Ask an Advisor Answers

Thank you for your question. A couple of thoughts come to mind in terms of uniting a community that has been impacted by broader political environments.

• One approach is to hold a listening session to understand what these experiences entail and use these spaces as an opportunity to share issues across groups. You can reference our page on organizing listening sessions here: /en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-public-forums/main. It might be the case that books aren't addressing what the issue or concern is. From what you learn through the listening sessions, you can then begin to develop some strategies to help facilitate barriers or blocks that different individuals are experiencing. 
• Another approach is to utilize behavior change strategies that focus on promoting motivation, beliefs, and capabilities to ultimately change behaviors and make communities more engaged with political engagement. Here, you might consider designing an initiative that embeds all core components of motivation, beliefs and capabilities. You can review what these involve here: behavior change wheel. The general idea is that the initiative you develop has some element that attempts to reinvigorate motivations to participate. The listening sessions might be a good opportunity to ask people what their dreams are, what success looks like, etc so that they can consider what motivates them. Beliefs are harder to shift, but for this you would try to capture what beliefs people have about parties involved and how it affects their well being. Perhaps, their beliefs only focus on the negative components and this may present an opportunity to offer positive alternatives or outcomes that expand on current beliefs. It might also be the case that people have limited knowledge on how political activities typically function. So, explore these concepts more deeply to understand the state of beliefs among the different groups of people. Capabilities relate to the environment that allows people to participate or utilize skills. Are there opportunities to build their capabilities by training or ensuring they have proper paperwork for engaging in political activities more meaningfully (or certifications), or even the resources to participate in such activities. 

Overall, you will need to expand beyond the book club and consider partnering with other community agencies that are involved in this space to see if they would be interested in collaborating to promote capabilities and motivations among the group of folks you're engaging. 

Hello, thank you for your questions about using Photovoice research in the classroom.
Generally, be sure to review the Community Tool Box's section on Implementing Photovoice in Your Community for directions and rationale for using Photovoice. Specific answers and implementations will very, depending on your goals for the process. We do not have specific experience using Photovoice in the area of language learning, but it can definitely can be used to help students or teachers understand challenges with the approach.
In addition, you may be able to find online reports, articles, and websites devoted to implementing Photovoice in specific areas. See, for example, Ferdiansyah et. al's 2020 Photovoice in the English as an Additional Language (EAL) Writing Classroom: No Need to Rush to Love Writing Because Love Will Grow with Time
The CTB section on Photovoice has more details on recruiting participants, but I'd encourage you to start by considering the story that you want to document and tell. For example, who do you want represented? You could include all learners in terms, or just a representative sample of those that are the most challenged. Photovoice is not overly prescriptive on participants, and your recruitment and selection will depend on the goal of the project.
If the participants have access to cell phones, they are the easiest and most convenient solution. Smartphone cameras have excellent quality and make it easy to process and share results. Disposable cameras can be another option. In any case, high-end equipment is not necessary.
You may find some examples of sharing photovoice findings and exhibiting your results in the CTB's Photovoice section. You can also create written documents, hold media events, make public presentations, and/or offer a photovoice exhibit. If you are planning to exhibit results, you may want access to a projector, but posters and other methods work well.
You may find other examples and discussion around how to write letters of consent and informational statements on the internet, but a good starting point is the Joint Commission's 2022 primer on Informed Consent (pdf)

