1. Community Resources Assessment
Robert Francis
Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership [RYASAP]
2470 Fairfield Avenue
Bridgeport, CT06605
Phone: ext. 304
Asset Based Community Development Institute
Northwestern University
Welcome to the Community Resource Assessment. I am Robert Francis, Executive Director of the Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership a youth and community development organization in Bridgeport, CT and I am also a member of the Asset Based Community Development Institute faculty at Northwestern University. My purpose is to introduce you to the asset based community development process and how it applies to adolescence and adolescent sexuality.

2. “It’s not a place – it’s a relationship”
COMMUNITY
“It’s not a place – it’s a relationship”
Where youth and adult citizens
address needs and develop responses
Where people’s gifts are
recognized and used to solve
community problems and create
healthy spaces to live
What do you usually think of when you hear the word community? Most people think of a place. Communities are places but they are much more than that. Communities are places where people form relationships to accomplish something either personally or for the greater good. Most people belong to several communities – neighborhood groups, city or town where they live in, support group, group of friends, faith-based groups, task forces and committees to address needs. Communities are places where people’s gifts are recognized and are used to solve community problems and create healthy places to live.

3. COMMUNITY NEEDS MAP Dilapidated Housing Unemployment Gangs Illiteracy
Single Parent
Families
Teen Pregnancy
Mental
Disability
Child
Abuse
Alcohol &
Drug
Abuse
Crime
Domestic
Abuse
So how do we see our communities and the young people who live there? Many of us think of communities as a collection of problems and needs – things to solve. When you look at these needs maps do you recognize the young people in the community where you live? If you have been trained as a professional helper – a social worker, medical professional, community planner, case work professional or government official the maps are probably very familiar. We have all been trained to identify needs and problems and develop solutions to solve those problems.
Now step back and put yourself in the citizen’s or young person’s role and tell me how you would feel if the only way their community was being seen was just a collection of problems and needs. Would you feel hopeless, depressed, feel like it is self-fulfilling prophesy that things will just continue to be bad?
Who benefits from seeing communities and young people only as bundles of needs and problems? We do -- the professionals who serve them. After all, people’s and community’s needs are what keep us employed. What is unfortunate is that we have to paint our communities and their citizens in such negative terms in order to secure funding to serve them. The worse we paint our communities the more likely it is we will be able to secure grant money to work on these problems.
I do not mean to imply that communities do not have needs and problems. They certainly do! However, it is only half the picture – the glass half empty part of the picture.
Juvenile Delinquency
Poverty
Homelessness
Suicide & Depression

4. COMMUNITY ASSETS MAP Local Institutions GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS
Citizens’ Associations
SCHOOLS
BUSINESS
CHURCHES
BLOCK CLUBS
Gifts of
Individuals
INCOME
ARTISTS
LABELED
PEOPLE
YOUTH
ELDERLY
A wise man – John McKnight, founder of the ABCD Institute once said – “No need or problem ever solved a problem. It is only people’s and organization’s assets that solve problems.” Without the half full part of the glass we have no community tools to solve problems and fortunately every person and every community has assets. In addition to the professionals who serve the community, everyone who lives in the community, young or old, has assets as well.
So let’s look at the half full part of the glass. After all when we ask is the glass half full or half empty as far as young people and communities are concerned the answer is always YES! We all have needs and problems and we all have special gifts and assets to share.
There are 5 major asset groups in every community –
(1) Individual Youth and Adult Citizens and Residents;
(2) Voluntary Associations and Neighborhood Groups;
(3) Community Institutions such as government, schools, businesses, nonprofits, etc.;
(4) Local Economy or Financial Resources available to the community; and the
(5) Place or Physical Environment where people live.
It is important to remember one thing about assets. An asset is not an asset unless people and organizations are willing to share them with others. An organization or a person may have a particular expertise, but may wish to keep it to themselves and may not be willing to teach others or share this asset in some meaningful way. As we examine each asset I will give you an example of how this sharing process works.
Let us start with the gifts of individuals. Communities are made up of youth and adult citizens, senior citizens, artists, businesspeople, clergy and people with labels. Labeled people include alcoholics, drug addicts, children with ADD, conduct disorder and all of those other labels in the DSM 5 manual. All of these people make up our communities and all of these people have assets.
COLLEGES
PARKS
CULTURAL CLUBS
HUMAN SERVICE AGENCIES
LIBRARIES

