Creating meaningful communities: the how, why and where
Posted on Tuesday, April 18th, 2023
“I think a lot of the time, what people describe as communities are scenes and subcultures which are really important in their own right but for something to be a true community, there has to be a sort of evolution and mutual growth between people who are learning from each other — in a reciprocal kind of way,” shared Dorian Jensen.
Jensen, who is a Two-Spirit Red River Métis person from Manitoba, is also a community activist, leader and student at Algonquin College’s Library and Information Technician program.
As both an active member of the Manitoba Métis Federation Two-Spirit Michif Local and the Métis Nation of Ontario Two-Spirit working group, Jensen uses his skills as a community leader and organizer to establish programming, events and supports for Two-Spirit citizens.
Through his work as a consultant, panellist, delegate, organizer and presenter, Jensen has shared his personal experiences and knowledge to uplift the Two-Spirit community nationwide and reinforce the importance of creating, fostering and supporting meaningful community engagement.
“The things that make a strong community are having a degree of commonality or shared experience that you can connect and bond over, but also a degree of difference so that you can learn from and teach one another and become stronger together,” shared Jensen.
Most recently, Jensen participated in a consultation committee for KIND Space, an Ottawa-based organization that is committed to providing accessible resources, events, social and educational programming to celebrate and support people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.
“Last summer, KIND Space approached me and a couple others because they wanted to establish a community consultation of Two-Spirit individuals to discuss ways in which the organization could decolonize its service approach and work more effectively with Two-Spirit community members,” explained Jensen.
Jensen added that they “took a holistic look at the organization and ways it could organize itself to be as inviting and as safe a space as it could be for Indigenous community members.”
Speaking candidly, Jensen shared the challenges he’s faced when juggling his passion for community with a full course load but explains that he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I was out of school for 10 years, so adjusting to an academic schedule has been a challenge all on its own, but having other community things that I am engaged with is important for me to keep my head,” said Jensen. “Libraries and how people consume and understand information is only one of the things that I care about, and not only do I need downtime to relax but I also need time where I am working on the other things that I am passionate about.”
For Jensen, being an active member of a community keeps him grounded, something he hopes others can benefit from by participating in community as well and which he encourages students to seek out at Algonquin College.
“It’s a lot easier to build a community with a lot of people who have a variety of life experiences, as the people at Algonquin College do, than it is to build community with a lot of people who all have a ton in common with each other when you do not share that commonality,” said Jensen.
Jensen encourages students to take advantage of that and engage with their peers to find and create meaningful communities both on and off campus.
“I believe for students generally it’s really beneficial to familiarize yourself with the world outside your campus and with the city or town in which you find yourself,” shared Jensen. “There’s a world of resources that exist — I always encourage people to find out what’s out there.”