My

Community:

A Photo Essay

My Community is a Place~

Bremerton, Washington.

• Located in Kitsap County

• Founded in 1891 by William Bremer

• 28.41 square miles

• Population: 37,729 (US Census, 2009)

• Median income 2006-2010: $38,531

• Below poverty level: 19.4%

My Community~

Is Rich in Natural

Resources

• Illahee Nature preserve, Clear Creek Trail, family-owned farms and pastureland, parks, lakes, rivers, wetlands, beaches and more

• “Environmental capital includes the natural features and resources of the area...These qualities help to define a sense of place and provide important aspects of identity” (Homan, 2011, p. 40).

My Community~

Supports the Family System

• “Human service professionals understand the complex interaction between individuals, their families, the communities in which they live, and society” (NOHS, Statement 12).

My Community~

Supports Educational

Systems

Bremerton encompasses three school districts, early child development centers, a community college, trade schools, and distance learning programs.

My Community~

Supports Social Services

• “Workers in human services are directly concerned with the well-being of people; strengthening communities promotes individual as well as group health. The consequences of health or distress are felt by all members of the community” (Homan, 20011, p. 38).

My Community is about Service:

Local Protective Service systems

• Bridges, ferries and highways in Bremerton help link the region to points beyond

My Community is about Service:

The Regional Transportation

System

• Bremerton is the gateway to the Olympic Peninsula; three major ferries connect Seattle and the 1-5 corridor to the Olympic Peninsula via Kitsap county

Bridges, highways and mass transit in Bremerton help link the region to points beyond

My Community is about Service:

The National Defence System

• Largest concentration of nuclear submarines in the world

• The Department of the Navy is the largest employer in Bremerton

• Bremerton Shipyard serves the largest naval fleet in the world; repairs, retrofitting and nuclear monitoring supports national in international interests

My Community~

Celebrates Together

“Bonding capital deepens the sense of affiliation among members of a particular network” (Homan, 2011, p. 44).

My Community:

Encompasses

Diverging

Ideologies

My Community

is:

Reflected in our Spiritual

Values

“Community is a group of individuals who have learned how to communicate honestly with each other, whose relationships go deeper than their masks of composure, and who have developed some significant commitment to “rejoice together, mourn together” and to make others’ conditions our own” (Homan, 2011, p. 115).

My Community is:

Reflected in the very Diversity of

who we are

“…Genuine community is not easily achieved or easily maintained; its avowed goal is to seek ways in which to live with ourselves and others in love and peace…Once a group has achieved community, the single most common thing members express is “I feels safe here” (Homan, 2011, p. 115).

References

Homan, M.S. (2011). Promoting community change: Making it

happen in the real world (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

National Organization for Human Services. (2009). Standards for

human service professionals. Retrieved from:

http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-

professionals

US Census Bureau. (2010). Retrieved from:

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/53/5307695.html

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