I found it really inspiring and refreshing visiting Station
20 West, with all the different organizations working together under one roof, each
with their own agenda, but with a cooperative spirit. Each of the organizations were there to address the needs of
the community and to do so on the communities terms. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that the government
funding was removed. If Station 20
did get that government funding then their most likely would have been some kind
of government oversight to the collective that may have restricted how the
different agencies interacted with each other. The organizations are able to recognize a need and then do what
it takes to make it work. They are
able to work collectively and cooperatively to find solutions.
The community invested in Station 20 because they saw it as
an investment in community, not just the immediate communities of King George,
Pleasant Hill and Riversdale, but in the wider community as well. In definition of Social Justice,
putting the resources into the area of the most need not only raises that
community up, it raises us all up.
The organizations provided individual services of
healthcare, food, housing, career/job information, child care and education. Having these organizations under one
roof helps to shift the perception that all of these services/needs are
separate in nature to one where they are all part of an individual/communities
holistic well being.
The reading for today, What kind of Citizen? The Politics of
Educating for Democracy- Joel Westeimer & Joseph Kahne, was about different levels of engagement
of citizenship
Personally Responsible Citizen
Participatory Citizen
Justice Oriented Citizen
These are all different levels of engagement. There is no one that should be seen as better than the others. A person may progress through the levels or they may stay at the first level of engagement, Personal Responsibility. A person may also be engaged at all levels at the same time. All levels are needed of engagement are needed in our society.
I felt like Station 20 West was the kind of place where all
of those levels of engagement were represented.
Citizens of Saskatoon donated to have the building constructed
and they donate clothing and childcare items. Volunteers help to fill the CHEP good food baskets.
The organizations themselves are developing grassroots
initiatives to fill the needs of community members.
Although we were not privy to any in depth conversations
between organizers, the fact that they are able to work cooperatively and
effectively is an indicator that conversations around social justice have taken
place.
As educators what can we learn from a place like this?
Although I agree that tours to Station 20 with school groups
is a good thing, that is only at the the personal level of engagement and as
educators we need to find ways to move past that and to do more.
As a Home Ec teacher there are plenty of opportunities to
develop a relationship with the people who run the organizations and come up
with cooperative projects. This
might mean a school garden project where food that is grown is used at the CHEP
cafe, or where a pop up market might happen in one of the core neighbourhoods
where the produce could be sold as "pay what you can". Eventually as relationships were built
with the groups at Station 20 there would be room to move to conversations
around Social Justice.
This news story came to my attention today.
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