Youth & Community
The Value of Youth Work
Linda Rose sees caring for our youth and our communities as the bedrock for humankind; and helping develop people and their potential within the community is her lifelong passion.
Youth embody our hopes for the future and by the time children arrive at adolescence many are damaged by the many problems pressuring them, such as poverty, abuse, disasters and even hypercriticism and overly high expectations. The effort we put into our youth is returned to us in manifold ways - either a positively or negatively.
Where cultures do not invest emotionally, financially and energetically with their youth, young people are often disenfranchised with the community and this creates tension. Then the restlessness and energy of youth instead of being positively encouraged and channelled into efforts which benefit society, can be outletted into negative activities such as violence or crime, even self destructive ones such as self harm, suicide or anesthetising themselves with drugs and alcohol.
Throughout history this age group has had the energy and vision to change society for the better, which is often lost in later years, but only if they are well-supported, encouraged and feel a vital and valued part of their community. Youth are often looked down on in our modern era, but throughout history when life expectancy was much lower, youth was celebrated and many people achieved their best works before the age of 25. Now we keep our young people as children long after Linda believes they are capable of adult contributions to society. This can depress and marginalise some of our most talented and energetic young people and lose their vital contributions.
Whenever we become complacent about our treatment of our youth, we should always remember that these young people will be the adults in charge of the policies for our elderly care, and the way they are treated by us will come back upon us in our vulnerable elder years!
What is a Community Worker?
Community work starts where people are and moves them on to a better place.
The starting where people are is crucial. This is the difference between community workers and other forms of social work. A community worker should have a base in people's homes and communities, not in a distant office, but be ready to meet people physically, geographically and emotionally wherever they are. They need to work the hours that are most needed - often anti-social hours in evenings and weekends more than weekdays in order to meet the local needs.
Community workers need to be non-judgmental, listening to the needs and worries of the individual without criticism. They need to hear the concerns without any preconceived ideas of what is needed, and create solutions based on those concerns.
This is different from educational work, social work or policing as these are specific areas which need to meet specific issues such as educational needs, safety or law needs with a specific agenda.
A community worker will become a kind of professional friend and walk alongside the person in their needs. They will be a sign-post to other organisations knowing they cannot fulfil all the community needs in themselves; they will be an advocate, knowing that marginalised communities cannot always speak for themselves and be heard or taken seriously with larger organisations, community leaders or politicians. They will be the shoulder to cry on, the person who listens to pain without always having to comment; the person who can absorb community pain without breaking. This means they have to have an outside support for themselves or they will burn out; but when they are working they must be strong and capable of hearing hard and painful stories without flinching. They have to be all things to all people, keeping their integrity intact, but recognising their limitations.
Community workers have to be team players - searching for others to complement their work - or they will also burn out, trying to shoulder too much by themselves. Community workers have to independent between warring families and communities; they must sympathise and empathise with each side, but be seen to be objective and non participatory in any conflicts. They have to be seen to fulfil any promises, and earn the respect of local people and especially the 'highest' and the 'lowest'; the 'highest' or they will not be accepted into the community - the 'lowest' as that is where the most work is needed and the biggest change will be seen.
Multi-agency work makes a vital difference in a community.
There is such wastage in competitive working whereas cooperative working multiplies people's strengths and energy. Agencies should support each other to work with the same clientele, and work to each agency's strengths to provide a genuine holistic care for young people and their families. No agency can work in isolation and provide all that young people need therefore isolationist work is either arrogant or insecure and has no place in professional world or person led work.
What about Youth Workers?
Youth workers need to be all that community workers are, but also to prioritise the needs of young people within the communities. They need to remember that they are there on behalf of young people when they work with families and community leaders and should never contribute to the marginalisation of young people in families or communities. They are often the advocate for young people, putting across their side of things where the young person struggles to have a voice. A youth and community worker can support the community in creating a place for young people by helping the adults and leaders understand how to integrate young people's needs in their society in a practical way. Youth workers often need to work with parents and families to help the young person's life to be improved, not to take sides with the adult. The youth worker needs to pacify conflict and promote compromise, all to benefit the long term life experiences of the young person and their community.
Community work is a powerful calling, but a vital service to support the most vulnerable individuals, families and communities. Linda is proud to be a youth and community worker.
Linda's youth work and community consultancy is summarised in the following pages:
Street Work and Lifestyles (Derby)