Here are my Questions
1. How can I keep a community really valueable considering the fact that most times we have people more knowledgeable than me (who is the founder and leader) in the community
2. I often experience the stagnation of the community when I am not actively steering the wheel, like managing the operation. How can I move from here to a point where the Organization can operate autonomously?
Thanks in anticipation of your respond.
Thanks for your question. We hope that we have understood your situation and that the following suggestions are helpful.
1) Please keep in mind that it is important to recognize both your and the community’s expertise. One of the easiest ways to make community members feel undervalued is to NOT recognize their expertise and for you, or any leader, to take on the role as expert of everything. Recognizing your own limitations and overtly acknowledging how community members fill those gaps will help build trust, investment, and participation of community members. One idea is to have a meeting where you celebrate the expertise of every participant and how it can contribute to your community’s overall goals.
2) For community work to become sustainable, there must be invested stakeholders. This point works in conjunction with your first question. Acknowledge and promote the expertise of your community members and how they individually contribute to your goals. Through this effort, you may be able to identify other community members who can also take on leadership roles. Having diverse leadership representation (people who represent different parts of your community) will help keep things moving even when you aren’t able to actively steer the organization.
For both of your questions, reading through Chapters 7 and 13 of the Community Toolbox may be helpful:
Pay special attention to Section 8 on stakeholders. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement
Especially these sections:
- Section 1. Developing a Plan for Building Leadership
- Section 4. Building Teams: Broadening the Base for Leadership
- Section 7. Encouraging Leadership Development Across the Life Span
- Section 11. Collaborative Leadership
And this related toolkit: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/building-leadership
We hope you are able to identify and groom new leaders for your group who can ease your time and responsibilities and help the community grow!
Dear Ms. Bishop, We are unsure what article you are referring to. (Do you mean a particular Community Tool Box chapter perhaps? Note that the responders to Ask-an-Advisor rotate every 3 months.). We are not sure what specific issue you are facing. But we can tell from your question that you are very frustrated, which we understand. Please know that your feelings are valid and we hope you can channel those feelings into effective action.
We shared your question with one of the founders of the Community Tool Box, who suggested you might find it helpful to get some local help on your issue. It is unlikely that you are the only person in your community who is concerned about the issue. If you ask around in your network of neighbors, friends [including your social media networks] and colleagues, or other trusted person in your community (a minister, counselor, or councilmember), you may find another like-minded person, or even better, a small group of people, to talk with about the issue and plan a response together. That could ease some of the stress and frustration you may be feeling. If you can’t find such a person, then perhaps you could reach out to someone who shares the issue in another community near yours or that you know people in, even if not close to yours. [See the chapters and toolkits in the Community Tool Box on this site for detailed suggestions on recruiting other participants to help build an organized community effort.]
Sorry if that is not very helpful, but feel free to write again to clarify your situation and we will try to provide more specific suggestions. Good luck!
I want to reference your work however, I have no clue who to put as an author. Is there a specific name I can use for "Chapter 13. Orienting Ideas in Leadership | Section 6. Recognizing the Challenges of Leadership | Main Section | Community Toolbox ?"
Hope to hear from You soon
Dear Ms. Kwitowska. Thanks for your question. The CTB has not identified authors of any chapters by name? I suggest you cite it as follows:
Community Tool Box. (Retrieved on [INSERT DATE YOU ACCESSED]). Chapter 13. Orienting Ideas in Leadership, Section 6. Recognizing the Challenges of Leadership. URL: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas/lead...
Feel free to tailor the above order to whatever specific reference style you are using.
Hello Michelle,
Thank you for your email, and for your work organizing around the removal of hostile architecture in your community. It seems like you have done some great work already by getting your community neighborhood associations and city counselor on your side. When trying to get the MBTA to eliminate the middle bar on benches, there a few resources in the toolkit which may be of help. Specifically:
Chapter 30: Principles of Advocacy: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/advocacy-principles
Toolkit on Advocating for Change: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/advocating-change
In the chapter and toolkit are resources that can help you understand the “opposition tactics” that the MBTA might use, and can help you strengthen your own arguments and position. In addition, the resources provide examples of potential ways you can advocate for change – from campaigns to educate and change policy to more confrontational strategies like boycotts and picketing. The toolkit provides some questions and tools to help you think through what strategies might be most effective for creating change and to plan for action.
On information re the bench design issue, you might look at these:
“Callous Objects: Designs Against the Homeless” by Robert Rosenberger (2017)
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Callous_Objects/Xip0DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
Clean and safe? Property redevelopment, public space, and homelessness in downtown San Diego chapter by D Mitchell & LA Staeheli (2006) in “The politics of public space.”
In terms of organizing with the unhoused community, CTB Chapter 7: Involving the people most affected by the problem: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement/involve-those-affected/main may provide some insight. It is important to understand the potential needs and barriers that this community faces. Meeting community members where they are, understanding their priorities, and recognizing their strengths are some strategies that may be helpful in getting them more involved with the work moving forward.
There are many communities of folks experiencing homelessness who are engaged in organizing efforts already (often known as homeless unions). We assume you are in the Boston, Massachusetts, area since you referred to the MBTA. It looks like there is a homeless union in Massachusetts you could also try plugging into: https://www.liberationnews.org/massachusetts-union-of-the-homeless-holds-speak-out-to-demand-housing-and-respect/
Although a bit old now, this article may still provide you with some useful ideas:
Yeich, S. (1996). Grassroots organizing with homeless people: A participatory research approach. Journal of Social Issues,52(1), 111-121. Full text: https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1996.tb01364.x
Hope this is helpful!
Best,
Hasina [with help from Doug and Krista]
Dear Ms. Ross, Thanks for your question and for your community improvement interest and work. I take it from your brief comment that you are mainly looking for ideas to recruit and facilitate more community engagement, and especially more diverse participation, on the issues you mention. Please reply with more specific needs or questions if the following is not as helpful as you want or need.
First, it is very good and important both that you are seeking more people of color to participate and that you are working on the critical needs of community health and housing and doing so with a multigenerational view. Fortunately, some good ideas and resources on the topics of Increasing Participation and Membership and Developing Strategies and Action Plans can be found in the following chapters and toolkits on this website:
Consider these chapters on Communications that promote interest and encourage involvement:
Chapter 6. Communications to Promote Interest
Chapter 7. Encouraging Involvement in Community Work
And this one on recruitment and training:
Chapter 11. Recruiting and Training Volunteers
There are also chapters (27-29) on cultural diversity and how to strengthen multicultural collaboration—see https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents
If you need examples of different approaches to community health intervention, see Chapter 2. Other Models for Promoting Community Health and Development
There are some resources on community housing organizations in some sections of: Chapter 26. Changing the Physical and Social Environment
You mention sustainability, which is important. See the final CTB: Chapter 46. Planning for Sustainability
Finally, here are some relevant Toolkits:
8. INCREASING PARTICIPATION AND MEMBERSHIP: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/increasing-participation-and-membership
5. DEVELOPING STRATEGIC AND ACTION PLANS: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/developing-strategic-and-action-plans
And if those participants doing the recruiting of, or working with, people of color might benefit, you can find a toolkit on 9. ENHANCING CULTURAL COMPETENCE and other action/change strategies here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/toolkits
Good luck with all your efforts and remember that grassroots change usually takes time and persistence!
