Dialogue on Homelessness: Nurturing Our Capacity to Change
Trading stories
Trading stories
Donna Astif, a member of Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. executive committee who has four decades of experience in human services, wanted to do
something about the plight of the homeless. “I was deeply disturbed by it,” Astif said. “I didn’t know how to even help wisely. I made several attempts and each
time realized that I had been quite ridiculous in my good intentions. For example, bringing bags of food to an individual standing on a grate in winter when he
was already burdened with what he had to carry. It was things like that. So I was just appalled by my own ignorance. And I assumed that if I was feeling that way,
there were others feeling that way. As I observed what was going on in the street, I could see there was a disconnect between neighbors that had no idea of how
to relate as neighbors and yet, we were all being impacted negatively obviously whether it be the homeless, the residents, the business, the police or our city
budget. We were all being seriously negatively impacted by homelessness.”
Instead of giving up, Astif decided to find out what was on the minds of the homeless and the other residents of the Capitol neighborhood area. Astif and
others organized Dialogues on Homelessness, a monthly dialogue that engages all of the residents of the Capitol neighborhood area: police, businesspeople,
homeowners, renters and the homeless in a conversation moderated by trained facilitators.
“When I was wandering this terrain, visiting everyone I could visit on this subject and announcing the upcoming event of November 3, 2007, I found that across
the board, be it the executive director, homeless people or the police, they were all scared of coming to a session because they feared of being blamed and
shamed,” Astif said about the 2007 series. “I wrestled with what kind of format should we use. How could give my word that wasn’t going to happen? I wandered
until I came upon a group of professional facilitators who used methods such as appreciative inquiry — which is based on compassion and respect — that
worked instead of a shower of negativity. That’s what sets our tone. Some people struggle with it — it isn’t their cup of tea. But I would say that after we got to the
end of the nine sessions, we produced some new materials and some new knowledge.”
The 2008 series of Dialogue on Homelessness began November 8 at the Madison Public Library on Mifflin Street. People sat around in a square and first
talked to their neighbors and eventually to the whole group. Each of them was sharing their story. Indeed the subtitle for this year’s series is “The Power of Telling
Our Stories Well for Healing, Advocacy and Change.”We are basing it on personal experience and personal story and how that story, well-told, is a powerful
instrument for social change advocacy and healing,” Astif said.
Dialogues on Homelessness are open to the general public. Everyone is welcome. They are held once per month on a Saturday, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. For more
information, contact Donna Astif at 251-6610 or e-mail her at dcassociated@gmail.com.
Next issue: Stories of homelessness
something about the plight of the homeless. “I was deeply disturbed by it,” Astif said. “I didn’t know how to even help wisely. I made several attempts and each
time realized that I had been quite ridiculous in my good intentions. For example, bringing bags of food to an individual standing on a grate in winter when he
was already burdened with what he had to carry. It was things like that. So I was just appalled by my own ignorance. And I assumed that if I was feeling that way,
there were others feeling that way. As I observed what was going on in the street, I could see there was a disconnect between neighbors that had no idea of how
to relate as neighbors and yet, we were all being impacted negatively obviously whether it be the homeless, the residents, the business, the police or our city
budget. We were all being seriously negatively impacted by homelessness.”
Instead of giving up, Astif decided to find out what was on the minds of the homeless and the other residents of the Capitol neighborhood area. Astif and
others organized Dialogues on Homelessness, a monthly dialogue that engages all of the residents of the Capitol neighborhood area: police, businesspeople,
homeowners, renters and the homeless in a conversation moderated by trained facilitators.
“When I was wandering this terrain, visiting everyone I could visit on this subject and announcing the upcoming event of November 3, 2007, I found that across
the board, be it the executive director, homeless people or the police, they were all scared of coming to a session because they feared of being blamed and
shamed,” Astif said about the 2007 series. “I wrestled with what kind of format should we use. How could give my word that wasn’t going to happen? I wandered
until I came upon a group of professional facilitators who used methods such as appreciative inquiry — which is based on compassion and respect — that
worked instead of a shower of negativity. That’s what sets our tone. Some people struggle with it — it isn’t their cup of tea. But I would say that after we got to the
end of the nine sessions, we produced some new materials and some new knowledge.”
The 2008 series of Dialogue on Homelessness began November 8 at the Madison Public Library on Mifflin Street. People sat around in a square and first
talked to their neighbors and eventually to the whole group. Each of them was sharing their story. Indeed the subtitle for this year’s series is “The Power of Telling
Our Stories Well for Healing, Advocacy and Change.”We are basing it on personal experience and personal story and how that story, well-told, is a powerful
instrument for social change advocacy and healing,” Astif said.
Dialogues on Homelessness are open to the general public. Everyone is welcome. They are held once per month on a Saturday, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. For more
information, contact Donna Astif at 251-6610 or e-mail her at dcassociated@gmail.com.
Next issue: Stories of homelessness
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
It’s almost like two separate worlds. The men line up near Grace Episcopal Church on the
Capitol Square with flakes of snow swirling by or hang out in the basement of the State Capitol
when it is open or await a meal at First United Methodist Church on Wisconsin Ave. It’s always a
waiting game of survival as the homeless wait for the next act of largesse or the lucky break that
will uplift them from the ranks of the homeless.
And then there is the hustle and bustle of the workers and residents of the Capitol
neighborhoods pursuing their daily living and carrying out their daily chores and for the most part
avoiding and ignoring the men who are waiting for Godot. While they are in close proximity, they
are worlds apart.
Part 1 of 2
It’s almost like two separate worlds. The men line up near Grace Episcopal Church on the
Capitol Square with flakes of snow swirling by or hang out in the basement of the State Capitol
when it is open or await a meal at First United Methodist Church on Wisconsin Ave. It’s always a
waiting game of survival as the homeless wait for the next act of largesse or the lucky break that
will uplift them from the ranks of the homeless.
And then there is the hustle and bustle of the workers and residents of the Capitol
neighborhoods pursuing their daily living and carrying out their daily chores and for the most part
avoiding and ignoring the men who are waiting for Godot. While they are in close proximity, they
are worlds apart.
Two participants of Dialogue on Homelessness - Nurturing
Our Capacity to Change talk at the Madison Public Library
on Mifflin Street..
Our Capacity to Change talk at the Madison Public Library
on Mifflin Street..
