BUILDING CIVIC HOMES
FOSTERINGBELONGING,AGENCY,ANDCOLLECTIVE IMPACTINCOMMUNITYORGANIZATIONS
PhotoCredit:OhioOrganizingCollaborative
THE PROBLEM
Loneliness,distrust,and disillusionmentwithpolitics havedrivenmillionstoquit civiclife.Currentstrategies aretootransactionaland don'taddvaluebeforeasking forvotes.
Only 22%
Of Americans Trust in Government
Source:PewResearchCenter2024
22 % of Blacks are "Rightfully Cynical"
Source:BlackValuesResearch2024
31 % of Latinos are "Reluctantly Committed"
Source:AZLatinoValuesResearch2024
1 in 5 Americans said they felt loneliness “a lot of the day yesterday.”
Source:Gallup2024
THE SOLUTION: BUILD CIVIC HOMES
Civic Homes are an antidote to the growing distrust, disillusionment, and disengagement in politics.
CivicHomes,withbelongingastheir foundation,arehowweaddressour currentcynicismcrisis.
Wetalkedtodozensofcommunity membersacrossthecountryand foundthat,atthistimeofgrowing distrust,peoplearelookingforspaces wheretheyfeelseen,heard,and understood.
WHAT ARE CIVIC HOMES WHY ARE
THEY IMPORTANT?
CivicHomesarespaceswhere individualsconnectover sharedvalues,buildcollective power,andworktoward commongoals.
EFFECTIVE CIVIC HOMES HAVE attributes: 3 CORE
CivicHomesaretrusted entitiesthatarerootedin inclusivityandculture,and addressissuespeoplecare about.
1. CULTIVATE BELONGING
Belongingisfoundationaltoeffective
CivicHomes.
Participantsemphasizedthatfeeling seen,heard,andunderstoodwas centraltotheirconnectiontoacivic organization.Whatthatlookslikefor eachorganizationandcommunitywill differ—forsome,itisaboutlanguage, whileforothers,itisaboutcreating spacestoconnectwithotherswhohave similarlivedexperiences.
PhotoCredit:PoderNC
“
WhenIfeellikeIbelongsomewhere,Ifeel lesslikeacatarchedforbattle.Whenyou don’tfeellikeyoubelongsomewhere, you’reconstantlyinfightorflightmode.I grewupinruralNorthCarolina,Burke County.Soconstantlyfeelingthissense ofdullhostilityfrompeople[because theydidn’tknow]whatwewereorwhere
—NorthCarolinaCommunityLeader
“
WhenIfirststartedworkinghere,Ifeltreally welcomedbyeverybodybecauseIthinkwekindof allunderstoodourbackgrounds,eventhoughwe weren’tthesameperson.Wekindofsawpiecesof whowewere,andwewerejustwelcomingtothe ideathatwewereallgoingthroughsomething different,experiencingdifferentthingsdifferently.But wewerestillabletoaccepteachother.Soitwasjust averycomfortingspacetoknowthattheissuesI sawinmycommunitywerevalidandthatsome otherpeoplealsosawthesameissues.
—CaliforniaCommunityLeader
2. BUILD AGENCY & LEADERSHIP
CivicHomesmustbuildleadership developmentpipelines.
Participantssharedthathaving opportunitiestoleadwithinorganizations notonlykeptthemengagedbutalso increasedtheirsenseofpersonalagency andefficacy.
Leadershipopportunitieshelpdevelopa civicidentitybyenablingmembersto understandtheirownpowerandabilityto influencethesystemsandinstitutionsthat impacttheirlives.
PhotoCredit:VocesdelaFrontera
—LouisianaCommunityLeader
I’lluseVOTE,forexample...they’llmeetthepersonwhere theyare.So[VOTE]isthelegitspacetowhereifIknow somebodyiscomingtomelookingforlikeaspecific resourceorwhateverthecaseis...VOTEnotonlysupport youasawholebutthentheyalsoeducatetomakesure you’reontheupandupwiththatyouneedtoknowabout theselawsthatarechangingandthelegislaturesandthat formofeducation.
3. COLLECTIVE ACTION & IMPACT
Collectiveaction distinguishesCivicHomes fromothersocialcommunityspaces,suchas sportsteamsorhobbies.Participantsexpressed thatit’simportantformemberstounderstand howspecificwinsdirectlyimpactedthemand theircommunities,andtheirroleinobtaining thosewins.
Seeingtangibleimpactsasaresultoftheir actionsincommunitywithothermembers,and theorganizationreinforcestheirbeliefinthe organizationanddeepenstheirconnection.
PhotoCredit:PoderNC
“
Itjustfeltlike‘Wow,aplacewhereIcan reallybeandwheremyeffortswould count.’Andthen,whenIstartedseeing themreallygettingstuffdone,likethe[ban the]boxissueandthenon-unanimousjury issue,thatjustlitmyfire,andI’maVOTE memberforever.I’mgoingdown.I’m gonnarideituntilthewheelsfalloff.
—LouisianaCommunityLeader
METHODOLOGY
partneredwithPoderNC,aLatinxorganizinggroupin NorthCarolina;NewGeorgiaProject,whichprimarily workswithintheBlackcommunityinGeorgia;Building FreedomOhio,apartneroftheOhioOrganizing Collaborative,agroupthatworkswith justice-impactedpeopleinOhio.
Weusedqualitativemethodsforthisproject,which includedparticipantobservation,one-on-oneinterviews, andlisteningsessions.Wechoseaqualitativeapproach becausecivichomes,especiallyfromtheperspectiveof communitymembers,areunderexplored.Weneededto providespacetoheardirectlyfromcommunitymembers onhowtheydefinecommunity,whatbringstheminto organizations,andwhatkeepsthemconnectedto organizations.1Wesatdownwithcommunitymembers andaskedthemabouttheirworkwiththeseorganizations, theissuestheyfeltweremostpertinentintheirlivesand thelivesoftheircommunitymembers,andhowwellthey understoodandengagedintheterminologyofacivic home.
PhotoCredit:PoderNC
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Forthisresearch,wesoughtorganizationswithgeographic, programmatic,andracialdiversity.Thesecommunitypartners representacross-sectionoftheUSandorganizeonarangeof issuesfromimmigrationtocriminaljusticereform.
VoiceOfTheExperienced (VOTE)-workswith recentlyincarcerated peopleandtheirloved ones(Louisiana)
VocesdelaFronteraempowersimmigrant workersandfamiliesto advocateforprogressive workers’rightsandpolicies (Wisconsin)
NewGeorgiaProject-buildspowerandincreases thecivicparticipationoftheNewGeorgia Majority—Black,Latinx,AsianAmericanPacific Islanders,youngGeorgians,andotherhistorically marginalizedcommunities(Georgia)
InlandCongregationUnited forChange(ICUC)-Pico CaliforniaAffiliate,a faith-basedorgfocusedon youthengagement,criminal justicereform,andpolicing (California)
BuildingFreedomOhio(BFO)-statewideorgofpeople impactedbycriminalizationandmassincarceration, includingindividualsdirectlyimpactedbyfelonyconvictions aswellasfamilies,friends,andcommunitymembersof thoseimpactedbythecarceralstate.
PODERNC-focusesonbuildingbase,communityorganizing,andleadership developmentofLatinepeople(NorthCarolina)