I belong to a community based organization in Uganda.
I would like to find out from you if this group can partner with you
for any kind of community work
Hello Kule. Sorry for the delay in responding-- we reached out to the very well-connected and experienced people who started this website with your request to partner. Please wait to see if they can help and I hope you will be contacted directly by email from one of them soon. Meanwhile, feel free to post another question with a more detailed description of the kind of project you hope to partner on or in general the kinds of work your organization does. You may also be interested some of the Ugandan stories and examples that are searchable on the Community Tool Box. You can find those at https://ctb.ku.edu/en/search/node/Uganda
Following up with a suggestion from Dr. Stephen Fawcett. He says: We have developed an “African Health Action Toolkit” in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Africa: https://who-afro.ctb.ku.edu Drawing on resources from the Community Tool Box, this provides technical support for the core functions of engagement, assessment, planning, action, and evaluation.
Hi Brittany!
Approaching your question I am assuming you already know how to identify, reach and attract the community members to the budget planning sessions. I am also assuming that the issues or the activities that will be discussed and budgeted have been somehow discussed with the community (or even proposed/formulated/prioritized by them), and the community members will be thus motivated to show up and participate because they believe the issues are meaningful and relevant for the community. These two assumptions are crucial. From the way you phrased the question I gather that you are interested in the practical methods of facilitating the process when the people have showed up.
You might want to start at a more general level of relevant CTB resources in Chapter 1. Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/creating-and-maintaining-coalitions-and-partnerships) and Chapter 8. Increasing Participation and Membership (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/increasing-participation-and-membership). At a more practical level, Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and Resources (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources) contains a lot of resources on facilitating meetings, collaborative sessions, and community-based planning. I would recommend specifically the following sections and the resources listed in them:
- Identifying Community Assets and Resources: Here are some participatory methods for collecting information about community assets and resources, including people's views of the community.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/identify-community-assets/main
- Participatory Approaches to Planning Community Interventions: Here you can see methods for participatory community planning; some of these methods and techniques can be used for budget planning as well.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/where-to-start/participatory-approaches/main
- Qualitative Methods to Assess Community Issues: Here is an introduction to the principals and rationale of many participatory data collection techniques, which can be subsumed under the qualitative methods approach.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/qualitative-methods/main
- Conducting Public Forums and Listening Sessions: Here is a more concrete topic on how to conduct the meeting in a way that engages people from the community.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-public-forums/main
One of the resources (The Community Listening Forum Toolkit) here has a dead link. Here is the correct link for it: https://facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/blog/publication/community-listening-forum-toolkit/
- Conducting Focus Groups: Focus groups are a flexible format for group discussions that are focused on community issues. It is a research data collection method, but many of its principles are applicable to participatory planning. There are a lot of toolkits on the page.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-focus-groups/main
- For a particular focus on finances, you can check out Chapter 43 on Managing Finances: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/finances/managing-finances
including Section 1. Planning and Writing an Annual Budget.
Hopefully this would be a good starting point for your query.
Kind regards,
Nikolay
My name is Hannah Hayes and I am the Project Manager for the New to Public Health Residency Program, through the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing. Our team is developing a public health residency program for new to public health professionals (within 1 year of work), employed at a governmental health department. The framework of the program is based on the Foundational Public Health Services Model, and each month focuses on a foundational area or capability essential to public health practice. This program is modeled off of best practices of nurse residency programs (NRPs), which are common in acute care settings. One component instrumental to the success of nurse resident's learning in NRPs is the evidence-based practice project. Our team would like to incorporate an evidence-based practice project (or high level QI project) for our residency, where participants will plan and present a EBPP/QI proposal at the cumulation of the program. I would love to connect more with your team regarding best practices and tools that might guide this work. Thank you for your consideration!
Warm regards,
Hannah
Hi Hannah. Sorry for the slight delay in responding-- we reached out to the people who started this website, who have more experience with community health interventions and training, with your request for consultation. I know they are discussing your request, and hope they will soon be in touch with you directly by email if they can help.
Meanwhile, have you checked with other nursing residency programs (if there is an association of them, that may have some resources that would be helpful). The following may already be known to you or not helpful to your specific needs, but until you hear from someone else connected to the KU Workgroup or CTB, these may be worth at least a look:
https://www.aacnnursing.org/Population-Health-Nursing/Curriculum-Improvement
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31169756/
We found your 2018 APHN Education and Professional Development Committee presentation on the web and we do appreciate your question, motivation, and wish you great success with your important new initiative!
In my effort to find some kind of support, I found your organization. I'm not sure if you can help, but I hope if anything else you could point me in the right direction. The biggest issue I have right now is finding some equipment that I can afford that will help me record or even stream the meetings to keep the public informed. I don't have the funds to buy what I need, I don't really even know what I need and what would work best for our meetings.. Maybe there's a place out there that could help me find funding or even somewhere I can find affordable equipment.
I hope this makes some sense, and I appreciate your time either way. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks again!
Scottd
Dear Scott,
Thank you for your email, and a sincere apology for the delay in responding. Although we are not experts on streaming meetings online, we do want to offer a few suggestions. There are a variety of online platforms used for meetings these days - from Zoom, to Google Meet, to WebEx and others. These would utilize your computer's camera, and would allow you to record and stream meetings without additional recording equipment. We feel like the Zoom platform may be best for your purposes. It allows you to record meetings to post online, as well as to generate an audio transcript for notes. Additionally, it will allow for you to stream your meetings live via Facebook or YouTube.
There may also be some local or state grant funding that may help you purchase additional equipment. Chapter 42 (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/finances/grants-and-financial-re...) in the Toolbox on Getting Grants and Financial Resources may be of help as you explore funding options available to you. You may also find Chapter 6 (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/promoting-interest) on Communications to Promote Interest of help - as you mentioned the need to keep citizens engaged with what is happening in the local government. The sections in this chapter may provide additional suggestions of ways in which to engage the community and keep them informed about what is happening.
We hope these suggestions are helpful, and please feel free to reach out with additional questions.
Warmly,
Hasina Mohyuddin
2. What is the importance of participation in dealing with problems of the
community?
3. If the community or barangay will give you an opportunity to become a Youth
Leader, what activities can you and your fellow youths can engage with? Why?
Hi Marian, thanks for looking for ways to involve youth in community action. Too many times they are overlooked during community work.
- Youth are essential stakeholders in the community. They often engage in ways that many people don’t realize. Sometimes youth are more effective than adults at getting other youth and adults involved in their community. They may be able to reach adults, such as their neighbors, friends, and family members in ways that formal efforts can miss. They also have friends in the neighborhood who can also influence their friends, neighbors, and family members. Think of this as a snowball effect. Also, young people can bring an energy and enthusiasm to community action that might be missing among older community members. One way to get youth involved is as a group. Creating a youth organization sounds like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be a formal organization. Look at Chapter 20, Section 9 of the Community Tool Box for some pointers on establishing a “youth organization” that will encourage youth to become involved in community action. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/provide-information-enhance-skills/youth-organizations/main
- The importance of participation is [a] to ensure that the community response represents the views of as many community members as possible, [b] to leverage as much people power or political pressure as possible, and [c] so that the solution will be accepted, endorsed and “owned” by the community.
