Asset Based Community Development: Community Impact Results

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Asset Based Community Development Community
Impact Results
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Hand, Head and Heart
Gifts of the Hand Physical skills or
practical skills you possess that you would be
willing to teach others. I.E., carpentry,
photography, painting, bicycle repair Gifts of
the Head Knowledge or information that you have
in a particular area like child development,
health care, history of the neighborhood Gifts
of the Heart What are your passions what stirs
you to action what would you walk across hot
coals for?
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The Dilemma
People and Communities have deficiencies needs
People and Communities have skills and talents
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Asset Based Community Development
(ABCD)
It is the capacities of local people and their
associations that build powerful
communities .in fact that is all that ever
does What can we do with what we already have?
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What is ABCD?

• The belief that neighborhoods and communities are
  built by focusing on the strengths and capacities
  of the citizens and associations that call the
  community home.
• A place based approach focusing on the assets of
  an identified geographic area.
• The belief that the assets of a community's
  institutions can be identified and mobilized to
  build community.
• A range of approaches and tools, such as asset
  mapping, that can put these beliefs into
  practice.

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Community Building Approach
To help kids be safe and succeed Children do
well when their families do well, And, families
do better when they live in supportive
neighborhoods and communities. (Search Institute
Research Data)
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Everyone should have the opportunity to be a
producer of their own and their communities
well-being
It takes everyone to build a strong and safe
community
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Determinants of Health

• Personal behavior
• Social relationships (networks of support)
• Physical environment
• Economic status
• Access to health care

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Effective Communities

• Look inside first to solve problems
• Relationships are seen as power
• Have a good sense of assets and capacities, not
  just needs
• Leaders open doors
• Citizens are involved
• People take responsibility

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The Three Acts of ABCD
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Place Matters Circles of Care and
Responsibilities
Government
Organizations
Faith Based
Friends
Family
Self
Neighbors
Associations
Helping Professionals
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Needs Map Community
Unemployment
Housing Projects
Crime
Child Abuse
Gang Members
Teen Mothers
Illiteracy
Poverty
School Dropouts
Mentally Ill
Homeless
Truancy
Labeled People
Uninsured
Delinquency
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Consequences of the Power of the Needs Map

• Internalizations of the deficiencies identified
  by local residents
• Destruction of social capital
• Reinforcement of narrow categorical funding flows
• Direction of funds toward professional helpers,
  not residents
• Focus on leaders who magnify deficiencies
• Rewards failure, produces dependency
• Creates hopelessness

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Principles of Asset Mapping

• Shift in Power!!!
• Inclusiveness all people have gifts and talents
• Relationship building
• People, not programs build power in a community
• Welcoming the stranger
• Learning community atmosphere
• Place based
• Cooperative orientation

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Strong People and Effective Programs-It takes
both.
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Needs (What is not there.) Services to
Meet Needs Consumers Programs are the
Answer
Assets (What is here.) Connections
Contributions Citizens People are the
Answer
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The Right Path for Community Mobilization
More Successful Start with Learning
Conversations Discover what people care about,
how they see the situation, what they want to
offer Mobilize Assets
More Successful Start with the
Answer Recruit People to implement the
answer Look for answers to the additional
problem of lack of motivation
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Gifts of Individuals
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Why dont People Participate?

• Not their agenda
• Transportation
• Child Care
• Schedule
• Attitude of the group (pessimistic/not welcoming)
• Lack of information
• Limited experience
• History of being ignored
• Resistant leaders
• Overcommitted
• Poor Organization
• History of unproductive meetings

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How Do You Motivate People?
Focus on the gifts of their Heart
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Gifts of Local Associations
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Types of Associations/ Gifts

• Artistic
• Business
• Charitable
• Faith based
• Civic events
• Collectors groups
• Community support groups
• Elderly groups
• Ethnic and cultural groups
• Health and fitness groups
• Special interest groups
• Media and communications

• Self Help groups
• Neighborhood associations
• Block Watches
• Outdoor groups
• Environmental groups
• Political organizations
• School groups
• Social cause groups
• Sports leagues
• Study groups
• Survivors groups
• Veterans groups
• Womens groups

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Power of Associations

• Effective in Action
• Amplifier of Gifts
• Creative
• Reach large numbers

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Gifts of Local Institutions
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Types of Institutions

• Businesses
• Government
• Agencies

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Twelve Guiding Principles for Community
Development ABCD in Action

• Everyone has gifts
• Relationships build a community
• Citizens at the center
• Leaders involve others as active members of the
  community
• Everyone cares about something
• Motivation to act
• Listening conversations
• Asking questions rather than giving answers
  invites stronger participation
• Ask, ask, ask
• A citizen centered organization is the key to
  community engagement
• Institutions have reached their limits in
  problem-solving
• Institutions as servants

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Asset Mapping

• ABCD Mapping is a guide for relationship building
  Not just data!
• To use a map effectively you need an
  organizational Vehicle capable of going down the
  road!

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Asset Mapping

• Emphasizes the idea of starting with the positive
  (what is available from within the community) to
  address the issue rather than starting with a
  list of what isnt available.
• Is a community building approach community
  members are co-leaders, and co-creators of the
  entire process, all the way from identifying and
  defining the issue to identifying the assets
  available and discovering, designing and
  implementing the solution.

University Outreach and Extension/University of
Missouri and Lincoln University
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Asset Mapping An Example-Creating Positive
Youth Development

• Identify the individual gifts, talents, skills
  that can help with this issue.
• Survey individuals
• Develop skills list
• Inventory citizen associations that are relevant
  to the issue.
• Identify the institutions present in the
  community related to the issue.

