Picture some parents gathered in the kitchen, fresh cuppa joe in hand, children playing independently in the next room. Nice, comfy, homey…Now picture how their conversation will change the way governments set policy, how families access services and how their needs as parents are better met. The CARS Process can do just that. CARS – acronym for Communities Achieving Responsive Services is a model for meaningful community consultation.
Growing out of a grass roots movement in northern Ontario, CARS co-founders Carol Gott and Jane Wilson have developed a series of steps to assist communities to build responsive, accessible services and supports for their own community members. CARS is a community owned and community directed process that can be used to both improve how well present services respond to the needs of people and to help communities develop services that they presently don’t have – but need.
Armed with some templates and fact sheets (all available on the website www.carsprocess.ca), parents are encouraged to gather their voice. Some of the people that access services do not normally attend large community forums. They need small, informal gatherings to safely and honestly discuss their needs and to allow them to be both service “users” as well as service “leaders.”
The Kitchen Table meetings are step two of the CARS’ comprehensive ten steps towards working for change. The process goes beyond just stakeholder participation to true partnerships in action.
Whether you live in a rural and remote community with a small population of families or a large urban centre with thousands of potential kitchen table meetings – give voice to families.
Village Raising Question
What happens when service users do not have a voice?
Isn't there a great poem once shared by Chris Gay about the profound contributions made around a kitchen table? I wish I still had that somewhere...B
ReplyDeleteI try to do meeting rooms and offices as little as possible. I like to meet over a coffee or share a meal as has always been the practice of indigenous culture. I recently went to one of the communities I work with to do a keynote address for a feast. I arrived the day before and when the call went out for prep help for the feast I borrowed a knife and cutting board and I went to help out. Meal prep and sharing are the greatest team building exercises and a fantastic opportunity to establish relationships with the groups you are going to be working with.
ReplyDeleteAmayeah, thank you,
Duane Jackson, Gitanmaax