And with youth specifically, simply put, youth are as much a part of the community as anyone else, so any issue that affects the community as whole will affect youth as well. Youth are affected by multiple levels in society and the community, so think about all those different levels that youth engage – their family, neighborhood, school, the police, businesses, etc. Urie Bronfenbrenner developed a theory of child development in the context of systems. You might find that framework helpful while thinking about how youth are impacted and can impact the world around them. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html
3) Getting youth to engage takes creativity and letting them know that their voice and action matters in the community. There are multiple ways to get youth involved creatively with community-level issues, such as photovoice (see Chapter 3, Section 20 in the Community Tool Box https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n...) and other art projects. As importantly, you or other organizers need to make clear to them that they can and do have an impact. If they are having fun and see results of their efforts, it will attract other youth to become engaged and leaders will likely emerge during their involvement. Chapter 13, Section 7 of the Community Tool Box can give you a few pointers about leadership at any age. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas/lead...
Thanks, Cindy. Someone will be in touch with you by email [if they haven't already].
Hi Johannes. Sorry, but I am not quite sure what you mean by “registering a local community development committee.” Please clarify/elaborate so that we can reply to your question in an accurate and helpful way. If you mean you want to register it with your local municipal government, you will have to look on the local government website and if it is still unclear, contact your local community development support office.
Hope to hear back from you with more information.
Thank you -
Dear Jessica, Thanks for your question. Use policies can be found at https://ctb.ku.edu/en/use-policy. Although APA style only requires including date accessed for webpages that are likely to change, and we do not expect the page you cited to necessarily change [it hasn't changed at all since 10/24/19, so if you don't remember the date, you can guess or list today's date], to be safe, you can cite that page as follows:
Center for Community Health and Development. (n.d.). Learn A Skill: Toolkits: 1. Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships. University of Kansas. Retrieved [DATE YOU ACCESSED IT] from the Community Tool Box: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/creating-and-maintaining-coalitions-and-partnerships
Sorry for the delay in responding, Brian. I wasn't sure what your question was, but will assume you are looking for "Resources and assets to be used for policy development to enhance university education." I'm unsure if you mean to teach policy development at the university level or policies to improve higher education. But you will find curriculum resources here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/training-curriculum. And the best places I would start are CTB Chapter 25. Changing Policies and Toolkit 11. Influencing Policy Development; plus all of these chapters:
- Chapter 30. Principles of Advocacy
- Chapter 31. Conducting Advocacy Research
- Chapter 32. Providing Encouragement and Education
- Chapter 33. Conducting a Direct Action Campaign
- Chapter 34. Media Advocacy
- Chapter 35. Responding to Counterattacks
AND THIS RELATED TOOLKIT:
Hello Mr. Loomis,
First, I apologize for the delay in replying. I attempted to get in touch with some contacts in the Navajo Nation and with some organizations that often work with people from from the Navajo Nation. Unfortunately, I did not receive substantive responses. Thus, I will be responding based on my own experience in the region.
My first question would be: with whom in the Navajo Nation did you work to develop the nonprofit? Any initial contacts you made will serve you much better than folks from outside the Navajo Nation. As they and other Tribal peoples have had many negative experiences with outside organizations, even those genuinely seeking to help, your best strategy is to build on your existing relationships and bridge those to new ones. You mention utilities, medical care, substance abuse, and unemployment--all issues with which the Navajo Nation grapples with at multiple levels. It is important to work with existing Tribal government agencies and organizations to be successful, otherwise your work will likely face soft or hard opposition. I'm making the assumption that you included significant input from community members and Tribal leadership before launching. If this is not the case, it isn't too late to do so. Without such input and participation, I don't believe you will have much success and will be putting scarce resources to poor use.
For some potentially helpful general ideas on assessing community needs and resources [which we encourage you to tailor to the local community as needed], see:
And this related toolkit:
A good resource for participatory planning is here (again, must be adapted for the particular community):
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/where-to-start/participatory-approaches/main
Even if you end up hearing exactly the same things from the community that you already believe to be core issues, you will gain insights into priorities, local assets, what has previously been tried, and what people's attitudes are toward outsiders coming into the community to do work. You will hopefully also meet more people that can act as guides within the community that are less likely to reject your resources. I also cannot stress enough how important it is to contact Tribal agencies responsible for working on the issues this community faces to see how you can work alongside them. Without such connection, I would predict significant challenges.
If you have gained significant community input into your planning process and have connections to Tribal agencies, keep offering usable resources in which they have expressed interest. The process of creating meaningful and fruitful relationships is a challenge in any community, but is especially hard in communities that have experienced so much hardship at the hand of outside people--often people claiming great benefit to the community. It is a tall mountain to climb, but there are people likely willing to help you find a path. I found that Tribal government representatives were more experienced liaising with outside organizations and had a more balanced view of the possibilities.
If you are further along in the process, I still suggest getting feedback. It will help you know where you are and where you need to go. Please see the following resource and ask other agencies working within the Navajo Nation how they gain feedback and what elements from the toolbox seem appropriate.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/strategic-planning/obtain-constituent-feedback/main
I also suggest reading the following to have a clear plan for sustainability. This should have abundant opportunity for community ownership and input. It should also show that you are not a flash-in-the-pan and will be working in the long term. Otherwise, your work will likely be seen as another unsustainable effort that will fade in time.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/sustaining-work-or-initiative
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/long-term-sustainability/sustainability-strategies/main
I wish you all the best in your work.