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Template for Community Asset Inventory
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Asset Mapping

• Questions before you start
• What is the purpose?
• Who is going to do it?
• How will we collect and analyze the data?
• How will we use the data to make connections for
  contributions?

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Community A Placed Filled with Care

• Care remains invisible without intentional
  conversations about what people care about
• People may not care about what those with a
  particular agenda want them to care about
• Care must be discovered through relationships
  that are built on purpose
• Learning conversations are the way to make care
  visible

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3. Next Steps
4. Resources needed to take action on the dream
3. People who will promote the dream
1. Dream
2. Place where the dream will grow
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Inclusion
Community Centered Work
Person Centered Work
The move is from services to clients to
supports for citizens
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Potential Questions

• What are your gifts, capacities skills you are
  willing to contribute?
• What do you care about? (Issues and concerns you
  want to work on?)
• Concerns? What should we do that you would work
  on?
• What associations and institutions do you have
  strong relationships with?
• What would your possible roles be?
• Who else do you know we should contact?

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Learning Conversation Goals

• Develop a stronger relationship
• Discover motivation to act
• Explore mutual interests and clarify possible
  action steps
• Find more prospects

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Tips on Working with Neighborhoods
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Tips (cont.)
Adapted from Untied Way of Metro Atlanta
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Asset Based Community Development Community
Impact Results
Organizational Assessment
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The New Paradigm
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The New Paradigm
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The New Policy Community Building
Proposed New Policy
Present Policy
Focus on Deficiencies
Focus on Assets
Problem Response
Opportunity Identification
Investment Orientation
Charity Orientation
Grants, Loans, Investments, leveraging dollars
Grants to Agencies
More Services
Fewer Services
Emphasis on associations, businesses, agencies,
churches
High Emphasis on Agencies
Focus on Individuals
Focus on communities/neighborhoods
Development
Maintenance
See People as Clients
See People as Citizens
Develop Potential
Fix People
People are the answer
Programs are the answer
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Community Building Competencies

• Community Partnering
• Information Sharing
• Initiative
• Community Understanding
• Vision
• Empowerment and Influencing
• Conceptual Mapping
• Listening and Understanding

Source DTI
Source DTI
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Community Building Principles

• Participation and Inclusion
• Build Capacity Focus on Assets
• Civic Responsibility
• Collaboration and Partnership
• Comprehensive
• Embrace Diversity
• Learn
• Focus on Results

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Assessing Organizations

• What is your organizations relationship to
  community residents? How accountable is your
  organization to the people and community it
  serves?
• How does your work foster communication and
  relationship-building among the people you serve
  and residents in your community?
• How does your service define and engage
  constituents? What power do they have?
• How does your service strengthen community
  relationships and social capital?
• What can you do to make your service more
  asset-based?

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Lessons Learned from a Community Building
Perspective

• It can not be overstated that the long term
  success and sustainability of our work is
  dependent on strong active citizen involvement.
  The work of agencies and other institutions is to
  build strong communities through citizen
  involvement. It is the communitys work to solve
  problems.
• We must develop and support effective citizen
  engagement and empowerment, helping all residents
  identify and share their gifts.
• It is not just about money. It is not about
  funding, grants and allocations it is about
  strategically leveraging individual, neighborhood
  and community resources/assets.
• No one institution or group can solve todays
  problems alone, we must all work together.

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Asset Based Community Development Community
Impact Results
ABCD and Financial Stability
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ABCD and Economic Development

• The results of effective asset based economic
  development is one in which
• Local people are working
• Local people own local businesses
• Local people make their purchases in community
  stores
• Local people and businesses make investments in
  their community
• Dollars and energy recirculate among the local
  residents and,
• Local people are active and connected.

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ABCD and Economic Development

Business Assets
Consumer Expenditures
Resident Capacities
Effective Community Economic Development
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ABCD and Economic Development

• Map Economic Capacities of Local Residents
• General skills and capacities
• Formal work experiences
• Entrepreneurial experiences
• Training and educational experiences
• Civic or community based experiences

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ABCD and Economic Development

• Map Consumer Expenditures
• A community map with the stores residents shop
• A list of the stores where community shop
• A list of the products most commonly purchased
• An assessment of the transportation used to
  access stores
• An assessment of the communitys attitudes about
  needed businesses

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ABCD and Economic Development

• Map Local Business Assets
• What businesses are located in our community.
• What connections these businesses have to local
  individuals for jobs and training.
• What connections these businesses have to local
  associations for voluntary participation.
• What connections these businesses have to other
  local institutions for local purchasing, local
  investment and local volunteer activity.

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To Order Additional Materials

• Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)
  Institute
• School of Education and Social Policy
• Northwestern University
• 2120 Campus Drive
• Evanston, IL 60208
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• Email abcd_at_northwestern.edu

ACTA Publications 5559 W. Howard Street Skokie,
IL 60077 Phone [phone] Toll Free
800.397.2282 Fax [phone] Email
actapublications.com www.actapublications.com
For a complete list of our publications or to
learn more about ABCD, please visit www.northwest
ern.edu/ipr/abcd.html
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Resources
Discovering Community Power A Guide to
Mobilizing Local Assets and Your Organization's
Capacity
www.wkkf.org/
ABCD in Action Mike Green
www.mike-green.org
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Perhaps the most important contributor to a
communitys success is a belief in its abilities
rather than in its problems.