Initiatives

The Paschalville Partnership 2.0: Catalyzing A Community-Led Future

Announcement

The Paschalville Partnership is pleased to announce the release of our Toolbox of Library-Led Collective Impact and Neighborhood-Based Collaboration. You can download a free copy of the Toolbox from this page or at the Free Library's website.

The Paschalville Partnership has been awarded a two-year Community Catalyst grant by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The grant is funding activities from October 2019 to September 2020. IMLS has generously funded our partnership since 2013; this is the third IMLS grant awarded to the partnership.

Annette Mattei

Metro Metrics

Role: Project Page Administrator

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About this Initiative

Location:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America (the), Mid-Atlantic (DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA)

Year Started:

2013

Initiative stage:

Implementing and Sustaining Impact

Initiative Purpose and Goals:

The Free Library of Philadelphia and its partners will build on its current collective impact project, the Paschalville Partnership, by hiring local residents to conduct extensive community outreach among their neighbors, allowing the Partnership to better understand local needs and priorities and shape the evolution of this successful program. This initiative will enable the Free Library to achieve more authentic community engagement and evaluate its role as an effective community organization in catalyzing social change, and serve as a model for the library field.

The Partnership will spearhead a participatory, community-driven needs assessment of residents in Southwest Philadelphia. The Partnership will hire local residents to help design the needs assessment process, guide the selection of research tools that they believe will work best in their community, and conduct extensive community outreach among their neighbors. This community outreach process will allow the Partnership to plan its future work around the needs, interests, and priorities identified by those that live and work in the area surrounding the Paschalville Library.

Initiative website:

https://libwww.freelibrary.org/programs/jobseekers/paschalville.cfm

Collective Impact Elements in Place

Common Agenda

Continuous Communication

Shared Measurement

Backbone Support

Mutually Reinforcing Activities

Backbone Support

Organizations serving in the Backbone Role

The Free Library of Philadelphia is the backbone organization of The Paschalville Partnership. The Project Coordinator for the partnership is an independent consultant reporting directly to the Free Library of Philadelphia and has been involved with the partnership since its inception.

Backbone structure

The backbone organization of the Paschalville Partnership -- the Free Library of Philadelphia -- is an agency of the City of Philadelphia. The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation is the funding raising arm of the Free Library of Philadelphia and the fiscal agent of the Paschalville Partnership, managing a National Leadership grant awarded by the Institute of Library & Museum Services (IMLS) that is funding implementation of the partnership's common agenda.

Measures of Success

Key outputs may include meeting attendance, social investigation research activities (e.g., number of individual stories/insights gathered through community meals, site visits, interviews, etc.), and number and demographics of community residents “touched” through social investigation and outreach activities.

Key participant outcomes may include positive changes in participants’ attitudes, knowledge, and skill levels as a result of their involvement in the community engagement process (to be assessed via self-reports and project staff observations).

Key community outcomes may include a higher labor force participation rate and a lower unemployment rate for the 19142 zip code.

Initiative Activities and Milestones

Activities

Over the next year, the Partnership is working with community members to make visible the primary building blocks for sustainable community development. Our work is grounded in the principles of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), which intentionally builds on the skills of local residents, the power of local associations, and the supportive functions of local institutions.

KEY PROJECT QUESTIONS: What are the assets in our community? What does the community care about?

OVERALL PROJECT GOAL: Create an action plan that prioritizes needs identified by the community, builds on community assets, and articulates a supporting role for the Partnership.

PRIMARY PROJECT COMPONENTS

(1) RESIDENT CONSULTANT TEAM
Our project is guided by a team of community connectors who are providing insight on conducting research activities, supporting event and program planning, and helping the Partnership reach key audiences in the community.

(2) NEIGHBORHOOD AMBASSDORS
Our primary means for reaching out to the community is thru “learning conversations,” one-on-one and group conversations initiated by our Neighborhood Ambassadors, well-respected residents in the community. These conversations are helping us uncover the talents, skills, and relationships of the people in our community.

(3) PARTNER RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Business Outreach: led by partner organization Southwest CDC, our business outreach team is meeting with businesses in the community to learn about their economic contributions.

Community Chats: our partner organization CityLights Network is convening a series of discussions with community-based organizations to highlight the resources and expertise they bring to the community.

Story Circles: individual and group histories, traditions, memories, and norms are also assets for the community, and our partner First Person Arts is facilitating “story circles” to gather and curate them.

Milestones

The Paschalville Partnership has achieved the following milestones:

1) Planning Year and Common Agenda completed: September 2013 to September 2014

2) Groundwork laid for implemention of the common agenda: 2015

3) Funding of common agenda awarded by IMLS: April 2016

4) Implementation of common agenda: May 2016 thru April 2019

5) Funding of community catalyst initiative awarded by IMLS: Summer 2018

6) Implementation of community catalyst initiative: October 2018 thru September 2020

Community Engagement and Advancing Equity

Community Engagement Activities

We have hired community members and placed them in leadership roles for our project. A Resident Consultant Team provides overall project guidance and is helping us plan our events and programs, recasting them through a community lens. And our Neighborhood Ambassadors are out every week talking to community members about what they view as assets in the community and learning what the community cares about. We are using these "learning conversations" to build relationships with community members.

Activities to Advance Equity

While the partnership works with all residents in the community, we have two target populations that we are especially reaching out to: immigrants/refugees (also known as New Americans) and the reentry population.

Initiative Partners and Governance

Contributing organizations

There are 11 community-based organizations and city agencies/organizations/programs participating in the Pashchalville Partnership, including the Free Library of Philadelephia. Five are receiving fundig from our IMLS National Leadership grant (designated by "*"):

Free Library of Philadelphia
Paschalville Library/Southwest Cluster
Office of Adult Education
Philadelphia Works, Inc.
PA CareerLink
Mayor's Office of Community Empowerment & Opportunity
First Person Arts
Southwest Community Development Corporation
CityLights Network/The Common Place
Coalition of African Communities (AFRICOM)
Outley House Shelter

Sectors Engaged

Nonprofit

Public Sector

Initiative governance

The partnership structure operates at two levels: at the full-partnership level, and at the funded-partner level. The full partnership meetings quarterly to conduct business, assess progress toward achieveing goals, and plan for the next quarter. The funded partners working together communicate on a regular basis and formally meet on a bi-weekly basis. The activities of the partnership are coordinated by the Project Coordinator, who reports directly to the Free Library of Philadelphia.

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