Sincerely,
Courte and the Community Tool Box team
I am from Ireland and currently seeking to develop an initiative to harness the creativity of 18 to 29 year olds in my community. I am living in a county called Galway based in the West of Ireland. Galway has twice the number of 20-24 year olds living in its community compared to that of the national average. I have conducted two surveys within my community the results of the first survey indicated that there are not sufficient outlets and opportunities for creativity and in particular not sufficient outlets/opportunities for the younger people in our community. The second survey was issued to younger people who confirmed that there is not sufficient creative opportunities for them but that they have an appetite to become involved in an outlet/forum/initiative in their community. I went on to host a focus group with a small number of young people who advised that they would be very interested in contributing their views and time to supporting the development of initiatives which would help better their community and in turn provide them with the opportunity to engage with others of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, ethnic groups etc. One of the long term goals as specified by our local Galway county council in their "Everybody Matters: A Cultural Sustainability Strategy Framework for Galway 2016-2025" is to progress and develop a vibrant, sustainable and strengthened local community. I am currently seeking ideas on how to move forward with such an initiative by harnessing the current resource and input of our younger population. One option I had in mind was something similar to Open Source Development where our younger generation would contribute and submit their ideas or donate their time to collaborate on a local issue identified within their community or even that of a local enterprise who may be seeking suggestions to improve product/business development. Members of the focus group indicated that they would like a mix of online and physical onsite collaborations. This initiative is based on creativity so would have to incorporate a substantial element which allows for fun, various modes of engagement and a platform for diverse collaboration. I would be grateful if you had any ideas or relevant resources in relation to progressing such an initiative. I am in the process of developing a website also in relation having at least one platform from which to launch this initiative. I would be very grateful for any guidance or advice you may have. Many thanks for taking the time to read my question. Best regards, Patricia
Dear Patricia,
Thanks for your request for resources about how to collaborate with and meaningfully engage youth in community-based initiatives! It is great that you have already engaged with youth in Galway in such a thoughtful and comprehensive manner to identify their needs and interests. Your idea to engage in an iterative, collaborative process to address key issues in the community or the needs of local organizations is also excellent. In terms of how to initiate and implement such a process, you might find the approach of folks engaged in Youth Participatory Action Research (yPAR) to be of help in determining possibilities for how you might engage youth in collaborative, creative, and community-based initiatives. In particular, the book "Revolutionizing Education: Youth Participatory Action Research in Motion" (edited by Michelle Fine and Julio Cammarota) includes several excellent examples of creative youth-led and youth-driven projects. Specifically, the chapters in this book detail the logistics of engaging youth in meaningful and creative community-based projects that center their voices, experiences, and interests, so it seems that this could be a helpful resource for you to explore. Similarly, the Public Science Project (http://publicscienceproject.org/) has several examples of creative youth-led projects that could be helpful to explore further as you think about engaging in this work in Galway. Additionally, you may find the following sections of the Community Toolbox to be helpful resources as you plan to engage in this work with youth:
- Chapter 7. Encouraging Involvement in Community Work (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement)
- Chapter 22. Youth Mentoring Programs (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/youth-mentoring) [although you aren't suggesting starting a youth mentoring program, there may be some helpful material in this section of the Community Toolbox]
- Chapter 29. The Arts and Community Building (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/community-tool-box-toc/cultural-competence-spirituality-and-arts-and-community-building/chapter-29) [Forthcoming; hopefully this will be updated soon!]
We hope the above resources provide a helpful foundation for you as you prepare to engage in this work with youth in Galway, but please feel free to follow up if you have any more questions!
I hope all is well!
I am currently working on a project to launch a program we refer to as “salons.” The idea is to resurrect the public sphere, as it is understood to have existed during the emergence of capitalist economics. Our goal is to begin the conversations necessary to advance a local, sustainable, just and democratically led economy, one that is essentially “decoupled” from global capitalism. That’s the idea.
My question has to do with The Community Tool Box’s knowledge about such things. We envision bringing together community stakeholders, in open, transparent and dignified conversations, as the means to imagining a local, sustainable economy. Of course, the next step would be taking action.
Anything you may be able to provide in the way of research or case studies about such things would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for the great work you are doing!
Best,
Mike Shesterkin
SMSBF
Dear Mr. Shesterkin, We are terribly sorry it took us so long to respond to your exciting idea to encourage development of the public sphere. I believe the Community Toolbox (CTB) can provide useful info and tools. But first, we thought it might be helpful to share a little background:
Smaller public spheres are well known for being places where social capital is produced – especially bonding social capital – but as I think you are indicating, you would like to expand that to hopefully promote bridging social capital as well by bringing in a diverse group of people. If you aren’t familiar with the concepts of bridging and bonding social capital, it is brought up in the Ch 26, Section 8 link below, but here is a summary for quick reference:
“According to Robert Putnam, in Bowling Alone (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000), there are two kinds of social capital. Bonding social capital is the advantage people develop from relationships with those who are essentially similar to themselves. Bridging social capital is that gained from relationships with people who are quite different, whether in culture, race or ethnicity, economic status, politics, or other factors.” You can read more about the development of social capital and its relationship to citizen participation and empowerment, neighboring, and sense of community: Perkins, D.D., Hughey, J., & Speer, P.W. (2002). Community psychology perspectives on social capital theory and community development practice. Journal of the Community Development Society (Community Development), 33(1), 33-52.
You may already be familiar with this historical piece, but if not, it is worth reviewing to give you more of the history of the development of the public sphere in the 18th and 19th centuries.
http://www.mrjohnmiddleton.org/uploads/2/4/2/3/24233509/shaping_the_public_sphere-_english_coffeehouses_and_french_salons.pdf
For learning about action and application, a basic, but good place to start in the toolbox is Ch. 26, Section 8 (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/physical-social-environment/places-for-interaction/main). Make sure you click through the tabs towards the top of the page (these include a checklist, examples, etc).
To encourage inclusivity, you should browse through Chapters 6 & 7 in the CTB. These chapters cover communicating about your project as well as encouraging others to get involved. (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/promoting-interest ; https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement). Also, the CTB offers a toolkit (#8) on increasing participation and membership in community work (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/increasing-participation-and-membership). This will help with the democratic expansion of a “salon.”
You mentioned sustainability, which is a crucial aspect for any community work or initiative. Review Ch 46 Section 1 on long-term sustainability of an initiative. Again, don’t forget to click through the tab near the top of the page that links to tools, examples, etc. (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/long-term-sustainability/overview/main)
Re community democratic participatory budgeting, you may be interested in this new international grassroots coalition: https://www.peoplepowered.org/about
You might also be interested in micro-enterprise/micro-financing and other local grassroots sustainable economic programs, such as local currencies, the most famous of which is probably Ithaca Hours: http://www.ithacahours.com/ .
On a final note, if you are willing to engage in a little ethnographic research you (and others who want to lead this effort) might even consider being a participant observer in similar spheres (mentioned above) that currently exist, but that are more intimate and typically produce bonding social capital, such as the barbershop, beauty salon, coffee shop, etc. These are spaces like the 19th century French “salon” but not as democratic in that they are more “exclusive” through snowball invitations. However, they tend to be successful in producing social capital and engagement and may offer you local case studies from which to learn. In our age of technology and Covid, please also consider the usefulness/feasibility of virtual public spheres.
Good luck with your endeavor, and please consider writing about your efforts (including the successes and obstacles) so that others can learn from you.
I am teaching a Essentials of Public Health Management course at Longwood University this coming fall 2021. I discovered your tool kit and plan on incorporating most of the content into my class. I would love to talk to one of the advisors about the possibility of speaking (via zoom) to my students.
I have listed below the student learning objectives for this course to help you get an understanding of the goals for this course.
1. Examine how financial resources for health education/promotion program are managed
2.Assess the capacity of partners and other stakeholders to meet program goals
3. Defend the importance of monitoring relationships with key stakeholders
4. Demonstrate how programs align with organizational structure, mission, and goals
5. Identify and collect evidence to justify programs
6. Create a rationale to gain or maintain support for a program that meets population needs
4. Use various communication strategies to present a rationale that justifies the scope of a program
8. Conduct program quality assurance/process improvement through meaningful and targeted program evaluation
9. Adhere to and apply ethical principles of the profession
10. Determine strategies to effectively develop training programming and professional development materials for staff members and volunteers
I am open to the content/topic and interested in how we can partner to help these students gain valuable knowledge.
Thanks in advance for your response.
Nikki
(Jennifer N. Hall-Atkinson)
Hi Jennifer. Thanks for your query and so glad to know you have found the CTB to be useful! Ask-An-Advisor uses rotating experts with experience in different areas and not all on exactly the same topics or areas of community work. That is why requests like yours are better sent to the toolbox@ku.edu email address that is monitored by the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. But I reached out to its Director who will forward your request to that team and someone will hopefully follow up with you directly. Meanwhile, if you haven't done so, please see the curriculum modules on the CTB website here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/training-curriculum.