5. HAND HEAD HEART HOME PERSONAL ASSET INVENTORY
List of all those things you have knowledge of that you want to share.
List of all those things you can do with your hands that you want to share.
HEART
HOME
Take a second now and pause and identify your assets – first, what do you do well with your hands (sports, artistic, mechanical, crafts, computer skills, etc.) ; second, what special knowledge or expertise do you have that you can teach or share with others (HIV/STD’s, child and youth development, grant writing, group facilitation, public speaking, event planning, community organizing, etc.); third, what are you passionate about – passionate enough about to take action (children, family, your faith, domestic abuse, adolescent pregnancy, homelessness, etc.); and fourth, who do you know, who are your connections; people who get things done in your community? When you complete this exercise for yourself, select a person you know or work with who you believe has lots of problems and ask the same questions? I assure you that when you are done you will find that all individuals – young and old, people with disabilities, rich and poor, creative or not all have assets that they can use to solve their own problems and the community’s problems. Our role as professionals is to discover those gifts or assets and mobilize them for action.
The most important asset that people have is their passion. My first question in an interview is “What are you so passionate about that when you talk about it with friends, people eventually say okay – I’ve heard enough?” “What are you so passionate about that you are willing to take action to do something about it?” People get most involved in projects that are close to their heart and that they have passion for. People are driven by their family, faith, social causes and issues – what are they?
Let me give you an example of a woman driven by passion. In the early 1990’s on Bridgeport, CT’s East Side crime and violence were out of control. There were over 40 homicides in this one neighborhood and the gangs had taken over. The drug dealers controlled the area. People were afraid to leave their houses and children were bused to school from as close as one block for their own safety. The police were losing the battle of the East Side. My friend Maria Valle was looking out her front window one day and saw her son standing on the corner selling drugs. This is when she decided she had had enough. After she went outside and dragged her son into the house, she called her neighbors whose sons were also part of the drug trafficking. Maria got 6 mothers together and they started patrolling their street. Their idea caught on and other men and women in the East Side formed similar groups and started taking back their streets. They petitioned the police to open a community police post; got the city to redo traffic patterns and make it difficult for people to get off Interstate 95 and buy their drugs in the neighborhood; they got social service agencies to bring their services into the neighborhood and into the schools; they formed an East Side Community Council and drew so many people that the principal of the area elementary school opened her doors for the meetings. They asset mapped the neighborhood and developed an East Side Online Resource Exchange where citizens listed their assets they were willing to share with neighbors. In less than 3 years the gangs were gone; the number of homicides had been reduced to zero; children were walking to school; Habitat for Humanity was building new houses and residents were repairing their older houses. Today the East Side is a vibrant neighborhood with new homes, businesses and an active street life. Maria Valle is a City Councilwoman and is a Home-School Coordinator for the neighborhood school.
Think of the ways you might use this exercise [Hand, Head, Heart and Home] with the young people and community folks you work with. You will find as you discover people’s assets you will find the tools and keys to solving their problems.
List of important relation-
ships in your neighborhood,
community and beyond – your
connections
List of all those things you really care about that will move you to action

6. Types of Associations Artistic Groups Business Professional
Charitable Associations
Church Groups
Civic Groups
Collectors Groups
Community Support Groups
Elderly Groups
Ethnic and Cultural Groups
Health & Fitness Groups
Special Interest Groups
Media and
Communications Groups
Self Help Groups
Neighborhood Councils
Block Watch Associations
Outdoors Groups
Political Organizations
School Groups (PTA’s etc.)
Service Clubs
Alumni Associations
Sports Leagues
Study Groups
Survivors Groups
Veterans Groups
Women’s Groups
Youth Groups
The second tool of asset building is associations. Associations are groups of people who get involved and volunteer their time. Generally, associations do not have paid staff.
When Alexis DeToqueville came to the United States in the early 19th century he wrote of an interesting discovery he made about Americans. He found that when Americans had a problem, they formed a group (committee or task force) to address the problem. This was unusual because it was not the way things were done in Europe. But we know that over history it is very common in our country. Go to any newspaper in America and find the Community Page to identify the community associations. In a trip to the Southwest a few years ago I discovered that in Santa Fe, New Mexico there are several pages in their newspaper of community meetings each day. It is the self help capital of the world. If you have any kind of problem, they have a support group to deal with it. Other places to find associations are church bulletins, community center meeting schedules and other places that rent out space for groups to meet.
All associations are important. A good friend of mine Henry Moore from Savannah, GA belonged to a group called the Frogs. The members were government officials and community leaders. They would gather every week to tell outrageous lies and tall tales. When they were done with their rollicking tales they would focus on what kinds of problems were arising in Savannah and they would determine how to use their resources to solve those problems. Many useful projects came from those meetings. Henry died of leukemia two years ago but one of his groups’ ideas has been replicated in over 100 cities and towns throughout the world. The city of Savannah gave grants for blocks where the city gave small grants $100 to $500 to citizens who had good ideas of how to improve their block --- citizens using their assets to improve their community!
Voluntary associations are the largest untapped resource in most communities. Think about the associations you are a part of and what they might do to improve conditions for young people in your community. Ask the people you serve what groups they belong to and figure out how to involve them in community problem solving. Associations are places where people are already involved so it is where you can find activists who might get involved in your cause.

