Six community workers, mainly from city settings, share their views on what makes a good community. A good community is one that is at peace with itself; one that is confident and assured of its position within Northern Ireland and feels that it is making a positive contribution to wider society.
A good community would ideally have a healthy mix of people from different religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, so that the young people grow up to accept difference and display tolerance and respect at all times.
A good community will have empowered people who have the best interests of everyone at heart, and who are selfless in pushing for improved community facilities and public services for their area. A good community will be a happy place where children are collectively looked after and older people are valued for their leadership potential. A good community is one where neighbours take pride in their living environment, respecting and supporting one another regardless of age, gender, race or creed.
A good community is a cohesive, safe, confident, prosperous and happy place. It is free of poverty and crime, providing a high quality of life for everyone that lives there. It values and promotes open, participative development processes underpinned by a continuous culture of trans-generational learning.
It is somewhere that people wish to stay in and see their children and grandchildren grow up in. As I stood listening to him and his mate in a nearby tree serenading each other, a couple walking their dog joined me. Without speaking a word, it was clear we were enchanted by the gift of their song, and we joined together briefly in a community of celebration for the gifts of Nature. The new light, the morning hymn, and the momentary connection with other travelers evoked images from other communities.
Each of these whether for learning, work, healing, prayer, or friendship creates for us a safe experience of belonging, purpose, and shared values. In them, each of us encounters who we are and what our gifts are. In the Sufi tradition, it is taught that the primary purpose of life is to awaken to the essence of who we are. Once we do so, we are invited to lovingly embrace this realization. The gift of community is that it offers each of us the fire of affirmation and support to achieve this.
Do you believe, as I do, that someone in our hamlet is keeping the fire alive? We humans wither outside of community. By inclusion I mean universal access to entry, starting with legal protections against exclusion — racial discrimination, for example — but going far, far beyond.
Inclusion means access to jobs with fair pay, decent shelter, effective schools, and reliable health care. We have allowed the government to let the minimum wage lose a quarter of its value in thirty years. One out of every five jobs in the U. This profoundly disturbing assault on community calls us to accept an irony: We must risk exclusion — alienating or at least disturbing others — to become advocates for inclusion in community.
That may mean speaking our minds even if doing so triggers discomfort in others, reaching out to those excluded even when it feels awkward, engaging in visible civic public action such as a vigil or door-to-door education even where we risk angry rejection. What kind of infrastructure does it refer to? In brief -- we'll go into more detail later when we discuss how to engage in locality development -- it's a matter of creating inclusive and participatory systems and processes that bring everyone in the community together to work on a common problem or toward common goals.
It also entails encouraging leadership from within the community, developing communication networks that span all sectors, and establishing the process as an accepted part of community life. Locality development -- often, but not always, in contrast to social action -- emphasizes positive action on the part of a whole community, rather than assuming the necessity of conflict.
Whatever form it takes, the process is meant to build the community and make it stronger, to help its members see that they need to work together toward common purposes, and to motivate them to create ways to make that happen. Social action, more fully explained in Section 4 of this chapter, is generally aimed at the members of a community who are in some way disadvantaged, disenfranchised, ignored, or treated unfairly.
It is, at least at the beginning, generally an adversary process based on building and consolidating political power. Locality development is a cooperative process that includes all sectors of the community and is based on finding common ground and defining and pursuing a common vision. It can, in fact, overlap with social action when a whole community is disadvantaged or discriminated against and must gain the power to negotiate with the state or with other communities.
Both of these are necessary aspects of community organizing, depending on the circumstances in a particular community. The deeper the divides and the greater the inequity, the more likely that social action -- what is often seen as classic community organizing -- will be the appropriate course to take. Once an organized community has earned a seat at the table by demonstrating its ability to stand firm and win political battles, social action may eventually turn into locality development.
Or, if other methods of achieving results fail, locality development may turn into social action. In most sections of the Community Tool Box, the answer to the "when? While locality development usually starts because of a specific need or difficult conditions, it is, in fact, called for at virtually any time and in any place where there are inequities in the social system, where the quality of life for at least some members of the community is unacceptable, where systems or resources are inadequate to meet all the community's needs, or where the community is threatened from within or without.