Good luck!
Please explain what you are asking about. Create "one" what?
Revised answer below:
Hi Mohamed! Two general resources in the Community Toolbox that may be helpful are:
If you would like to give some more details about your specific action plan's goals and the context of the task, feel free to post that in another question.
I am interested in setting up a branch, or chapter of your organization in the country of Liberia, in West Africa. Please rush me with guidelines for such.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks for your interest in the Community Tool Box, Mr. Duco. Someone from its management team will be in touch with you by direct email about your query. Good luck!
***
.(A follow-up response is below)
.. Thanks very much for writing to us at the Community Tool Box. We are glad to hear from Liberia!
In our case, though, we do not have different chapters or branch organizations in different places. Instead, all the materials on the Tool Box are freely available for your use, in Liberia or anywhere.
So, for example, you could set up your own training program or organization there, depending on your particular needs or interests. The Community Tool Box itself has materials that tell you how to do this; for example, see Chapter 18, “Deciding Where to Start,” at
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/where-to-start
Please use or adapt these and other materials to your own situation.
Thanks again for being in touch, and we wish you much success in your work in Freetown.
Thanks
Hello Patrick,
I am sorry to hear about your situation; it does sound daunting.
We at the Community Tool Box recognize the value of legal strategies within the larger "Direct Action" approach to social change (see Chapter 33, Section 16: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/direct-action/legal-action/main). However, we cannot give specialized legal advice. We limit ourselves to questions about community development, and specifically exclude questions on legal issues. I hope that the additional guidance you need is revealed from some other source.
Thank you for reaching out to Ask An Advisor.
1. Is the toolbox useful in my context or is there a resource that would be better?
2. What specific sections of the tool box are the most appropriate for my context?
3. Is there a generic needs based assessment questionnaire in the tool box that untrained volunteers can use to collect information in the field for review by a professional?
4. Are there online training videos for volunteers who want to use the questionnaire or toolbox?
Hi Dale,
I am happy to hear about the work that you are doing in West Africa, and it sounds really important! I have compiled some of my thoughts related to your questions.
- The Community Tool Box (CTB) is designed to help with community improvement projects such as you are describing, although a great deal of the contributors come from a North American context, and their experiences will be informed by conditions quite different from yours. As I thought about the brief description of your work, it seemed aligned with the mission of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): https://www.undp.org/about-us/faqs.
- Have you already reviewed this toolkit? https://sdgintegration.undp.org/sdg-acceleration-toolkit
- As you’ve noted, the Community Tool Box compiles a wide variety of resources, which are organized into chapters and sections. There is a lot of content covered! Although I hope that many key concepts and practical tools will be relevant to your work, it’s hard for me to provide specific direction to you. My best recommendation is that you explore and dig to choose what resources will work best for you. You can start here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/using-tool-box
- Unfortunately, there is not a generic needs assessment template in the CTB. There is, however, a lot of information about how to conduct needs and resource/assets assessments in chapter 3: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources
- For each of the 24 sections included in chapter 3, there are tabs labeled “Examples” and “Tools” that have some questions that you could adapt, but it will take some work. Here’s an example of that: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/describe-the-community/tools
- Finally, the CTB has made some pre-recorded, online trainings available to volunteers, after you register for a free account from www.train.org. Modules 3 and 4 here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/online-courses might be the closest match to your situation.
Thank you for reaching out —I send best wishes for progress in your community.
Sharon M. Wasco
CTB’s Ask An Advisor
July, 2021
Greetings, Marisol,
The Community Tool Box was designed specifically as a compendium of resources to be housed -- and frequently updated -- online. There is, to date, no accompanying book.
Thank you for your interest, and for reaching out with your question.
In community,
Sharon Wasco
CTB’s July 2021 Ask An Advisor
Hello, Veronica,
Thank you for your question! I appreciate your efforts to provide good guidance to the community coalitions with which you contract. Unfortunately, the Community Tool Box (CTB) does not have single “templates” for any of the documents you need.
I have been on both sides of the relationship you describe (i.e., as the program developer / grants manager for a funding agency AND as a coalition’s program evaluator for a grants recipient). With that in mind, I see an important choice you have to make: do you provide a standardized template (which someone in your agency would need to create) for your coalitions to work with? Or do you provide them with the how to guidance so that each coalition can create something that works best for them? There is no wrong answer here, but I think I would lean towards the former solution in which your agency creates templates that you then provide to the coalitions you support. That will reduce the ambiguity for coalitions, and help you synthesize across your grantees in ways that allow for comparative insight.
Within the CTB, I can direct you to some areas to explore “how-to” resources for:
- Work Plans:
- Toolkit 5: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/developing-strategic-and-action-plans and
- Chapter 8, Section 5: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/strategic-planning/develop-action-plans/main
- There is a downloadable Action Plan template in the Tools section: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/strategic-planning/dev...
- Quarterly Reports and End-of-Year / Annual Reports
- Both Quarterly Reports and End-of-Year / Annual Reports fall in the topics covered in Chapter 40 - Maintaining Quality Performance: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/maintain/maintain-quality-perfor...
- To minimize reporting burdens, you might consider just two reports per year: a progress report after 6 months, and an annual report after 12 months. There are alternative oversight mechanisms to requiring reports discussed in Section 4 of Chapter 40: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/maintain/maintain-quality-performance/establishing-oversight-mechanisms/main
- By collecting reports from coalitions, you are essentially creating formal reporting processes, which can be a valuable feedback loop within a system. For those writing and reading the documents, reporting can create insight, share information among parties, and hold parties accountable for progress. Across a collection of grantees/coalitions, reporting processes can lead to system-level outcomes such as increased transparency & institutional trust, better goal attainment & community change, and increased sense of collective efficacy. See Section 5 of Chapter 40: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/maintain/maintain-quality-perfor...
I know this response does not provide an easy set of “ready-made” or “half-baked” tools you may have hoped for, but with any luck this provides you some next steps in your work supporting community coalitions.
In community,
Sharon Wasco
CTB’s July 2021 Ask An Advisor
Hi John,
Thank you for this question -- and I hope my reply is not too late!
In terms of dollars, it is hard to give you a specific amount without knowing details of the project, but it is unlikely that you will find a decent evaluation consultant with community assessment skills able to take this job for less than $8-15K.
Generally speaking, at the initial scoping of a community intervention project, evaluation should be written in for about 15% of your total budget. Any data-to-action effort at the community level will probably need to be mixed methods (i.e., a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection); and qualitative research, such as focus groups and key informant interviews, requires more time and money than survey-based work.
For a community needs assessment, I would probably say 10% of your total Head Start budget for the needs assessment. I would strongly recommend allocating another 5% of the total project budget for some type of process evaluation and/or outcomes assessment.
You can find contract evaluators through the American Evaluation Association's website here: https://my.eval.org/find-an-evaluator
Best of luck with your budget -- and your Head Start program!
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
Ask an Advisor, July 2021
Cryptocurrencies are all the rage right now and I'm working on a tool so that communities can create their own cryptocurrency. The 'modern monetary theory' states that new money is best injected into the economy through government spending. Well, I'd like to test this theory with communal cryptocurrencies--inject communal money into the communities through community projects.
