNITY OF 40 ,000 PEOPLE.

Identify your top three tasks for each budget level.

Be ready to report out.

Resources

American Factfinder: searchable Census & ACS data

Anne Morris & Associates Publications: FHWA & NCHRP guides on involving EJ, LEP, low-literacy, and underserved communities

Country Insights: resource providing detailed comparisons of cultural etiquette and norms

Language Mapper: shows density and distribution of languages spoken at home

Metro Public Engagement Guide: includes useful checklists and tools