It's even appropriate when things are going well, since this may be a good time to make positive changes that would be harder in difficult times improvements in environmental conditions, for instance, or a push for pedestrian-friendly areas. In other words, locality development is needed at almost any time in almost any community or locality. In some communities, the need may be immediately obvious: major employers have left, housing stock is deteriorating, Main Street storefronts are empty and decaying, violence is on the rise or already at frightening levels, etc..
There may be racial or ethnic tensions, many homeless people on the streets, or major problems relating to the public schools, the environment, or corruption in local government. Whatever the situation, it will be apparent that the community needs to do something before things get even worse.
In many cases, however, problems are hidden, or are unacknowledged. There may be an unspoken agreement that widespread alcohol abuse and domestic violence are accepted parts of community life, for instance. Community members may turn their heads and fail to notice the hunger and poverty that exist in isolated pockets, or simply not realize that a large number of their fellow citizens have no access to health care.
Until there's a crisis, many communities can't or won't see the problems they face. It may take a disaster -- as in the case of the flooding and devastation of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in -- for a community or a nation to face up to its realities. An ongoing locality development process can not only lead to a healthier community, it can help a community weather bad times, and even prepare for calamity, and take advantage of good times to make things even better.
For that reason, locality development is appropriate in any community at any time. To be most effective, a locality development process should be inclusive and participatory. That means it should include all sectors of the community and give all an equal voice and that their role should not be to act as advisors or consultants, but as full participants in all phases of addressing community issues and working toward their resolution and a better quality of life.
It's important not to think about self-identified communities as all of a piece. The "African-American community" in any U. It may have leaders, but they don't necessarily speak for all members of that community, any more than any other individual does. It may have institutions or organizations that occupy important places in the community, but they don't represent everyone. Diversity refers to more than skin color or background: it encompasses opinions, political stances, income, attitudes, and a multitude of other factors, and as many of those as possible should be included when you're recruiting people to take part in locality development.
Some of the factors that a locality development effort might consider in putting together a grassroots group are:. The "Iron Rule" of community organizing is to never do for people what they can do for themselves. Thus, the process is participatory by definition. The participatory nature of organizing is crucial, regardless of the type of organizing it is. The inclusive process we've been describing may ultimately depend on direct action and the exercise of political power for success, but it may also depend on collaboration.
Locality development can also be an exercise in bringing together all the sectors of a community -- even those that normally wield the power -- in an effort to improve conditions and the quality of life for everyone. Who is included in the definition of "community" depends on the situation that exists to begin with.
If the purpose of organizing is to gain equal footing or fair treatment for a group that has had neither, then that group is the community in question. If the aim is to revive a town whose economy has all but died, or to improve health conditions across the board, then all citizens are the constituency.
The ideal situation is one in which everyone in the locality can be persuaded to work together, and in which everyone's interests are attended to. In reality, this situation may be rare, but it's something worth striving for. Building a community and developing an infrastructure that makes it possible for people to work together are necessary regardless of the aim of organizing. There are a number of basic steps to locality development that we'll discuss, more or less in the order in which they should be taken.
In some cases, you may need to work on several things at once, or to take a particular step out of order, or even skip it entirely. It's important to respond to the circumstances that exist. Community history Knowing some community history is absolutely necessary.
If you don't understand the alliances, rivalries, conflicts, and successes of the community, particularly those of the recent past, you're apt to make huge blunders. The time spent cleaning up after yourself will be far greater than the time you spend making sure you don't make a mess in the first place. To learn community history, you have to talk to those who've experienced it or heard about it directly from the source. Conversations with community elders or long-time residents can yield a great deal of information of course, not all of it necessarily objective or accurate.
If you make contact with a broad range of people, you can at least sort out where stories agree or disagree. Some research in newspaper archives or on the Web could also be helpful here. Getting acquainted and building trust In many communities -- whether defined by geography or by class, ethnicity, or some other criterion -- it's difficult for an outsider to make any inroads.