7. Assets of Institutions
“Fortresses or Treasure Chests?”
1. Facilities
2. Equipment
3. Purchasing Power
4. Employment Practices
5. Training and Organizational Development
6. Employees and Their Skills
7. Clout to Open Doors
8. Financial Resources
The third major asset in communities is its institutions. Institutions include schools, government, businesses, hospitals and healthcare organizations, nonprofit agencies, libraries, universities, law enforcement and public safety agencies – anywhere people are paid to help or serve others. The assets of institutions include their facilities, equipment, employees and their skills, purchasing power, employment practices, training opportunities, powerful boards of directors or governing bodies and financial resources.
Institutions can be either Fortresses or Treasure Chests. Fortress institutions are those that have assets but do not share them. They are barricaded from the community. Schools, government, universities, hospitals and others can be fortresses. A school that is only open during the hours students are there and does not share its resources with the community is a fortress institution.
Treasure Chest institutions are just the opposite. They have assets and they share their assets with the community. Schools that open early for people who must go to work early, have afterschool programs for students and share their resources with adults who may not have computers, who are attempting to learn a new language or job skills or share their libraries with the community are treasure chest institutions.
St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT is a treasure chest institution. A few years ago the north end of Bridgeport was experiencing a rise in crime and the administration of St. Vincent’s was concerned that their patients were not safe in coming and going to the hospital. St. Vincent’s staff called a community meeting at the hospital and invited the residents surrounding the hospital. They also invited the police, local clergy and businesspeople. They served dinner and provided childcare. They eventually formed the North Central Community Council and held monthly meetings of people and still provided dinner and childcare. They also found that homeownership had fallen in the neighborhood. The percentage of people owning homes in a neighborhood is an accurate indicator of deterioration. So they surveyed their employees to see how many of them lived in the neighborhood. Of their 2000 employees only 70 lived near the hospital. They engaged a local bank; gave their employees money toward their down payments and 1% below going interest rates to employees interested in owning a home in the neighborhood. Today over 300 employees own homes in the neighborhood. They engaged the Bridgeport police and the local utility company had police officers and the company teach residents how to keep their properties safer and helped them form block watch associations. St. Vincent’s Medical Center utilized its assets and the assets of the residents to improve living conditions in their neighborhood. True – St. Vincent’s had a vested interest but they used their vested interest to improve their institution and also improve the neighborhood.

8. ACTION STRATEGIES FOR CREATING TREASURE CHEST INSTITUTIONS
Join together with other institutions, citizen’s associations and community leaders to address issues in the community
Convene groups to see what people really care about and are ready to act on
Identify your organization’s assets and share these assets with the community to address major issues in the community
Distribute small grants to involve citizens or the people you serve in your work
Identify and connect local citizen’s associations to your work
Use the clout of your board of directors and staff to involve citizen input and action
Support citizen organizing – form community partnerships that involve citizens as well as other organizations to advance your issues
Use your economic power – hire and train people from the community to strengthen the community
Institutions, because they have a wealth of assets can do many things to help build community and utilize their resources to solve community problems. However, many must think differently about how they do their work. Institutions can:
Join together with other institutions, citizen’s associations and community leaders to address issues in the community
Convene groups to see what people really care about and are ready to act on
Identify your organization’s assets and share these assets with the community to address major issues in the community
Distribute small grants to involve citizens or the people you serve in your work
Identify and connect local citizen’s associations to your work
Use the clout of your board of directors and staff to involve citizen input and action
Support citizen organizing – form community partnerships that involve citizens as well as other organizations to advance your issues
Use your economic power – hire and train people from the community to strengthen

9. Think ABCD to Identify Resources
In order to identify the community associations and institutions in your community you can use the wheel and fill in all of the organizations and their assets under each of the categories. This will give you a very strong starting point in mapping your community’s assets. After identifying the institutions and their assets then begin to develop strategies to engage these organizations to address your issues.
Finally, you may want to label these institutions or associations as fortresses or treasure chest organizations. This exercise will also enable you to decide who to invite to the table; what organizations may need work in order to engage them and develop the strategies and activities to address your issues.

