Community Organizing

Community Building Programs

Relationships are the life-breath of the work that we do at Commún; it is how we began, how we stay connected to the needs of our community, and what we can use to address the systemic inequities that those needs speak to. Commún employs community organizing– the building of relationships across shared interests– as the vehicle for community liberation because it has shown to be the most effective tool for justice across human history.

History

Commún was born in a Southwest Denver living room when residents came together to address the massive changes happening in our community. Commún reflects the knowledge that programs and services must be driven and directed by people who are most impacted by the issues we are addressing.

Through the work of our community organizing teams, we are working to increase community leadership in planning, design, and delivery of programs, spaces and services, provide advocacy skills and opportunities to tackle the systems and root causes of the issues we experience, and build a strong and cohesive community that is resilient to the challenges and changes we are facing, together.

We are dismantling the historic system that requires an organization to ‘ask the community’– we are the community working together to build for ourselves.

Program Goals

Support community leadership of program development through community organizing & skill building

1.

Empower advocacy through community connection & education

2.

Teams

The Community Organizing program consists of three organizing teams:

Our youth organizing team focuses on elevating youth voices in the development of our programs and the design of our future community center.
The youth organizing team consists of teens ages 15-19 from the Southwest Denver area who engage other youth to inform the design and programming of the Youth Center at the future Community Center through focus groups, surveys, and individual conversations. The youth organizers also collaborate with program staff to provide programming, including leading self-care workshops for other teens.
Our community builders team seeks to improve a sense of belonging within Commún and the surrounding community. Our vision is that, when we open the doors of the Community Center, the community center is made by and for the diverse communities that make Southwest Denver what it is.
The community builders are trained in organizing practices through a restorative and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) informed lens. Skills include one to one conversations, group listening sessions, and conflict resolution. The team employs these skills to understand our community’s needs, build powerful relationships, and work towards affecting larger systems change.
The promotoras climaticas are a group of Southwest Denver residents directly impacted by the effects of climate change in our community, committed to understanding and responding to the climate resiliency needs of Southwest Denver. The team provides education, resources, and avenues for neighbors to reduce their contribution to climate change, advocate for healthier laws and funding to protect our community, and facilitate changes in our community and in the home to be resilient to the climate impacts we are experiencing.