Cedar Rapids public forum Thursday will discuss community strengths, weaknesses

CEDAR RAPIDS - When he asked Cedar Rapidians about the 2008 flood, people talked with Kevin Adler about two things.

They discussed their struggles. And they talked about the community uniting to face those struggles.

For many who continued to deal with flood recovery weeks, months and years after the waters subsided, that sense of social cohesion was only part of the story.

'People have different experiences of weathering the storm. The initial coming together that many people felt is a well-documented phenomena. But for some, that period was short-lived,” Adler said.

He has turned his conversations with Cedar Rapids residents into a book, 'Natural Disasters as a Catalyst for Social Change: A Study of the 500-Year Flood in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.”

The book looks at the way the flood uncovered strengths and challenges in community networks and relationships - what he calls 'social capital.”

To discuss those strengths and challenges and how the community can learn from them, The Gazette and KCRG-TV9 will host 'Learning Forward: A Community Forum on Social Capital” at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Cedar Rapids Public Library downtown. KCRG-TV9's Bruce Aune will moderate the event.

Panelists, in addition to Adler, will include Linda Seger, treasurer and former president of the Northwest Neighborhood Association; Courtney Ball, co-founder and former executive director of Matthew 25; Jennifer Pruden, executive director of the Czech Village & New Bohemia Main Street District; and Stephanie Neff, Blue Zones Project community manager.

To uncover those lessons of the flood to build a stronger Cedar Rapids, the challenges are as important to acknowledge as the strengths, Adler said.

The flood exacerbated some divisions already in place in Cedar Rapids, for example. The flooded area had poverty rates about double those of the city as a whole, and the flood disproportionately affected minority residents, many of whom lived in the flood zone, Adler noted.

'As people have different resources, you can start having a tale of two experiences, where one side cherishes the coming together, while the other side is continuing to muck and gut their houses,” Adler said.

Still, when he returned in 2012, he found far more positive responses than negative.

'The block-by-block program had emerged in the interim, and people talked about NewBo market and the Czech Village,” he said.

'Responses were heavily skewed toward the flood as a horrible event that did have a positive impact as far as trust and community impact.”

Building on the positive experiences of the community at large, he said, can help us figure out how those left behind could have been better helped and engaged.

His research, part of his master's thesis project at the University of Cambridge, included interviews with 30 residents four months and then at four years after the flood.

His extended family lives in Mount Vernon, sparking his interest in the area.

Join the conversation

What: 'Learning Forward: A Community Forum on Social Capital”

When: 5 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Kevin Adler book reading; 6 to 7:30 p.m., public forum

Where: Cedar Rapids Public Library, Whipple Auditorium, 450 Fifth Ave. SE

Cost: Free

To register: eventbrite.com

Can't make it to the forum?: Watch it live on KCRG 9.2 or on thegazette.com, and join the conversation or submit questions and comments before the event via Twitter with #LearningForward.