From our Village Toolkit: VillageCore
Where do Community Organizers go for support?
To give Village Builders every chance of creating their desired, thriving communities, VillageCo has initiated a weekly virtual group to support sustainable community leadership called VillageCore.
Building community can be challenging! It takes resilience, care, awareness of group dynamics and a willingness to try new things. At VillageCore, Builders collaborate to grow their home Villages and talk in-depth about key organizing principles of Village. It’s also a space for us to deal with the challenges of the times - economic, personal, social, relational, political, psychological - building the wisdom necessary to fuel healthy communities and better relationships.
The VillageCore Coaching Team
At VillageCore, Builders practice implementing Village tools and work through the Builder’s toolkit. Each Builder is encouraged to interact with the toolkit in their own ways, then bring their questions to the Coaching team and other Builders. It's not a workshop! Instead, VillageCore is a place to gather resources, share experiences, receive feedback and grow the culture of Village.
Currently there are 4 coaching pods, each with their own unique names - Seed Planters, The Lynx, The Whales, The Hearts - it’s super fun!
About the coaching team:
Coach Christine is a long-time member of Village Seattle and founding president of VillageCo. Her background in whole system design and integral perspective to community building has helped lead our organization and move our cohort project forward.
Coach Mathis is a true believer in community and the healing it brings. He travels frequently, working nomadically, but considers San Fransisco a home. Mathis brings experience in executive coaching and a passion for making VillageCore a win-win for all Builders as well as VillageCo.
Coach Bee lives in Macedonia, Greece, and also travels frequently in the Mediterranean region. In addition to raising her daughter, she runs several women-focused businesses. She brings experience organizing community events and led a Village at Games for Love, a charity dedicated to helping children.
Coach Jason is a co-founder of Village Seattle and VillageCo, pursuing a vision to start a new kind of civic group. He brings experience working in nonprofits, community leadership, fundraising, and community organizing. He has founded 7 Villages and is currently starting an 8th at his apartment complex in Boise ID.
Reaching Milestones Together
The cohort of Village Builders proceeds through a series of 5 milestones as they practice the Village gathering model and apply tools from the Village Builder’s toolkit. Builders move through each stage at their own pace and in a way that feels right for their community, organizing: 1) a friends gathering, 2) a first village gathering, 3) getting role takers, 4) the recruitment of Village members, and 5) having 20 consistent Village members.
Topics at VillageCore range from the practical to more philosophical considerations:
Addressing Builders' questions about the training, their own self-reflections about the community they're in, and the challenges they're facing.
Role trainings so Builders understand how their Village members can contribute to positive gatherings.
Builders practice "village pitches", consider ideas for venues, and ways to make gatherings more engaging and fun.
Small group pod meetings to deepen connections between Builders and to offer & receive more personalized feedback.
Coaches are sensitive to each Builder’s process in terms of completing milestones, aiming to meet Builders and their communities where they are at. One Builder may like having deadlines with dates to hold themselves accountable, while another builder may want to talk through ideas and jump into action when things feel right.
VillageCore is essentially a space to support those who are supporting their communities. Leaning into a friendly informal coaching group, Builders share their personal journey, evolve practical tools and celebrate their wins, making VillageCore a safe and open co-learning environment.
Your Voice:
We want to hear from you!
Do you currently have support to build community in your life?
What challenges are your communities dealing with at this time?
Yeah I agree with Loisel - most "support" for community building is in the form of workshops or trainings, which are great and have a place, but not many spaces support the actual work. VillageCore is more of a living workshop - it works with people's real-life, and real-time experiences in bringing folks together in their local areas.
There are opportunities but not necessarily support. Usually support is in the form of money...and the motivation is usually a cause like my son's school fundraising or a holiday. Village Core is pretty unique in that they prompt discussions about challenges we have in community building... It's conversations I wouldn't normally have as there aren't really spaces for it.