Transcript Document
Asset-Based
Community Development
A Framework for
Building Communities
from the Inside Out
Neighborhood needs map
Unemployment
Homelessness
Broken Families
Gangs
Child
Abuse
Illiteracy
Slum Housing
Graffiti
Mental
Disability
Crime
Welfare Recipients
Drugs
Dropouts
Consequences of needs map
• Local residents internalize “deficiencies”
• Local relationships are destroyed
• Funds are directed to professional
helpers, not residents
• Leaders magnify and exploit deficiencies
• Failure is rewarded
• Dependency is perpetuated
Neighborhood assets map
Local Institutions
Businesses
Schools
Citizen Associations
Churches
Block Clubs
Individual Gifts
Parks
Income
Youth
Seniors
Artists
Cultural Groups
Hospitals
Colleges
Volunteer
Groups
Successful community building
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Citizen-led
Asset-based
Relationship-driven
Internally-focused
Comprehensive
Community-building paradigm
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Focus on deficits
More services
Problem response
Focus on individuals
Maintenance
See people as clients
Fix people
Programs are the answer
Emphasis on agencies
Charity orientation
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Focus on assets
Fewer services
Opportunity identification
Focus on community
Development
See people as citizens
Develop potential
People are the answer
Emphasis on associations
Investment orientation
Community assets
• Associations
• Individuals
• Institutions
Individuals assets
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Talents
Skills
Creativity
Culture
Sense of history
Time
Enthusiasm
Relationship &
networks
• Income
“Every living
person has some
gift or capacity of
value to others. A
strong community
is a place that
recognizes those
gifts and ensures
that they are
given.”
− Building Communities from the Inside
Out,
Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993
Associational assets
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Councils
Block clubs
Church groups
Sports teams
Business groups
Political groups
Service clubs
Exercise groups
Arts organizations
“The basic community
organization for
empowering individuals
and mobilizing their
capacities is the
association. An
association is a group
of citizens working
together. An
association is an
amplifier of the gifts,
talents and skills of
individual community
members.”
− Building Communities from the Inside Out,
Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993
Local institutional assets
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Parks
Libraries
Schools
Colleges
Hospitals
Churches
Social service
agencies
• Police
“Every community
hosts some
combination of more
formal, public,
private and non-profit
institutions. Since
these institutions
represent significant
concentrations of
resources, local
neighborhoods have
begun to capture
them for communitybuilding purposes.”
− Building Communities from the Inside Out,
Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993
From AB (Asset Based) to CD (Community Development)
ABCD Principles
Organizing Organizations
Citizen-Led
Membership Supported
Asset Based
Democratic / Open
Community Building Tools
Individual Development
Accounts
Neighborhood Develop. Trusts
Relationship
Centered
Driven by Principles
Asset I.D. and Mobilization
Growth Oriented
Internally Focused
Grants for Blocks
Action Oriented
Investment Oriented
Community-School Partnerships
Collaborative
Comprehensive
Land Trusts
Empowered
Neighborhood Newspapers
Independent of Institutional
Control
Neighborhood Networks
Self-Sustaining
Community Resource Centers
Mobilizing community assets
Local
Institutions
Associations
Individuals
External
Institutions
Thank you!
Community Building Institute
3800 Victory Parkway
Cincinnati, Ohio 45207-7770
513-745-3896
www.xavier.edu/cbi