Youth-Led Community Dialogue May 18th

By Jackie Fischer

“What do you have to say?”  “We all have something to learn, we all have something to give.” “Community gets built when people show up.” These are phrases youth facilitators use to describe the Youth-Led Community Dialogues. 

The Dialogues bring people of all ages together to listen carefully to one another, and for each to express one’s own experience through a safe and respectful structured dialogue process.  OCP and partners, youth and adult, have used the Community Dialogue process throughout the last couple of years to discuss important issues facing our community. The specific topics are carefully chosen by youth facilitators.  On May 18^th the Community Dialogue topic is: Public Spaces in Woodstock: How Welcome Do You Feel?

The Community Dialogue is being sponsored by OCP and the Youth Matter Community Collaborative, a group that focuses on increasing youth connectedness to community.  A strong asset of the Woodstock community is that people tend to pay attention when youth take an active role in leadership around a community issue and invite people to dialogue about an important question. Giving youth an active role in leadership in the community is an important way to connect youth to community.  

 “There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about” writes Margaret Wheatley, author of Turning to One Another, stressing another important role of dialogue in the community.  Community Dialogues are based on the premise that the very best way to address an important issue is to encourage people to talk openly about it.  Addressing the questions around use of public spaces is not a simple matter, but the Dialogue will focus on “what’s possible” rather than “what’s wrong.”  Wheatley makes the point that the simple act of bringing people together to dialogue enhances community building.  She writes, “As we share our different human experiences, we discover a sense of unity. We remember we are part of a bigger whole…we also discover our collective wisdom. We suddenly see how wise we can be together.” 

Youth leadership, community engagement, important topics addressed in deeply respectful way - this is what Community Dialogue is all about.  Add your voice to the Dialogue on May 18^th in the North Universalist Chapel Society Social Hall in Woodstock from 6:30-8:30.  With questions, call OCP at 457-2679.