Dear Juan,
Yes! The idea of creating and testing communal cryptocurrencies is extremely exciting!
When I was earning my graduate degree in community psychology, I was fortunate enough to study with Jim Kelly and learn from him the “ecological analogy” or “ecological metaphor,” which includes the principle “Cycling of Resources” as a heuristic for understanding how energies are distributed, managed, and conserved within local communities. This idea always captured my imagination and if you haven’t read about it yet, you can review where Ecological Metaphor: Cycling of Resources fits into other foundational theories of community psychology here: https://press.rebus.community/introductiontocommunitypsychology/chapter/theories/. As Kurt Lewin (1951) famously wrote, “There’s nothing so practical as a good theory.” You may find this especially true if you try to write a proposal for some (traditional) money to field test your ideas.
Since I put on the “Cycling of Resources” lens in graduate school, I cannot observe a group without thinking about this concept. Recently, my daughter came home from school and told me about “tickets” they can earn in their classrooms (by enacting desired behaviors) to exchange for privileges and prizes — I'm sure many teachers create currency to foster desired classroom norms and vibrant learning environments!
To answer your question: I am not aware of a forum to connect you with others who are developing community projects. You might try reaching out to the Society for Community Research and Action. If you scroll to the bottom of this leadership page: https://www.scra27.org/who-we-are/leadership/, you will find email connections to the SCRA Administrative Staff. Amber Kelly, Jadwiga Hescox, and Ashley Simons-Rudolph may be able to offer further guidance towards possible collaboration opportunities.
Finally, as I sat down to write this reply, I had to open my email inbox to find your query. There I found a link to this story in an e-newsletter: https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2021/07/09/local-money-equity?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=YESDaily_20210714&utm_content=YESDaily_20210714+CID_8a3501e1401f78352e6b0c8547d03876&utm_source=CM&utm_term=Read%20the%20full%20story
I think you are on to something good, Juan, and I wish you successful next steps towards your goal.
Thank you for sharing your ideas with us,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
CTB Ask an Advisor, July 2021
Dear Bertha,
How lucky the youth in your community are to have a good advocate in you! Starting a youth center is a big endeavor, and success will depend on finding the right partners and building a team to work together. In this response, I will try to give you some first steps for starting youth center in your community.
It's great that you know you want to serve young people. My first thought would be to refine the focus of your passion and skills and knowledge to find a specific niche. Are you also passionate about animals and want to focus a program that brings youth into contact with animals? Cooking? Music? Art? Climate Change Advocacy? Gardening? Sports? Do you want to work with youth to support social justice and/or inclusion efforts (e.g., racial justice, disability rights, LGBTQ+ inclusion). Identify something you care deeply about so that you can attract others with similar passions.
If you haven’t already done so, my next recommendation is to do a full inventory of youth-serving organizations in your area. Then, if you have not yet done so, volunteer some of your time in one or more of the programs for young people at, for example, your local libraries, schools, churches, youth sports organizations — even places like zoos and museums. This can connect you to others with similar goals of providing opportunities and supporting youth development— you may discover a program you didn’t know existed and be able to apply your leadership to build or revitalize something that is already in existence.
To ensure that a new youth center in your community functions successfully as a resource to young people , it will be really important to engage the end users it will serve. A good place to start is to create a planning committee of youth and parents. You will want to do a community inventory to understand the organizations and resources that exist and where your new ideas might fit. Quickly, you will want to figure out the purpose of the Center, and will need to answer questions about what needs are currently unmet?
CTB has a toolkit for this: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/assessing-community-needs-and-resources
To take the first step, I would suggest by approaching the strong “anchor” organizations in your community where there are either 1) youth or 2) youth-serving services. For example, you could consider reaching out to church leaders or local school administrators (e.g., principal, athletic director, or superintendent) to see what existing clubs or youth groups exist, and whether you can establish a “working group” or “task force” within that structure to explore creating a youth center.
Chapters 8- 12 provide a wealth of ideas for this work: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents
Instead of creating a youth center, you may consider developing a youth mentoring program as a stand-alone, or as part of an existing organization.
Chapter 22 is a good source of information: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/youth-mentoring
Another similar option would be find any organization that is interested in being inclusive of youth and work to establish a youth leadership board so that young people can serve as ambassadors for organizational missions that are near to their hearts.
Check out Section 8 of Chapter 9: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/organizational-structu...
There are many options to create spaces and experiences for youth in your community, and I am glad you found the Community Tool Box in your search for answers. We send you all good wishes in sorting through what is the right path for you and for the youth in your community.
Thank you for reaching out,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
CTB Ask An Advisor, July 2021
HI Linda,
We are glad that you are sharing the CTB resources with your audience. Here are some tips and suggestions for non-commercial, non-curricular use:
1) Check out the Use Policy for general information: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/use-policy
2) The preferred format to reference would depend upon the nature and purpose of your listing. We suggest that you use the American Psychological Association citation format. Information about their citation format is available on their website.
3) But to reference the entire Tool Box, you could say: The Community Tool Box (https://ctb.ku.edu), Center for Community Health and Development, University of Kansas, various dates.
To use for commercial use, or within courses in educational settings, please contact the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas:
E-mail: communityhealth@ku.edu
Phone: (785) 864-0533
Thank you, Linda, for your vote of confidence in the utility of the CTB; and best of luck in developing your guide.
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
CTB Ask an Advisor, July 2021
Hello Liberty,
I am glad to hear that the CTB writings on Gratitude and Appreciation caught your interest. The Community Tool Box was designed specifically as a compendium of resources to be housed online— and frequently updated. There is, to date, no accompanying book or digitally formatted reader (i.e., pdf document) of Chapters 1-48.
I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to explore the plethora of materials online and print content for your own use. The content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. © 1994-2021 The University of Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This means you can access / download for yourself, but not for commercial uses.
Here is the page to see an overview of all the content: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents
Here is the page to review guidelines for use of CTB: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/use-policy
I am sorry, Liberty, that we don’t have a complete Chapter 1 - 46 digital book to share with you. I hope you are able to make use of the CTB in its online format.
In community,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
CTB Ask an Advisor, July 2021
Are you able to conduct any sort of MBA Cohort program in person, in an off-campus office which may have multiple interested candidates? If so, I would love to learn a bit more about what that process looks like and how we can move forward.
Thank you for your insight!
Hi Sara,
I apologize that my response to your question has been somewhat delayed — thank you for your patience.
Your MBA Cohort can take advantage of the free online training modules offered here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/online-courses.
In addition to the online courses, the Community Tool Box has a variety of curricular resources compiled here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/training-curriculum.
You can also order the curriculum to integrate into your existing educational efforts with the MBA students, and/or find a local expert in community research and action in your area to come in and train or provide guest lectures. Curriculum ordering information can be viewed here: https://deptsec.ku.edu/~ctb/forms/form/1
Finally, the Community Tool Box staff can be available “for hire” to do in-person training. Although availability of staff to provide training has been affected by ongoing pandemic conditions, please consider reaching out to the team with contact information provided here: https://ctb.ku.edu/sites/default/files/ctb_training_flyer.pdf
I am glad to hear that you are interested in infusing your graduate training with community development education. The core competencies addressed by this curriculum are likely very useful for your MBA cohort as well.
Good luck with increasing skills and sharing the passion of community development,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
CTB Ask An Advisor, August 2021
Thanks for any help you are able to provide.
Hi Martha,
I am a personal advocate for the use of qualitative methodologies — including archival data — in the social sciences, and have never heard of “outdated” archival data. One contribution of archival data is that it provides information about extra-individual factors and/or context that cannot be collected from human subjects or physical specimens in real time.
I would go further to say that the very nature of archival data is its ability to document past events; and as such, I don’t think there are or should be time limits on archival data. Your client’s Committee Member may have a valid concern regarding whether the research question is best addressed by this type of data analysis. In other words, perhaps archival data may not be the most appropriate choice for the research question. If current conditions need to be documented to adequately answer the research question, there may be a mismatch between data collection methods and the research question. Maybe your client can reframe the question a bit? It is hard for me to say more without knowing more about the purpose of the study or the phenomenon of interest.
The Community Tool Box has posted some resources related to using archival data / public records in community research and action:
- Chapter 3: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/public-records-archival-data/main
- Chapter 37: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/evaluate/evaluate-community-interventions/archival-data/main
I am sorry for the delay in getting this response to you, and wish you and your client the best of luck with the current project.
In community,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
Ask An Advisor, September 2021
Hi Bree,
I am sorry to hear about the conditions of your water. The Community Tool Box is not designed to help with this kind of situation, and you have already taken the actions I would recommend.
I’m not sure who you filed your complaint with at the EPA, but you should be able to find your local ombudsperson through this link: https://www.epa.gov/ocir/municipal-ombudsman
An ombudsperson is a designated or appointed official whose job it is to investigate complaints and attempt to resolve the concerns raised. I hope you can connect with yours to alert them of the situation.
My apologies for the late nature of this reply,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
Ask An Advisor, September 2021
Hi Joey,
Thank you for your question. The situation you describe is not uncommon in community coalition work. In fact one of the key competencies we've identified for doing community work is "increasing participation and membership."
In my experience, co-hosting an event has been one way to get a group of individuals functioning as a team. By its nature of being time delineated, a public event provides deadlines that can create a sense of urgency for group members. A variety of different types of tasks are needed to pull off a public event, which means that people can choose to help out doing things that appeal to them (e.g., some might like to do public relations and promotions, while other may like to organize give-aways/swag, secure talent, or keep schedules). The downside of focusing on a particular event is that your group can become too activities-based, as opposed to outcomes-driven.
Another thought for activating participation, if you haven’t already done this, is to divide people into different subcommittees and/or provide them roles based on their substantive interests or skillsets. Even more granular than roles are designated responsibilities at every meeting. At one point I co-wrote a manual that included a set of instructions for power sharing within groups, which were based on the idea of making sure that every meeting was co-facilitated by all group members. These “responsibility logs” can be found on pages 162-175 of this document: https://pcar.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdfs/campus_readiness_manual_2-12_final.pdf.
You might also consider collecting some information from your people on the barriers they face in becoming more involved in the organization's implementation.
There are some resources related to involving volunteers on the CTB.
- Chapter 5 has some tips on maintaining the coalitions: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/maintain-a-coalition/main
- Chapter 15 provides some tips on becoming an effective manager within a community organization: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/maintain-a-coalition/main
Finally, a colleague in the field of Community Psychology once pointed me in the direction of Michael Jacoby Brown’s book entitled Building Powerful Organizations, which can be downloaded for free here: https://oiipdf.com/building-powerful-community-organizations-a-personal-....
Ultimately, I have no great answers for you, except to say you are not alone in this struggle.
Keep the faith,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
Ask An Advisor, September 2021
Dear Marissa,
Thank you for this question about social marketing. For starters, it is important to recognize that social marketing is distinct from social media — and can use any variety of media (e.g., billboards, paper fliers, print posters, radio) not only social media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, etc.
A good introduction to social marketing, which is the concept of using common sales strategies to convince people to change their behavior, can be found in Chapter 45 of the Community Tool Box (CTB). In Section 1 of Chapter 45, the 4 P’s are introduced, which may be one answer to your question about the essential elements of social marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion. See here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/sustain/social-marketing/overview/main
A cohesive set of social marketing messages are often referred to as a social marketing campaign. In response to your question, I also think it may be helpful to look at the steps of managing a social marketing campaign: 1) Define the problem, 2) Choose your strategies, 3) Implement and evaluate your work, 4) Do it all over. These topics are covered in Section 2 of Chapter 45: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/social-marketing/conduct...
Finally, an important aspect of effective social marketing is engaging members of the community in developing the messages and providing input to the strategies to be used. Some insight on how to work alongside members of your target audience can be found in Section 3: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/social-marketing/listen-to-those-whose-behavior-matters/main
Thank you for your outreach and good luck with your social marketing.
In community,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
Ask An Advisor, September 2021
Hi Mimi,
Thank you for this question. There is no single author of the Community Tool Box. There is a team of devoted community practitioners that helps guide the CTB activities: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/who-we-are
If you are looking to cite materials, you may find this page to be helpful: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/use-policy
Good luck with your community research and action,
Sharon Wasco
Ask An Advisor, September 2021
Dear Juliette,
It is great to hear about your commitment to The Scouts UK.
Supporting volunteers is one of the most important parts of community work. It is also a component of community work that is difficult to distill into writing. Here is a section of the Community Tool Box that addresses some aspects of volunteer support:
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/staff-support/main
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/staff-supervision/main
I also believe that you may be interested in increasing diversity and inclusion in your efforts. I recommend looking at the following Troubleshooting Guide, especially section four organized around the guiding question, “Have we created conditions that will allow the greatest diversity of people and organizations to participate?”
See here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/not-enough-community-participation
My best wishes to you in expanding your reach,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
CTB’s Ask An Advisor, September 202
Dear Dave,
We are unable to provide guidance or consultation on specific grant applications, but I do encourage you to review this section of the CTB: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/applying-for-grants
I hope it is helpful to you in obtaining your items.
In Community,
Sharon M. Wasco
CTB Ask An Advisor, September 2021
Dear Mathebe,
We are unable to provide direct consultation or guidance on your specific workplace concerns, but I would encourage you to view the following information in our Community Toolbox resources, Chapter 10 https://ctb.ku.edu/en/advocating-change; Chapter 2 https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/overview/models-for-community-he... and chapter 28 https://ctb.ku.edu/en/advocating-change://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-content...
I hope you find these resources helpful.
In Community,
Heather Lewis Quagliana, PhD
Ask and Advisor, October 2021
HI Jennifer,
I do believe we have some resources that can be helpful in your initiative. It sounds like you are doing some very important and much needed work in prevention of obesity in children.While these free resources provide some guidelines, they may lack the specificity of managing timelines that you are looking for. Section 5 in our toolkit has some excellent information regarding obesity evaluation plans in general: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/evaluate/evaluation/evaluation-p.... This resource; https://ctb.ku.edu/en/nutrition-education discusses a school-based program targeting childhood obesity. Section 5, Analyzing Community Problems may be helpful in setting an overall timeline and even provides the example of childhood obesity as a community issue: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n...
