{"id":15333,"date":"2021-12-13T12:40:12","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T17:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/?page_id=15333"},"modified":"2021-12-13T12:43:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T17:43:30","slug":"community-outreach-tips-discussion","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/hr\/extension-professional-employees\/community-outreach-tips-discussion\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Outreach &#8211; tips &amp; discussion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Notes from Community Outreach &#8211; tips &amp; discussion on December 8, 12:00-1:30 pm<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How do we reach underserved\/underrepresented groups virtually?\n<ul>\n<li>There don\u2019t seem to be a lot of resources out there to support virtual outreach.<\/li>\n<li>Even for in-person programming, we often have to reach out directly to specific individuals and groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It is important to make sure speakers know when there will be interpreters for their sessions. It can be disconcerting to have someone else suddenly talking in another language.<\/li>\n<li>The more diverse the audience, the more support it will need and the more time that may be required.\n<ul>\n<li>There may be different levels of technological skills.<\/li>\n<li>Different resources may be needed to meet individual needs.<\/li>\n<li>Find out what platforms your audience is most comfortable with.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Making home visits virtual requires different resources to support connectivity.\n<ul>\n<li>Different phone plans may incur extra charges.<\/li>\n<li>Some platforms are not secure (Facetime).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Erin provided STEAM kits for kids in the foster care system and included 4-H information as a way to reach an underserved population.<\/li>\n<li>Physically going to an underserved audience has been most successful and can\u2019t easily be replicated virtually.<\/li>\n<li>Virtual offerings tend not to be as diverse or reach the audience who would most benefit.<\/li>\n<li>Digital Equity Center is a no\/low-cost resource for accessing technology.<\/li>\n<li>Some staff have mailed program materials to participants and then set up times to meet virtually to do the activities.<\/li>\n<li>How do you develop relationships with teachers and schools?\n<ul>\n<li>After School leaders tend to be the most receptive as they have the least resources and will refer to teachers.<\/li>\n<li>Phone calls work better than mail\/email.<\/li>\n<li>Connect with 21<sup>st<\/sup> Century Learning Centers<\/li>\n<li>Tap into existing school connections \u2013 Summer of Science programs,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Ask principals for a time during a staff meeting to present the curriculum to teachers.<\/li>\n<li>Engage audience: Have the audience write down (or say) what comes to mind when you mention a topic<\/li>\n<li>Research your audience:\n<ul>\n<li>English as a first language<\/li>\n<li>Reading and\/or writing deficiencies<\/li>\n<li>Use more images when communicating in situations with language issues<\/li>\n<li>Reach out to English as a second language program for assistance\/resources<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Allow extra time in the agenda; adjust speed to match audience needs. Create working agreements for the group (i.e., group can agree on a signal vs having to interrupt to say they are having trouble understanding)<\/li>\n<li>Meet with interpreters in advance to make sure they are prepared to interpret your topic. Provide a presentation in advance.<\/li>\n<li>https:\/\/nesfp.org\/new-american-resources &#8211; Refugee Farmer Teaching Handbook. Many principles could be used across program areas.\n<ul>\n<li>How do you reach underserved audiences if there isn\u2019t a specific\/tangible group (i.e., tribal group, immigrant organization)? Public television ads or announcements; may be able to broadcast an actual workshop<\/li>\n<li>Mailing lists<\/li>\n<li>Reach out to other organizations that work with underserved audiences (i.e., LGB organizations)<\/li>\n<li>Geographic diversity \u2013 track addresses of participants and target future information to towns that are not represented<\/li>\n<li>Disabled individuals are a large, underserved audience; 15-16% of the population statewide, individual counties may be higher.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Schools would have statistics on their students for reporting purposes. If you went to a group home, that is a tangible group for reporting.<\/li>\n<li>Need to try to meet people at their level; modify presentations\/content to meet the needs of a particular group. i.e., Use different words based on age groups.<\/li>\n<li>Inspect sites in advance for accessibility and make accommodations as needed.<\/li>\n<li>Zoom has a feature that does real-time transcription. The presenter can enable the feature so individuals can choose to turn it on or off on their screen.<\/li>\n<li>Many kids are better at advocating for themselves. Adding examples of accommodations may help people who aren\u2019t sure what we can even offer.<\/li>\n<li>Tour guide headsets can be useful. Some are expensive. Could there be a system to encourage sharing of accommodation resources that are needed in one place all the time?<\/li>\n<li>Use available resources even if you aren\u2019t sure it\u2019s needed (i.e., microphones, etc)<\/li>\n<li>Clear facemasks could be useful. Make sure they aren\u2019t too shiny\/reflective.<\/li>\n<li>Repeating questions people ask for answers given to make sure it is heard and understood by everyone in the audience.<\/li>\n<li>Providing instructions for an activity helps someone who has trouble keeping up with the group.<\/li>\n<li>How do you present information without alienating people with other ways of doing things? How do we acknowledge their skills\/knowledge?\n<ul>\n<li>Request input from knowledgeable people from your target audience in creating curriculum or programming.<\/li>\n<li>We should join their groups and develop a relationship prior to trying to recruit them into our programs.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t just use people to get what you want (grants, etc).<\/li>\n<li>Assume everyone (adults generally) in your audience has some relevant expertise \u2013 try to find out what they are in advance or build in opportunities for them to share during the program.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Recognize cultural differences.<\/li>\n<li>Mari is a good resource for media-related ideas (improve presentations, flyers, etc)<\/li>\n<li>The marketing team and test accessibility of materials.<\/li>\n<li>Overall theme: know your audience!<\/li>\n<li>How do we learn indigenous\/cultural knowledge from others without asking too much of them?<\/li>\n<li>Incorporate them as partners in the project \u2013 find the leaders in these communities as equal partners (in grants too)<\/li>\n<li>You can do the work to go to them first and do things for them first \u2013 join their board<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Notes from Community Outreach &#8211; tips &amp; discussion on December 8, 12:00-1:30 pm How do we reach underserved\/underrepresented groups virtually? There don\u2019t seem to be a lot of resources out there to support virtual outreach. Even for in-person programming, we often have to reach out directly to specific individuals and groups. It is important to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"parent":237,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15333","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/author\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15333"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15337,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15333\/revisions\/15337"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/plugged-in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}