12 minutes
Mapping what already exists Build a community map for one person that records the places, people and roles already in their life.
What you’ll be able to do Build a community map for one person, recording places they go, people who know them, roles they hold, and interests that could connect them to a place where belonging is possible. Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What has the map found? Draft Community map for your work, including places, and who knows them there, people who are not paid, roles held, now or ever. Start from the person's world, not the service's menu A service menu lists what the service can provide. A community map records what the person already has: the places they go and are known, the people who know them, the roles they hold or once held, and the interests that have never been followed. Built with the person and the people close to them, it almost always contains things the file does not. The barber of twelve years. The bus driver who waits. The uncle's fishing. The map turns these from details into doors.
The four layers Places People Roles Interests
Where does the person already go, and where are they already known? The store, the barber, the bus, the clinic, the church, the park bench. For each: does anyone there know their name?
Who in the person's life is not paid? Family, neighbors, former teachers, people from a former job, someone from childhood. For each: when did they last speak, and what would it take to reconnect?
What has the person been responsible for, anywhere, ever? Feeding a pet, sorting the mail, holding the door, keeping the tools in order. Roles are how belonging starts.
What did they used to do, what do they watch, what do they talk about, what did a parent or relative share with them? For each: is there a place near them where people gather around it?
Community map One page that records the places, people, roles and interests already in a person's life, and the one connection to pursue first.
Places, and who knows them there Named; known by name or not
People who are not paid Named; last contact; what reconnecting would take
Roles held, now or ever Specific responsibilities
Interests, and a nearby door Each with a place where people gather around it
The one connection to pursue first And the first step
Build it with one person and the people who know them, and circle one door.
Browse and download only. Staff notes are not typed or saved on this page.
Download this published draft Build it with people who know the person What you can change You control who is in the room when the map is built. A map built from the file contains the file. A map built with a sister, a former neighbor and the person contains their life.
What to watch for Do not let the map become an inventory. Its purpose is to find one door, and once it has, the next step is to walk through it.
Your next step Build one map this month with at least one unpaid person present.
Carry this forward A community map starts from what already exists, not from what the service offers: places the person already goes, people who already know them, roles they already hold, and interests nobody has followed up.
The map is built with the person and the people who know them, and it usually reveals connections the file does not contain.
The purpose of the map is to find one place where belonging is possible, not to inventory the community.
A tabs walk through the map's four layers, an artifact, a scenario decision and a knowledge check.
Build the map with one person this month.
Browse and download only. Course notes are not typed or saved on this page.
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