I am seeing the work of Community Cultural Development as work of healing but also change. We will become the facilitators for conversations, engagements, and understanding by bringing together various communities in dialogue. By encouraging people to tell their own stories brings about an understanding of differences and can help people come together in mutual respect. Community Cultural Development provides a safe space to take down the barriers, change our first impressions, calm our fears, and be open to possibilities by learning to listen and see others in new and supporting ways. It can also be the means of bringing up challenging topics that may need to be explored in order to develop conversations. Coming together and finding a common theme/place to engage can be powerful.
I appreciate this idea of community being grounded in place and that culture is where we feel most at home. I am interested in creating a space ( a literal space) that feels like home where people with different beliefs and interests can come together to engage, participate, learn and heal. This space can be a park, a healthcare clinic, child development clinic, housing projects, libraries, schools, or within urban development. I have always worked one on one with families, creating the space for health and healing but feel called to expand in creating more systemic changes through space. These concepts for community cultural development dovetail beautifully with my past and present interests and gives me a road map of possibilities for where I want to go.
Molly Pierce