I would also recommend that you take a look at some of the services offered through the toolkit: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/services as these could be tailored to your individuals needs on the project. Fees do apply and that information is available by following the links and directing the inquiry to the designated person. The community checkbox may be of particular interest in your endeavors: https://checkbox.ctb.ku.edu/
I hope this helps. Let us know if we can be of further assistance.
In Community,
Heather Lewis Quagliana, PhD
Ask An Advisor Fall 2021
Dear Joey,
Thanks so much for your question. I am so glad to hear about the work you are doing in providing legal aid to people with disabilities. It is so moving how your own experiences have fueled your passion. I can imagine finding chief legal counsel is difficult. We do have some resources that address your concerns: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/finances/managing-finances/nonpr...
I think of most interest in the above resource is one of the last sections entitled: A Last Word on Getting Help. I hope this resource helps connect you to some potential pro-bono options for chief counsel.
in Community,
Heather Lewis Quagliana, PhD
Ask An Advisor Fall 2021
HI Greg,
Thanks for your question. I think we have some resources that will help in your efforts to find empirically supported resources pertaining to alcohol consumption. First, https://www.thecommunityguide.org/search/alcohol is a database of trainings, resources, etc. I would also recommend that you take a look at: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/databases-best-practices which takes you to our database of best practices and browse through topics related to alcohol consumption.
In Community,
Heather Lewis Quagliana, PhD
Ask and Advisor Fall 2021
HI Stefan:
I am so sorry, but this question is not something that we can answer.
Thanks,
Heather Lewis Quagliana, PhD
Ask An Advisor Fall 2021
Hi Natalia,
It is amazing that you hope to hire on site community psychologists for your charter schools; what an innovative way to address youth and community needs. One of the best ways to provide support for the community and charter school's needs is through a needs assessment that documents the specific needs of the charter school and broader community. Interviewing key stakeholders and community members will help build an argument for hiring community psychologists as you discover the key roles they could serve both in the school and broader community. Chapter 2 in the tool box addresses some of this process: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/assessing-community-needs-and-resources.
Additionally, youth asset building is at the heart of community psychology and could be a major initiative of a school based community psychologist. Here is a link from the toolbox to developmental assets: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/overview/models-for-community-he...
I applaud your work and wish you the best in making your case to hire school based community psychologists.
I hope this helps.
In community,
Ask An Advisor Fall 2021
Thanks!
Hello Yesenia,
Thanks for reaching out. Thank you for the work you do with domestic violence and seeking resources for undocumented immigrants. While we do not offer medical services and I am not familiar with specific resources in Kansas City, here is a link in our toolbox that may be of some help: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/improving-services/acc...
I hope this helps.
In Community
Ask An Advisor Fall 2021
Hello Cathleen,
Thank your for questions. Working to develop community centers to address the opioid crisis is such needed work; what a service to the community. Personally, I think that a good business plan can include a brief literature review to document the significant impact of opioid use, as well as market research displaying the cost, etc. of such a program. Something that might be helpful to walk through with some of the major stakeholders is a SWOT analysis: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n... to hone in on the major aspects of your proposal. What is important to the community stakeholders? How do you integrate the business plan with best practices of opioid treatment. Best of luck in your work.
In Community,
Ask An Advisor 2021
I am a public health practitioner in an office based opioid treatment program-- I've wanted to support a community based evaluation of the treatment services and lack thereof in the small city we are in and have gotten some funding to do so. I was hoping to bring in more treatment professionals and community groups to aid in designing this evaluation but am finding that there is a real shortage of time and energy from this pool and I want to try to make it easier to participate. I'm hoping for some greater structure for participation for these groups with the goal of really hearing from people who have sought services. How do I make participation in assessment design/processes accessible and exciting? Should I run a simple pre-survey-survey about what we may want to ask? I have a lot of ideas but feel uncomfortable running with them in the absence of others-- I pitched a community project but am a bit stuck without additional community members to start.
Hi Shay,
This is such an excellent question and I really empathize with your feelings of working alone in this important area. There appear to be several layers here: 1) Community resource utilization of opioid services 2) the need for a Needs Assessment of community needs related to opioid resources and 3) buy in from other community stakeholders and potential partners and 4) hearing from the clients who have sough services. I would recommend starting with a focus group or survey of service recipients if possible-to truly hear from those who have sought services (always upholding the highest standards of privacy and confidentiality, but there may be some options for you to help coordinate within agency focus groups who have the access to recipients. If you gain buy in from other providers, you could train them to send a survey or run a focus group with their care recipients. I would also recommend conducting a focus group of other community providers (perhaps your grant has some funds for a luncheon?). Often times sharing a meal compels busy partners to have some buy in. Another potential option is to offer a focus group in a virtual format for busy participants. Here are some guidelines from our community tool box on conducting focus groups: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n...
Additionally, understanding service utilization in your area is important and here are some guidelines from our toolbox on resource utilization: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n...
In terms of needs assessment, I think this fits in well with your idea of pre-assessment that you mentioned. Here are some great resources on needs assessments: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n... and https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n...
I hope this helps! Thanks for your commitment to excellence.
In Community,
Ask an Advisor 2021
HI Erin,
I am sorry for my delayed response to your question. The work you are doing sounds both rewarding and exciting. I absolutely agree with the necessity of a needs assessment. Hearing directly from and involving the community/people you are serving is vital for many reasons (1) it gives voice to your students to speak to a program designed for their benefit (2) a needs assessment allow your students to have input from the inception of the program-I imaging empowerment is a goal of the program and a needs assessment sets the tone of shared power a. nd influence for you students. Of course, there are many more benefits, but these 2 stand out to me.
I am going to put some links to both focus groups and needs assessments from our toolbox below which will guide you in your next steps. I would recommend a needs assessment survey, as well as some focus groups to get input from your students. I commend your commitment to best practices and advocating for a needs assessment prior to delivering an intervention. Your student's input and influence is vital in this process! Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and Resources | Section 6. Conducting Focus Groups | Main Section | Community Tool Box (ku.edu) and Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and Resources | Section 7. Conducting Needs Assessment Surveys | Main Section | Community Tool Box (ku.edu)
In Community,
Ask and Advisor, 2021
The University of Phoenix, an accredited private university, would appreciate permission to link to the Community Tool Box website.
The link will be provided to students and may point to specific content that we feel may be useful for certain classes. The content will not be copied in any form and will be behind a password protected course page.
We have read your terms of use and in accordance with copyright, we are seeking permission.
Does the University of Phoenix have permission to link to the Community Tool Box website?
Thank you very much for your time!
Best regards,
Carla Smith
Research Librarian
HI Carla,
Yes, you can link to the CTB under the conditions you describe. In fact, we encourage such uses. The CTB also has a Use Policy governing this and similar situations, which you can find at https://ctb.ku.edu/en/use-policy.
In Community,
Ask an Advisor, 2021
HI Jaclyn,
I am sorry for my slower than normal response. Thank you for reaching out. I would direct you to look through this flyer regarding trainings and reach out to the contact on the information sheet: CTB Training flyer pdf (ku.edu). Thank your for your interest and commitment to community.
In community,
Ask an Advisor 2021