Tonight, Ryan and Carmela focused on thriving neighborhoods.
Before we started on the topic of our show tonight we spoke to Amy Romano about
the third Listening to Mothers survey. The survey, which was given to thousands
of women, focused on trying to gain more knowledge about women’s experiences with
birth. A second, more detailed follow-up survey, which focuses a great deal on
the postpartum period, will be published in early June. Visit http://transform.childbirthconnection.org/
in order to learn more about the survey!
Our
main guests tonight were Tim Dutton and Allison Pinto. With a Master’s degree
in social and applied economics, Tim Dutton spent the first twelve years of his
career as a hospital administrator in Ohio and later in Haiti. Tim’s experience
in Haiti changed everything for him and reinforced the long-standing commitment
to equity and social justice that continues to shape Tim’s thinking and
decisions. Tim moved to Sarasota nearly two decades ago and now stays in the
Central-Cocoanut neighborhood. He was the founding CEO of SCOPE, a community
engagement organization in Sarasota, and shepherded it through a dozen years of
development until the fall of 2012. Allison is a licensed clinical child
psychologist with a specialization in infant mental health. She earned a
Ph.D. at UCLA, and joined the faculty of the Florida Mental Health Institute at
the University of South Florida after moving to Tampa. Dr. Pinto also worked at
the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, facilitating community change
efforts throughout the county. She served as Principal Investigator of
the "Communiplexity” Initiative, a collaborative established to develop
complexity-informed resources for community sustainability.
Allison
and Tim joined us tonight to discuss the Central Coconut neighborhood and the Sarasota Community Studio.
Our guest described what and who comprises the Central Coconut area, and then
discussed how efforts for community change have been different here, focusing
on a grass roots approach, instead of the typically unsuccessful top down model
for community change. In specific, they noted the radical ways that they
Sarasota Community Studio has focused on children as a guiding force for
change. On top of this, children are some of the main implementers of change
within this community- creating connections, coming up with ideas, and choosing
to find and implement ways to make the neighborhood better. Allison explained
the concept of a “neighbor kid,” or an area youth who actively and intentionally
takes on the identity of a neighbor.
Sarasota Community Studio, which was described as a neighborhood hub, is
unique in its approach to trusting children to lead community change.
In
ending our program tonight we also talked to Chelsea Clarkson, a local doula
and mama, who was active in Resident Community Changemaker Fellowship through SCOPE. Chelsea described her own efforts
with community change, and the importance of focusing on the specific needs of
a community when trying to create change. Chelsea also emphasized the unique
and valuable role that children play as community leaders.
TONIGHT’S RIGHT: Every woman has the right to receive
maternity care that is appropriate to her cultural and religious background,
and to receive information in a language in which she can communicate. To learn
more about your rights, please visit ChildbirthConnection.org.
BIRTH IN THE NEWS:
BIRTH IN THE NEWS:
