Young Projects: Glen Haven Mother’s Group, 2016-2018

The Glen Haven Mothers Group: We would like to have a strong Mother’s Group so we can have positive things to do. We would like to purchase garden supplies and help families who don’t have gardens to get space. We would like to train together and learn about better health for our families. We would like to do more to learn English. We would like to know more about the area around our neighborhood. We would like to have a celebration party on Mother’s Day to get mothers and our neighbors together.

In late 2016, several of the ladies who live at the Glen Haven Apartment complex spoke about the many problems they experienced and observed in other families. When we suggested that they could organize a club and try to do something, they agreed to apply for a Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro's Building Stronger Neighborhoods grant. In late April 2017, they were notified of their successful application.

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Building Stronger Neighborhoods Application, 2017 PDF link

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Building Stronger Neighborhoods Grant Report, 2018 PDF link

GHMG BSN expenses sheet PDF link

Receipts (see below)

The Glen Haven Mothers’ Group was formed in late 2016. It involves mothers from Bhutan and Nepal (about 27), from Burma and Karen community, Syria, Vietnam, DRC and other countries, but especially from the Bhutanese refugee community. We participate in ESOL, citizenship, community health worker training and other community activities.

Our neighborhood is special because it is convenient to schools, hospital, bus and hospital. We have pride in our neighborhood because our families get along with one another.

For the Mother’s Group, we hold weekly meetings with 3 to 6 regular members and then bigger planning meetings and events with many neighbors helping. We discuss health, good decision-making, and ways to better communicate between people from different cultures.

We talk a lot about the individual health problems we have, like hypertension and diabetes, are also shared by many families and promote more talk among moms to make our neighborhood better. We’ve helped families get more garden supplies and tools to increase outdoor activity and more talking. We were busy all year long.

Grant period April 2017–April 2018

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3. Activities	4. Number of participants	5. Assessment
title: (7) Garden tools and supplies, soil, compost purpose: To help everyone at Glen Haven with compost, garden supplies, seeds and plants and community food and food supplies for all families at Glen Haven	core organizers: 5 community members: 150 allies and partners: 50	short term: Everyone likes their new hoes, watering cans and supplies long term: We learned how to buy supplies, use the ATM and go door to door talking to our neighbors
title: (8) Best practices urban gardening training sessions purpose: To make our gardens better, learn about how to get supplies, start mushroom logs, build garden beds, get ready for planting	core organizers: 15 community members: 50 allies and partners: 25	short term: People learned about new things they can do. long term: We met new people and new friends
title: (3) Mother’s Day purpose: To announce the grant and meet mothers away from our apartments.	core organizers: 10 community members: 45 allies and partners: 8	short term: Neighbors were helpful and dressed to celebrate long term: People think the Mothers Group helps people and are appreciative
title: (10) Community health worker training sessions purpose: To learn how to organize community events and get neighbors' involvement, practice more English, take our blood pressure, measure our height and weight, relax, eat better food, help neighbors	core organizers: 12 community members: 110 allies and partners: 45	short term: We know more about health and are more comfortable talking about problems long term: We can explain more things about health to our neighbors and get help for people who are not comfortable talking to Americans
title: (6) ESOL, citizenship and resource books purpose: Get more study books for community members	core organizers: 3 community members: 15 allies and partners: 6	short term: Easy to read citizenship study books to help us pratice English and culture skills long term: Make us more confident to pass the test
	Number of residents who participated in the project or activities: 150

6. List changes in your neighborhood that are the direct result of the project or activities completed:

People know our Mothers’ Group does good things.

We made two more garden beds.

We had five trucks of compost come.

We had a big Mothers Day celebration.

We had a big health fair for everyone and many people came.

We asked our neighbors what they needed.

We gave all the families a supply of rice and lentils, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

We helped people get seeds and some people made mushroom logs.

We helped a family with big problems who were fighting all the time.

We talked to everybody in our neighborhood, people from Bhutan, Burma, Vietnam, Iraq.

We met many student youth who speak Nepali and who talk to us.

We encouraged mothers to come with us to yoga and meditation workshops

7. What, if any, challenges or obstacles did your neighborhood group experience in completing the tasks of the project or activity

We never did this before.

We were afraid of people criticizing us.

8. What are the next steps in your neighborhood group?

Women, old people and girls need a lot of help.

We want to do more to help people with hygiene and physical health.

9. Financial Report

Starting Balance: $ 3,000.00

Expenses PDF link

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Addendum

(1) Additional notes to above 5. (List the goals you planned in the application, and whether or not these goals were accomplished)

(1) Community interpreters / gift cards

Interpretation was very important so we could understand everything and speak to everyone. Some interpreters were students or youth from our community.

(2) Snacks, water

(3) Mothers Day

This was our big announcement day. We invited all the mothers to come. Since mothers shouldn’t cook on a day called Mothers Day, we ordered food and supplies.

(4) Projector, cables, portable speaker system

We didn’t need this

(5) Office supplies

We didn’t need this

(6) ESOL, citizenship and resource books

We bought 10 books and 10 workbooks that are easy to read.

(7) Garden tools and supplies, soil, compost

(8) Best practices urban gardening training sessions

We asked neighborhood people what they needed.

We asked our friends and partners to help us shop or show us how to build things.

(9) Microloans and microloan training

We didn’t do this but we helped these people who had big problems:

-- One family in which the old mother and father were being cheated and money stolen by their children. They had no food and had many problems.

-- Our group member had no eyeglasses for 9 years so we got a prescription and glasses

(10) Community health worker training sessions

Every week we met to learn and talk about health problems like hypertension and diabetes. We learned to measure our height and take our weight.

We learned about good foods to eat.

We share this information with our neighbors.

(11) Board and community organizing training sessions

We didn’t do this

(12) Transportation / gas cards

We didn’t need this

(13) BANK FEES

The bank charged us monthly fees.

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Addendum

(2) Partners and allies’ comments representing some of those who contributed in-kind services and other resources

Yasmine Sinkhada, member of the Bhutanese maternal care research project. The writer is a recent graduate of UNCG, former president of the Nepalese American Student Association, and will enter the Public Health Education masters program in the fall. She is a Nepali speaker, comes from the local Nepali community and is conversant with the culture shared by the Bhutanese ladies.

From my perspective, the ladies in the Mother's Group are a crucial part of The Glen Haven Community as they stand as the voices for others. They discuss, organize, and implement the necessities in order to better the physical/mental health and environment of their diverse neighbors. They are diligent, selfless, and consistent in the support they provide. I have observed nothing but positive feedback from the community as the Glen Haven Mother's Group conduct events such as, door-to-door give aways, yoga sessions, and the health fair. They are outstanding members of the community and their impact is evident and appreciated.

Kunga Denzongpa, lead researcher of the Bhutanese maternal care research project. The writer is a PhD candidate in Public Health Education and Nepali language speaker whose family is from Sikkim, which shares a similar culture.

The Mothers Group is an empowering platform where these women have been successful in establishing their role as 'women' leaders in the community, something that is uncommon in this culture. The work that these women have done in the community not only shatters gender dynamics within this culture, but it also brings together their ethnic community in the way of community events such as the rice and lentil distribution, health fair, garden bed construction, garden tool dissemination, and so forth. To give you a specific example, B's husband and her step-son now look up to B and encourage her to continue her work because of her active leadership role in the community, and her ability to bring in resources (to whatever capacity) not only to her family but to the entire Glen Haven community. These incidents may be small scale, but they collectively establish a very powerful foundation towards community building for these vulnerable populations.

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Addendum

(3) Photos

Community health worker training

Learning to measure, take height and weight and follow up on health needs

Going door to door asking neighbors about their needs

Organizing the group

Learning tool names

Mothers' Day

Announcing the new organization, Glen Haven Mothers Group. Community members and allies also helped with interpretation, including a college student who provided Arabic interpretation.