Teamwork - August 17, 2001

BHA Navigation Center™ Hosts Three Community Forums on Vital 'Social Capital'

On three dates in July, August and September 2001 the Borgess Navigation Center™ on the BMC campus is hosting a series of forums to help make our Kalamazoo community more healthy.

Sponsored by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, the events are called the Social Capital Community Forums.

'Social Capital' refers to the valuable connections among people that promote cooperation and mutual benefit. The amount of social capital in a community can be measured by such indicators as voter turnout, informal friendships, diversity of networks, volunteerism, trust in others, and church and public meeting attendance.

Research show that communities with high levels of social capital are 'healthier.' This healthiness could be in terms of higher educational achievement, for example or less crime or faster economic growth.

"It's not simply 'networking' or having many friends,' says Elyse Kaps, Director of Borgess Education & Development. "Social capital involves having reciprocal relationships in which people help others, without thinking about what they will get in return. Like financial capital, social capital usually generates more when it is invested."

On the forefront of helping our community understand social capital - and finding new ways to generate it - the Kalamazoo Foundation is using the Navigation Center to engage more than 200 members of our community. Among them are those having affiliations with neighborhood organizations, social service agencies, government offices, advocacy groups, businesses, churches, and schools, as well as other citizens with a personal interest in the topic. Two Borgess employees who are active in the Kalamazoo area community - Timothy Ezell, Borgess Library Reference/Systems Technician, and Eric Buzzell, Executive Director, Textile Systems, Inc. & Borgess Property Management - are participants in the community forum.

"These events are helping to increase social capital in the community. That's one step on a path of making Kalamazoo a more vibrant and healthier community," said Terry Hluchyj, Navigation Center Transition Leader.

At a Kalamazoo Community Foundation Social Capital Forum held at the Navigation Center, participants share experiences
and understanding of materials from a knowledge wall. They are, from left: Carrie Pickett Erway, Kalamazoo Community
Foundation; Connie Ferguson, Kalamazoo Nature Center; Eric Buzzell, Textile Systems Inc. & BHA Property Management;
and State Representative Alexander Lipsey.