I will start with a confession. Until about five years ago, I did not know there was a river in Los Angeles.It's true.I had seen the concrete channel, of course, but never associated that with the rivers of my Midwest upbringing. Apparently, this is not unusual, or so Jill Sourial, TRC Board Member and River Project participant representative assures me: "There are people who have lived here their whole lives who don't know that."A River Does Run Through ItThe fact is the river runs for 51 miles from Canoga Park down to Long Beach. It was channelized in the 1930s in response to flooding issues - a scenario that is hard to envision given the current drought. Ongoing revitalization plans are geared toward bringing attention and resources to the river with a focus on a specific 11-mile stretch of it.The complexities surrounding the LA River revitalization project are issues that Sourial has been keenly aware of since her time at City Hall. Since her time working with Councilman Reyes, the river has become a real labor of love for her, as it has for several non-profit organizations in the area. Seeing their passionate, yet sometime conflicting ideas on how to proceed with the work, Sourial approached TRC about introducing Relational Public Narrative and leadership training to the river organizations as a way to create a more cohesive and cooperative working environment. Already personally exposed to the power of the storytelling model, she was confident that TRC's training would have a positive impact on the organizations dedicated to addressing the river issues.How do you bring together strong advocates and activists with particular goals and points of view with others who are equally committed to their own approaches? Cedar Landsman, who leads TRC's Changemakers initiative, suggests, "You really have to focus on building quality relationships." That relationship building is the key to building a functional process that can address the differing needs and complex problems involved with such a diverse group of stakeholders. Without those strong bonds, social activists often find themselves without the necessary support to continue the work, as Sourial explains, "there are really high levels of burn out, and we aren't maximizing our effectiveness." Luckily, TRC has quite a bit of experience bringing people together to build just this kind of supportive relationship.