10. LEAKY BUCKET* Daily wages Sale of local goods Foundation grants
Government Staff Salaries
Government grants
Business
sales
Bartering of
services
Grocery
sales
Tax
revenues
Tourism
revenue
LEAKY BUCKET*
In Kenya, communities use what they call the “Leaky Bucket” theory to analyze what financial resources a community has at its disposal and how it utilizes these resources to benefit the community. Each community has resources coming into it – tax revenues, personal income, retail sales, government funds, foundation and corporate grants, and tourism revenue. Communities spend its income in productive and not-so productive ways. They buy positive things such as educational services, social services, recreation, health care, groceries and housing. They pay for transportation, clothing and consumer goods. They also buy alcohol, tobacco and drugs; they gamble -- playing the lottery or illegal numbers games or bet on sports, cards or in casinos.
Make a list of all the sources of revenue available to your community or organization. Then make a list of how the community and your organization spend its resources. Evaluate the quality of the services your community receives. For example, are your expenditures for education getting the young people a quality education? This analysis of where a community and your organization gets its resources and how it spends its resources can give you an idea of how you might change the way the community uses its resources and demand more accountability from your institutions.
Products for use by
local institutions
Social services
Health related
expenses
Taxes and
social payments
Transportation
costs
Alcohol Recreation Education Household
&Tobacco expenses consumables
consumption
*The “Leaky Bucket” represents money coming into the community from outside and internal sources and how this money is spent both for effective and ineffective services and goods.

11. Community Assets Building Blocks of Community
Individuals with gifts [All]
Associations
Neighborhood Groups
Congregations
Nonprofits
Government
Schools
Businesses
Local Economy – $
Physical environment
So to summarize… Assets come in many different types:
Individuals with gifts [All]
Associations
Neighborhood Groups
Congregations
Nonprofits
Government
Schools
Businesses
Local Economy – $
Physical environment
So where do we start if we are going to use these assets to benefit our young people in our communities?
“Assets are not assets unless people want to share them!”

12. START WITH A CONVERSATION
The issue – adolescent sexuality
Start with an answer…
How can we distribute more condoms to prevent STD’s and HIV?
Start with a conversation…
What can we do as a community to address the issue of adolescent sexuality in order to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and HIV? Who should be involved? What qualities/assets are we looking for in these participants to help with the problem?
What is the real question you want to answer?
It is important start every meeting with what my colleague Mike Green calls a “Learning Conversation.” The question you ask will inevitably determine the quality of ideas you identify to solve the problem you are addressing. For example, let’s assume we are here to address the issue of adolescent HIV, STDs, unwanted pregnancy and adolescent sexuality. We could start the conversation by asking --- how are we going to distribute condoms to every sexually active student in the schools?
Or we might ask a different type of question. We could explain all of the issues surrounding adolescent sexuality and then ask people if they have any ideas about how we might promote healthy adolescent sexual health. We could ask – who should be involved? What are their assets that will be most usefully engaged to solve the problem?
Which question or set of questions do you think will elicit the most creative and comprehensive responses? Which will start a richer conversation? Which is more likely to utilize the community’s and the group’s assets to solve the problem?
If we just ask the first question, we are limited to just the ways of distributing condoms and we might also alienate a number of people who are uncomfortable with discussing birth control. If we ask the second set of questions, the responses are unlimited. We can engage everyone in the solution -- young people, families, citizen’s associations, the community’s institutions and determine what financial resources we have available to address the problem.

13. Discover What People Care About More Connections Meaningful Action
Conversations
More Connections
Meaningful
Action
Learning conversations open the community to discovering unlimited possibilities. First begin with a “Learning Conversation” of what people really care about. All parents are concerned about their teen’s sexuality. Second, develop meaningful action strategies to address the issue and carry them out. Without action all the talk is just talk! Plan small successes and keep your eye on your ultimate goal. Small successes keep people engaged and lead to greater impact later on. Third, in the process of taking action you are always making more connections. Use these connections to expand your network and to expand your conversation. The Learning Conversation is endless.
Finally I would like to add one caution in community organizing… Remember it is messy work and demands patience and perseverance. One night at a Frogs meeting in Savannah Henry told the story of “If its rats, it must be rats.” Sometimes people have more immediate needs that night than what you want to discuss. When you work with community groups or voluntary associations they may have other priorities before they deal with your issue. Be prepared to deal with their highest priorities. He had come to a community meeting to talk about financial planning in a public housing project. When he arrived the group was up in arms. They had a rodent problem. They did not want to talk about financial planning. They dealt with the rodent problem first. Your success in dealing with their immediate problem will gain you credibility that is essential later. Community work is messy and you must expect the unexpected. “If it’s rats, it’s rats!” The door is now open to continue your learning conversation!
Thank you for listening!
“If its rats, it must be rats!”

14. Websites
Asset Based Community Development Institute
Coady International Institute
Inclusion Press
Books
Building Communities From the Inside Out by John McKnight
and John Kretzmann
The Careless Society by John McKnight
From Clients to Citizens by Alison Mathie and Gordon Cunningham
When People Care Enough To Act by Mike Green, Henry Moore and
John O’Brien
Neighbor Power by Jim Diers
Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam
Discovering Community Power: A Guide to Mobilizing Your Local Assets
And Your Organization’s Capacity by the ABCD Institute
A Guide to Building Sustainable Organizations From The Inside Out by
the Chicago Foundation For Women
New Community Tools for Improving Child Health by John McKnight
and Carol Pandak