Especially if you're obviously different from community members, they may be reserved about spending time with you or listening to what you have to say. Even if you're already a member of the community, or come from a background or culture similar to that of the community with which you're working, you won't automatically gain their trust.
You'll have to do that by proving your commitment and staying strong. You have to spend time in the community and meet people where they live -- in the streets, at community events, in stores and bars and restaurants, in people's houses. There's a reason that the Peace Corps and similar organizations insist that volunteers live in the communities in which they work.
Familiarity breeds familiarity. If community members actually know and have a relationship with you -- have had conversations with you about your family, your likes and dislikes, your values and ideals -- they're far more likely to trust you and listen when you ask them to join in a development effort.
Understanding how community members view themselves and others Understanding how community members view themselves and others both inside and outside the community will help you understand where you and the community need to start. Some of the factors you might explore:. How community members view change and their sense of the strength of their community are extremely important factors to understand. If people feel that they can't influence events, or have no skills to use in improving their lives and communities, they won't try.
Convincing citizens that they can make a difference is often the first -- and the hardest -- task that community organizers and community builders face. It can be harder still when some community members do see themselves as able to effect change, and others see it as a lost cause "'They' are too powerful," "we have no knowledge of how things work," "everything gets decided behind the scenes anyway," etc.
Keeping the confident group from dominating or taking over -- which will only reinforce the others' sense of powerlessness -- while still keeping them engaged is a difficult but necessary balancing act. The reason that Saul Alinsky, commonly seen as the father of modern community organizing, was able, in s Chicago, to bring together neighborhood groups that had been hostile to one another is that they all shared a common interest in improving working conditions in the stockyards, and a common resentment of the bosses who were exploiting them.
If a community is to come together, it has to have good reasons for doing so, and those reasons have to be determined by the community itself, not by an authority or expert or outside organizer, no matter how well-intentioned.
Those reasons may be small specific issues the deterioration of a neighborhood park, the need for more streetlights or larger concerns the fear that the community is dying economically or socially; feelings of resentment and powerlessness; a sense that opportunities are being missed; widespread discrimination and inequity; hostility from without; etc. Furthermore, the reasons may not be understood or shared by everyone. It's crucial to find out what community members are concerned about, and to determine what might move them to unite and take action to address their concerns.
Determine who are the opinion leaders and trusted individuals and groups in the community. Opinion leaders are those whose opinions are valued and whose advice is followed by a majority of community members. They may be leaders because of their position CEOs, clergy, college presidents, government officials , because of their assumed intelligence doctors, professors , or simply because they have demonstrated level-headedness and fairness in the past.
Often, they are average citizens who have gained their neighbors' respect through their exercise of common sense, compassion, and strong values.
Find those people and start with them. They'll know how to attract others, and who among those others can bring still others with them.
Their support will lend credibility to a locality development effort. In addition, they're likely to be able to identify and help in negotiating the personality and group conflicts and other pitfalls of locality development. Alinsky's organizing efforts in the Back of the Yards neighborhood in Chicago were successful at least partially because he was able to gain the support of the two groups most important to residents -- the unions and the Catholic church.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is to treat everyone with respect. If you can develop a reputation as someone who's straightforward and honest, and who respects everyone, people will be more than willing to hear what you have to say.
If you're condescending, or present yourself as knowing more than community members, you might as well leave and find another use for your time. First and foremost, locality development relies on personal contact.
Meetings in people's living rooms, door to door canvassing, outreach to organizations and institutions and agencies -- all of these and other methods are the base of an organizing effort. Volunteer at your library. Walk dogs at the shelter. Organize a coat or food drive. Be a Girl Scout troop leader. Here are some ways you can support your community financially: Shop local. Donate to local organizations.
Sponsor a local event. Support a GoFundMe of a neighbor who could use extra support. Adopt a bench, sponsor a sidewalk brick, etc. Paint the town green No matter where you sit on the scale of environmental consciousness, everyone wants to live in a neighborhood that is clean, green, vibrant, and smells good.
Here are some ways you can make your town more green: Take public transportation, walk, bike, skateboard, rollerblade, unicycle, etc.. Set up local recycling stations. Use reusable shopping bags.
Start a community composting program.
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