Social Work with People Practicing Same-Sex ... - ILGA Europe

Productive Activities of the Organization in the Strategic Areas
Ideologically, at this stage the community group should be ready to help other
community members resolve their urgent problems.
Objectives:
• To develop priority activity areas, to formulate the strategy and operational plan.
• To ensure financial and programmatic sustainability.
• To expand access to services for the clients.
The key contradiction arises at this stage of the initiative group development — in
our technical review it was specified as the contradiction of views on community
mobilization as the goal and the tool.
Professional HIV servicing organizations perceive initiative groups created by LGBT
communities as a tool to reach the target group to expand the service coverage. At the
same time, an approach to capacity building of the community implies the freedom for
the group to identify its goals and objectives. An initiative group can set priorities of
its activities (and rather frequently does so), which would not envisage provision of
clearly defined prevention services as the priority goal. For example, an objective to
advocate for the civil equality of LGBT or for tolerant attitude to this group by health
care workers can be identified by an LGBT group as a key goal, while HIV/STI prevention
may be considered not so much important in the group strategy.
Besides it is at this stage when organizations start to determine the boundaries of
their competence and build networks for the territorial referral of their clients to the
specialists.
Methods
1. Volunteer team building, development of the system of incentives for volunteers
from among the community.
2. Organization of service provision (prevention, resocialization, care and support,
self-help groups, training for the community members, development and production
of information materials, advocacy).
Although the provision of services to community members looks like a professional
activity, it is often a form of confirmation of commonality, an opportunity to help
“friends“. This additional motivation and involvement should not have any influence
on the salary level, which should be equal for all employees regardless of their
experience of living with the problem, in case of an equal employment and efficiency
of performance.
3. Professional growth of the implementing workers/personnel.
4. Development of monitoring and evaluation system.
5. Best practice sharing, experience sharing visits, summer camps and joint training
workshops conducted by several similar organizations.
Challenges
1. The need to balance rights protection (activism) with the provision of professional
services while choosing the strategic activity areas for the organization.
2. Deficit of qualified staff, fluctuation of staff.
3. The need to involve professionals in the provision of services, who do not belong
to the community.
4. Difficulties to ensure healthy relationships in the team.
5. Burnout syndrome in the social workers from the community, loss of motivation.
6. Difficulties to adhere to the strategy of fundraising (“they do not give us grants
for our priorities“).
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