The Community Practice Lab (CPL) concluded three years of partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County (Habitat) in summer 2024. The CPL has supported Habitat in developing and implementing sustainable processes for community engagement.
, an affiliate of the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity International, helps families build and improve places to call home in Orange County, N.C.
In 2022, Kevin Giff, then a housing solutions manager at Habitat, reached out to the CPL for support to produce community oral histories in Hillsborough, N.C. While coordinating the oral history team, Sayoko Kawabata, CPL community engagement fellow, participated in trash pick-up days and other events, attended community watch meetings and exercise classes, and brought snacks to potlucks to build trust and connection.
Informed by the oral histories, Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) students at 黑料网-Chapel Hill developed “Vitalize”: Dorothy N. Johnson Community Center Strategic Plan. The oral histories and community center plan created strong support among Habitat to implement a comprehensive neighborhood engagement approach, first among the Homeowner Services Department and eventually across the entire team.
“Our goal at Habitat is to support our community members in developing strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter,” said Laine Staton, vice president of homeowner services. “To achieve this mission, we believe our work must be informed by our community members’ experiences and goals. Orange County is so incredibly diverse. Each neighborhood has its own culture, history, and relationships. It was a bit overwhelming to think about how Habitat could honor and support each neighborhood’s culture while building new affordable homes.”
Laine approached Dr. Ryan Lavalley to learn how the CPL could help Habitat better support community-led initiatives, meet community needs, and facilitate interconnected communities.
“The CPL offers a variety of supports, including coalition-building, organizational consultation, and implementation,” said Ryan, CPL primary lead. “Central to all of this, and emphasized in the CPL’s model, is our focus on building longstanding and reciprocal partnerships with organizations already doing great work in their communities.”
Through collaboration with the Habitat team, the CPL worked with MSOT students to develop the “Engage”: Neighborhood Engagement Strategic Plan. The strategic plan assessed Habitat’s current resources and impact and identified specific areas for Habitat to better support Orange County communities’ quality of life and meaningful engagement.
Now, it was time for Habitat to implement the plan, with the CPL’s support. Kevin, now a community program specialist with the CPL, continued to support Habitat alongside Ryan and Sayoko.
In 2023-2024, the CPL worked alongside Habitat’s newly created Neighborhood Engagement Team (NET) to develop and enact strategies for four Orange County neighborhoods. For example, the CPL developed a community engagement toolkit, including processes for receiving and fulfilling community requests and processes for establishing new communities.
“We’ve seen great enthusiasm for building Habitat’s knowledge, infrastructure, and tools for supporting the sense of community, social cohesion, and collective action in communities where Habitat homeowners live,” said Ryan. “The neighborhood engagement plan outlines specific metrics by which Habitat can continue to measure its success.”
The CPL community engagement team also facilitated organization-wide planning around community empowerment at Habitat’s fall 2023 annual summit. The day-long workshop guided Habitat staff in planning strategic actions to support local communities in building a sense of community, coordinating social cohesion, and engaging in collective action, all rooted in resident leadership.
“The most impactful part of this project has been witnessing the growth and deepening relationships between Habitat and the communities it serves,” said Kevin. “Residents have taken on leadership roles and collective actions to improve quality of life. Most importantly, the connections built and the trust established through this process have created a strong foundation for lasting change.”
In spring 2024, the CPL guided MSOT students in creating an action plan for supporting language access in the Weaver’s Grove development. Throughout its partnership with Habitat, the CPL has worked to leverage university resources to facilitate meaningful community outcomes alongside learning opportunities for students.
“The CPL did an amazing job of working in partnership with our staff. They made a point of asking questions to better understand our work while coaching us on asset-based community development,” said Laine. “We are so grateful for our partnership with the CPL team. Their guidance has allowed us to enact organizational change, which will support our work as we continue to build more affordable housing across the county.”
“We have been honored to be part of building homes, community, and hope with Orange County residents,” said Ryan.