Bayview community

Giovanna Galfione, one of the external expert and me

Last week we went to Eastern Shore of Virginia to visit Afro-American community in Bayview.  Virginia Organizing was working there at the beginning of 2000s.  Community had originally about 50 houses, many houses without running water, toilet. Unemployment was high, poverty and illiteracy huge.

Some of the houses have been falling apart and people lived there, they had no choice. Virginia Organizing and Cathy, their community organizer, were asked by university professor to help them organize in this community. The professor got money to build something that would be beneficial to the community but the community must define what it is.
VO organized a series of meetings and planning sessions, they managed to create a model community, as local people wish to have. They established a local group and later managed to build new houses, to rebuild an old house to be the new child center, they managed to build “a barn” as their community center, the laundry etc. Many people have moved from old to new houses.
Currently there are more than 80 houses, mostly new, and the worst old ones were demolished. Local people have started their own organization; they have elected committee to manage their future activities, such as management of several acres of land, where some people can grow vegetables and sell it in the community. So some people could get a job and others could get cheaper vegetables. When everything was built, the professor, Cathy and others left it to local leaders. Now, after years professor got additional money and they went back to the community. They found out that children's center is already two years without a roof, which burned after a lightning strike it and nobody even bothered cover the roof, the Board is not meeting, nothing was done in the last a couple of months, there are no plans, actions for the future and the field is barren and desolate.

Meetings

Associate Professor Maurice Cox and his presentation

Local leaders

We did one-to-one interviews with people very active in past to find out what they think about the situation. We have been told that everything was dropped when they failed to set up plan for future: what they want to do, who is responsible for different tasks, what is the timeframe for each task.

We also had 2-hour long joint meeting to agree what they can do. Professor had nice presentation, reflection on what and how was done in the past; Cathy told them about how wonderful they worked together just few years ago. They agreed on further tasks, a guy taking pictures will send them to all participants, everybody will tell their neighbors about meeting and will invite them for next meeting, young people should talk to young people and try to tighten them to the next meeting, ….easy tasks, but the professor wrote the names of people who promise something to check them later if they fulfill their promises.
Tasks distribution was not about what “should be done”, but what "I am going to do"

Eating after the meeting

Community center and barbecue

Eating was wonderful. Women prepared salads and cakes, men grilled outside
the hamburgers and hot dogs in 106 degrees heat, kids served cold drinks. We stayed at party for two hours and local leaders stayed much longer….