How can community members be engaged in complex social issues?

Give them some power. Consultation without any sense of being heard is for the benefit of those asking the questions (their KPI's) rather than taking people on a journey leading to a decision of their making.

I have a personal connection to homelessness, it became my passion and a deep motivation to change and save the lives of those who sleep rough in Australia. If you are motivated by a lived experience to be a force for change or good and it resonates deep within you. It's simple, you have to follow your intuition and gut, do the research and speak with others in the field. Then once you have done the research and spoken to various stakeholders, you can then start your own unique offering or get involved another way such as volunteering to a cause that you feel connected to or becoming an advocate for change.

My experience has been that relationships are the key to getting people involved. So many people are just not that interested in social issues, and it takes passion to stay in the game when matters tend to present struggles in the plan. A few years ago when I was involved with an economic development organization, we had a tough time getting good people to participate in the project to train entrepreneurs. I ended up being put in charge of the project. It had to be a non-profit organization for me to be in charge of it. It only was only minimally successful due to the lack of support from the community. This was primarily due to the lack of leadership with expertise in starting or growing a business. The passion just wasn't there.

Engaging community members in complex social issues requires creating awareness through education and open dialogues. It's essential to provide platforms for discussion, encouraging active participation and diverse perspectives. Involving community leaders and influencers can amplify outreach and credibility. Organizing workshops and collaborative events fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment. Highlighting the direct impact of these issues on the community and offering clear, actionable steps for involvement can motivate members to actively contribute to solutions.

Google is your best friend to find out who is doing what in the issue or cause you are motivated by. You will be able to find organisations, research, news articles, events, videos. However noting is better than getting out to meet people who have either been impacted or those who provide services to the impacted cohorts. By speaking with many, it will provide a number of different perspectives and give you the opportunity to see how you would like to be involved or support.

While working for minority communities in rural and urban regions I felt the first step (after self clarity about intervention) is to build relationships and trust. Generally complex social issues need your involvement in the society and indirectly knowing their viewpoint. This places you in their shoes and solutions could be found in the context of the community. Such solutions are easily acceptable.

The third book in my Dignity Trilogy is entitled: The Dignity of Trust. I wrote this book last because it just seemed to be the glue that held it all together. A community has to have trust in its members if any progress can be made. Those who join in an effort to make progress many times are in it for themselves, and their motives aren't aligned with the needs of the community itself. Without sincere relationships, many of the roadblocks to success will raise their heads in opposition to the real needs. These opportunities for growth require great effort sometimes, and the desire for a successful outcome has to include determination. The need for reliable, qualified participants is key, but their motives have to be pure.

When you are motivated to help people especially when it is a complex social issue, you will inevitably hit a few brick walls or challenges. Hitting a brick wall will be a common occurrence, trust me I have the scars from hitting many brick walls...they hurt! But, you have to step back and work out, how do I go under, over, round or through that brick wall, here's the thing, you will find a way and you will also learn from it. Being inquisitive to question everything mixed with being curious is super powerful and it will help you to refine what you are looking to do or help you adapt and innovate your original thoughts and ideas about supporting people or addressing an issue.

For several years, I participated in leadership training for groups of selected high school students. One thing that I always tried to instill in them was confronting the problem of ambiguity. Many of the students were not familiar with the concept, but my experience as an entrepreneur and a teacher helped me to give them some guidance. Any worthwhile effort will not always be very clear to those involved. You must analyze the various aspects of the project and do your best to understand what is needed and how to best address them. Unfortunately, many people are not flexible enough to stand up to those challenges; and they find themselves stymied and unable to succeed.

It is important to take care of yourself, I am the worst person to give advice here. It is super difficult, stressful and exhausting especially when you are starting an organisation to try and help people. We are all wired differently when it comes to balance and taking care of our health. Having a support network around you is crucial to be able to offload and debrief, this has helped me as well as music and mindfulness (the later I wished I was better at!). You will be energised and fulfilled once you see your efforts bear fruit and the impact it starts to make on the people you are helping. This will further drive and motivate you to help more people.

We need to create a pool of active citizens from the community who can understand the intervention plan. These persons could be retired government employees (education, health , administrative services etc) or committed youngsters etc. They will also act as an agent of the change which will ensure the community's participation in the intervention plan and instill trust in the community.