Bring the 5 Protective Factors to Your Next Food Fight!
Written by Tim Buckley, September 2024
The most recent CBEL Collaborative gathering featured a demonstration of violence. It was only a role play, but the audience of about 50 people sat stunned anyhow.
There were three people on stage who represented families in poverty, those without proper community supports, those at risk for losing their last dollar to rent and their last scrap of dignity along with it. Out in front of them were three of us, armed with bags of paper wads the size of tennis balls. We represented common stressors in people’s lives: financial, familial, and social pressures. In unison, we tossed wads and hurled insults simultaneously at the people on stage. They responded as you might expect. One went into fight mode. The second fled the stage, while the third crumpled under the stress and froze. Classic trauma responses to stress.
The role play was replayed, but out in front of the three on stage this time were people representing the Five Protective Factors in the Strengthening Families approach. This approach is one embraced in CBEL’s charter and echoed in Neighborhood Family Council charters. Each meeting and every event are constructed to embrace and exercise these protective factors, part of a bigger strategy to build resilience in our community.
As we again lobbed insults and paper wads at our intended victims, people representing the Five Protective Factors successfully intercepted most of the objects and insults being thrown. Instead of fighting, fleeing or freezing, the three stood their ground, largely protected and resilient in the face of continued pressures.
These are the five protective factors:
Read more about the Strengthening Families Protective Factors at Strengthening Families - Center for the Study of Social Policy (cssp.org)
In the ensuing group discussion about “Care”, it became clear that some of these protective factors come under the heading of “big C” care” while others fall under the heading of “small c” care. Big C care is the voluntary care that we do as family members, friends and neighbors. Small c care is that which is provided by people who are paid for their time and expertise. Both Big C and little c care are necessary but little c care cannot replace Big C care.
CBEL helps families cultivate Big C care and connect with small c care.
In small groups, we shared personal stories of stressful times, then talked about which protective factor was in place to help us build resilience. In my group, we talked about family as well as coaches, teachers, relatives and other outside organizations that were key to our muddling forward, building up our resources and becoming more resilient.
In the large group, various big C representatives spoke about their organization, listing briefly:
What’s working well for you in the organization, in terms of helping the intended audience?
What could the organization be doing better?
What can I personally do to make that happen?
Big C organizations represented:
Safe Families for Children
Marion/Polk County Boys & Girls Club
Salem Housing Authority
Catholic Community Services and Fostering Hope Initiative
Salem Leadership Foundation
Community Violence Reduction Initiative
Church @ the Park
These executives and managers sharing what the weakness and opportunities their organizations experience may not have landed as strongly as the role play did earlier, but it was a powerful moment of vulnerability and connection, nonetheless. These community leaders were committing aloud to their own challenges, and in their lists of what could be better came a discovery of community resilience in the making.
In a strange way, the Collaborative helped create a space in which we became part of each other’s Protective Factors community. We all gained a bit of resilience because the community of care just got a bit closer, a bit tighter, a bit bigger.