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Conduct an Assessment

Develop a Community Plan, Phase 1: Conduct an Assessment

Module Methods Who Where When

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Trust and Healing

Story Circle
to help foster trust and openness in the community, give voice to those who are sometimes left out of these planning initiatives, and help the project team uncover experiences that are often missed.

Groups of your community who are often overlooked, who may need the most support, or who have experienced a recent setback or challenge. Cornerstone establishments in the community (i.e., religious establishments, coffee shops, public schools). Weeks 1-2
Two to three conversations of 60-90 minutes each.

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Listening

Interviews
to get more in-depth details of community members’ experiences and understand historical context of this community, key strategic objectives, and any other existing initiatives already in motion. Conduct 6-8 of them.

Follow-up with specific members from Story Circles.
Key stakeholders who are driving the planning and implementation of the plan.
Easily accessible locations for the participants to travel to. These could be local establishments such as restaurants, the school, or their home if relevant or preferred. Weeks 3-4
Six to eight 30-60 minute interviews with community members; Two to four 30-minute interviews with key stakeholders describing context or background information.

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Sense Making

Affinity Clustering, Themes and Insights
to make sense of the information collected during the story circles and interviews and identify key insights from the current experiences.

Core team members (core community representatives, CPS and Chicago team). Core team project space (physical or virtual). Week 5
90 minute session.

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Framing

Collective Mindmap
to frame your view of what is happening in the community, and the forces impacting its current state.

Core team members (core community representatives, CPS and Chicago team). Core team project space (physical or virtual). Week 6
One hour workshop.