Transition to common work : building community at the Working Centre / Joseph Mancini and Stephanie Mancini.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mancini, Joseph, 1958- author.

Mancini, Stephanie, 1959- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Working Centre (Kitchener, Ont.).

Community development--Ontario--Waterloo (Regional municipality).

Community development.

Unemployed--Services for--Ontario--Waterloo (Regional municipality).

Unemployed.

Unemployed--Services for.

Poor--Services for.

Social work with the unemployed.

Ontario--Waterloo (Regional municipality).

Social work with the unemployed--Ontario--Waterloo (Regional municipality).

Poor--Services for--Ontario--Waterloo (Regional municipality).

Poor.

Physical Description:

xix, 212 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Waterloo, Ontario : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, [2015]

Summary:

The Working Centre in the downtown care of Kitchener, Ontario, is a widely recognized and successful model for community development. Begun from scratch in 1982, it is now a network of practical supports for the unemployed, the underemployed, the temporarily employed, and the homeless, populations that collectively constitute up to 30 per cent of the labour market both locally and across North America. Transition to Common Work is the essential text about The Working Centre-its beginnings thirty years ago, the lessons learned, and the myriad ways in which its strategies and innovations can be adapted by those who share its goals. The Working Centre focuses on creating access-to-tools projects rather than administrative layers of bureaucracy. This book highlights the core philosophy behind the centre's decentralized but integrated structure, which has contributed to the creation of affordable services. Underlying this approach are commonsense innovations such as thinking about virtues rather than values, developing community tools with a social enterprise approach, and implementing a radically equal salary policy. For social workers, activists, bureaucrats, and engaged citizens in third-sector organizations (NGOS, charities, not-for-profits, co-operatives), this practical and inspiring book provides a method for moving beyond the doldrums of "poverty relief" into the exciting world of community building. Forewords by Frances Westley, JW McConnell Chair in Social Innovation, and Kenneth Westhues, professor emeritus, University of Waterloo. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 The Working Centre Takes Root

1 Introduction: Beyond Us and Them 3

2 Building Community: The Working Centre's Roots 11

3 Liberation from Overdevelopment 29

Part 2 Community Engagement

4 The Virtues 49

5 St. John's Kitchen: Redistribution through Cooperation 65

6 Searching for Work at the Help Centre 83

7 The Nuts and Bolts of an Alternative Organization 99

Part 3 Toward a Philosophy of Work

8 Ethical Imagination: The Working Centre's Approach to Salaries 119

9 Community Tools 131

10 Small Is Beautiful: Re-embedding Reciprocal Relationships in Daily Work 147

11 Conclusion: Transition to Common Work 163.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

Mancini, Joseph, 1958-, author. Transition to common work.

ISBN:

9781771121606

1771121602

OCLC:

898533681