Delgado – Chapter 3: Caring and Helping
• Process of caring placed within a number of contexts o Community
 Unique, therapeutic, and socially welcoming
 Oldenburg calls these “third places” or “Great Good Places”
• 5 Criteria to qualify as “Great Good Place”
1. Serves to “root” individuals – where one is known when present and missed when absent
2. It lends itself to possession and control – “their” grocery store, salon, etc.
3. Serves socially to rejuvenate the patron
4. Patrons experience no fear of being themselves
5. Exudes warmth, friendleness, support, and mutual concern
• Indigenous and Professional Caring and Helping o Indigenous – Localized efforts to reach out to and help residents
 2 Types:
• Organized (formal???)
• Unorganized (informal???)
 Important to the field of SW
 Long and distinguishing history
 “Any effort to learn from or enlist the services and support of nontraditional settings in undervalued communities is significant for SW’s; it helps the professional shift from ‘outsider’ to ‘insider’ in an urban context.”
• Shift from ‘outsider’ to ‘insider’ will prove challenging
• Acceptance of ‘blame’ for past injustices on the part of SWs
 “An ability to care is usually a key indicator of a community’s health and well-being.”
• *(Discuss: All Souls book connection)*Community overwhelmed by daily life and dominated by external forces, it will not have the ability to care for itself  this failure will manifest as a wide range of social problems  solved through the development of partnerships between residents and external forces
 National organizations:
• Points of Life Foundation, City Care of America, and the Corporation for National and Community Service
 Stressed volunteerism and developed numerous projects stressing self-help
• Self-help started with AA
• Self-help movements have not, in general, been embraced by people of color o Developed their own systems of helping, however, according to reading there is a need for self-help organizations in these communities
 A sense of community is elusive or short-lived due to the high rates of moving, changing employment, and divorce
 *(Discuss: Youth-Led connection, how this affects us as SW and how/why we should encourage our clients to do so)*….Why take time out of your life to help others? Service helps us understand people with different backgrounds and different perspectives  helps us learn about ourselves  our strengths, weaknesses, etc. o Professional – Efforts on the part of professionals to offer assistance that can be expected to meet minimal standards, with accountability to designated bodies.
 *( Discuss/Ask which of these next 5 is the most critical, in their opinion)* Caring demonstrated by professionals has been largely unsuccessful at reaching communities of color in urban areas
• Why is this?  5 key factors:
1. Importance of mutuality
2. Accessibility
3. Affirmation vs. stigmatization
4. Multifaceted mission
5. Primary role of helper is not doing “social work”
 * (Discuss/Ask about info at the top of pg. 38)*
• Personal Qualities and Qualifications of Individuals in Nontraditional Settings o “Guides” o There is no formal curriculum that can connect a person to associational community life
• *Barriers to Collaboration o Collaboration is