This past week I had the chance to visit Baycat, a wonderful community-based organization in the Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco. Baycat is focused on providing inspiration and education for underserved youth and adults in their community. Most of Baycat’s programs emphasize projects and skills related to technology, and so it seems natural that SIMS should develop a relationship with them.

I feel like more academic institutions and departments should recognize the importance of allying themselves with community-based organizations. There are so many benefits in these mutual relationships. Gaining entree into communities is sometimes the hardest thing that researchers do, especially ethnographic researchers. Community based organizations can be gatekeepers for communities, and brokers for the trust they have developed through their programs and connections. Ethnography also suffers from the handicap that it is a place-based method. A community-based organizations can provide a valuable hub for ethnography. Getting involved with these organizations also encourages researchers to give back and keep their research grounded in the knowledge and experience of the communities they study and serve. I just can’t say enough about the power of these relationships.

Although we were visiting Baycat to explore the possibilities for research there, my reactions to went far beyond that. It is so refreshing to get outside the academic community and talk to people who have their hands in the daily work of providing community-based services. It’s easy, sometimes, to get wrapped up in the academic world and forget that the vast majority of the world isn’t like that. I’ve often found that I get a much different and more useful sense of things from talking to people who are actually doing, instead of just talking about doing. Baycat has a wonderful feel about it. The people there are friendly and positive and obviously believe in what they do. The whole place is infused with that positive philosophy on empowering people and improving their lives and communities. It was really uplifting just to be there.

Baycat is just getting started - the space only opened about 5 months ago, and they are still developing their programs. If you’re interested in what they do, or in contributing, please check out their website.