Listening Is Only the Beginning
I sense it is going to be a busy fall!
As we begin a new legislative season and look toward a changing District government, I have been thinking about something that is at the heart of our work as a Coalition: how do we move from listening to meaningful action?
Last week, I volunteered at Janeese Lewis George’s Ward 1 community conversation, part of her “Building the People’s Government” listening series. The series will bring residents together for eight conversations across the District.
There was a terrific turnout—roughly 350 Ward 1 residents and 60 volunteers. People came ready to talk about housing, education, public safety, economic opportunity, government services and the everyday issues that shape life in their neighborhoods.
Including, of course, rats!
Most importantly, Janeese spent a good deal of time listening directly to residents. At this stage of a transition, I believe that is exactly what an incoming administration should be doing.
I also recognize that people have very different views about our incoming mayor. We don’t have to agree. But I do think we should give a new administration an open mind and an opportunity to listen, learn and demonstrate what it can do.
Governing a complicated city is very different from campaigning for one.
What struck me most about the evening, however, was that listening is only the beginning.
A healthy civic process needs to move through several stages:
Listen → Understand → Envision → Make Choices → Act
Last week’s conversation was primarily about listening—and that’s appropriate. The harder work comes next.
What are residents really saying? Where are there common themes? Where are there genuine differences? What might be possible if we think beyond today’s constraints? And eventually, what choices need to be made about priorities, resources and tradeoffs?
Those questions are familiar to us as a Coalition.
We spend a great deal of time listening to consumers, workers, providers, training organizations, policymakers and advocates. But listening only becomes meaningful when it helps us understand the system more clearly, imagine what could be different, make choices about where we can have the greatest impact, and then act.
That is also why I am excited about the comprehensive research we are beginning this fall with our series of surveys we will be fielding. By listening to providers, workers, training schools and consumers, we have an opportunity to understand the long-term care system from multiple perspectives—not simply to collect data, but to hear what the data alone cannot tell us. Please be on the lookout for emails regarding how you can be part of the survey process.
Listening becomes powerful when it changes what we understand and what we do.
I hope the Mayor-elect’s listening series follows that same trajectory. The most powerful version of these conversations would not end when the eight meetings are over. Residents should have opportunities to remain engaged as ideas take shape, priorities emerge and difficult choices have to be made.
That is how listening becomes civic participation.
And that is how a city can build something larger than individual government programs: a sense that residents have a genuine role in shaping the future of the place they call home.
This matters for our Coalition because long-term care is not an isolated issue. It touches housing, workforce development, healthcare, transportation, economic security, disability policy, aging and the basic ability of people to live with dignity in their communities.
No mayor, agency or organization can solve those issues alone.
It takes residents, neighborhoods, providers, workers, advocates, nonprofits, businesses and government working together. It takes curiosity. It takes disagreement without contempt. It takes imagination. And sometimes it takes the willingness to make difficult choices about what we can realistically accomplish first.
As we enter the fall, I hope we can bring that same spirit to our own work.
Let’s listen.
Let’s understand.
Let’s imagine what is possible.
Let’s make thoughtful choices.
And then let’s act.
The dialogue should never really end.
A Note About Our September Meeting
We were very pleased to host incoming Ward 1 Councilmember Aparna Raj at our September Coalition meeting. Aparna shared her priorities and her perspective on the role she hopes to play on the Council, and we had a thoughtful conversation about the future of long-term care in the District.
She was particularly clear about the importance of implementation, workforce development, training, wages and building stronger connections among the many parts of the system.
I believe Aparna has the potential to be an important ally for the Coalition, and I look forward to continuing the conversation with her as she prepares to take office.
I also want to thank everyone who participated in the meeting and contributed to the discussion. Our ability to bring together people from different parts of the long-term care system is one of the Coalition’s greatest strengths.
As I said at the beginning, I sense it is going to be a busy fall.
Neil Richardson
Coordinator
DC Coalition on Long Term Care