Hello and thank you for reaching out with your questions regarding cultural humility. 
I cannot think of a particular validated scale for cultural humility, but I know there are several examples of process and outcomes measures related to cultural humility in the context of community research partnerships that may be helpful. In particular, Nina Wallerstein's team has developed a conceptual model of CBPR that presents measurable outcomes that one can consider in their measurement approaches -- https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-022-01663-y. Another article that comes to mind is from Foronda et al (2021), where they offer some factor items that are indicative of key tenets in cultural humility. I recommend reviewing the items as they appear to be adaptable across contexts, not just clinical settings. For instance, the attention to power imbalances and diversity as a factor in our perspectives may be relevant to apply with your partners. 
As an alternate, it may be beneficial to think about the core components of cultural humility and co-create an instrument with your partners instead. If the purpose of the instrument is for holding accountability and capturing progress, then co-creating a tailored instrument may be more beneficial. If you are seeking to test whether cultural humility is impacting certain outcomes, then I think you may need to develop instrumentation for the project. 
Our community toolbox also has some materials that expand on the core tenets of cultural humility that may be a good starting point for your discussion with partners: Multicultural collaboration, 
 
Hope that this information gives you a direction on where to go next! 

Greetings from the Community Tool Box!
We are so glad you have found the Community Tool Box resource and appreciate you reaching out about opportunities to partner. We do provide a number of services nationally (and beyond).
In order to determine how we might be most helpful, lets start with a chat (email toolbox@ku.edu or visit https://calendly.com/toolboxdemo/touch-base-meeting?month=2024-10 to schedule a meeting).
In the meantime, there are other ways we hope we can be helpful.

• Use of free skills-building materials from the Community Tool Box, 
• Link to freely available capacity-building tools on the Community Tool Box from your website as relevant for your users.
• Share with us any adaptations or translations of Community Tool Box resources so we can share them with the world. Email: toolbox@ku.edu
• Share your stories about how you are using Community Tool Box materials in your community work. See our Guestbook: /en/guestbook
• Keep in touch with us via our eNewsletter: /en/subscribe-newsletter; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CommunityToolBox and Twitter: https://twitter.com/CToolBox
• Collaborate with us on using services of the Community Tool Box as resources allow (see: /en/services)

We hope to hear from you and wish you all the best as you work to improve the community. 

Greetings from the Community Toolbox

In some content, we offer PowerPoint presentation slides, checklists, etc that offer other formats with the same information. We don't currently have a feature that converts any fof the files into PDF. However, you can copy paste the content into Word to save as a PDF, though it may take some minor editing to ensure the format is consistent. If there is a specific area you'd like to convert to PDF, that would be helpful for us to know for future considerations of allowing file conversions. 

Thank you again for your question and hope that you continue to use our resources for improving your community. 

Thank you for submitting a question to the Community Toolbox! 

We appreciate you sharing this story with us and reaching out for support. Based on what we know from our experiences in the U.S., it may benefit your group to identify an investigative journalist in the UK to follow-up on what has happened. Some public awareness from a trusted journalist might motivate community action. You should also consider making multiple requests to investigative authorities (police). After that, other options may be to organize coalition efforts to amplify awareness of the issue. We cannot suggest what would be legal within the bounds of UK law, but we can suggest ways to motivate your community into action through the toolbox activities. 

There may be some helpful resources here: /en/not-enough-action

Thank you for submitting a question to the community tool box and using Ask An Advisor!

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the IMAGINE framework. It may very well be based on the Toolbox, but I do not think it is derived from it. There aren't any pages dedicated to the IMAGINE framework. In terms of endorsement in practice, as a community psychologist, I have not come across the IMAGINE framework. That does not mean people don't apply it! Our community tool box has several other resources that may help for community change initiatives to offer alternative approaches: 

/en/table-of-contents/overview/model-for-community-cha...
/en/dont-know-how-to-solve-problem

You can review the links above to see what components you may want to add to the framework or align the framework with some of our promising practices for approaching community change. 

Thank you for submitting to our tool box. 

Thank you for submitting your question to the community toolbox and using Ask An Advisor!

There are several examples of questions for community needs surveys out in the field, but the questions you include will depend on your theory of change, your community's context, and the overall framework you bring in to the work. I have provided resources below to help get you started: 
/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-n...

I approach community needs assessment very systematically - first in discussion with communities to learn more about their experiences and priorities. Once you do some of that initial work, which you may have already, you want to bring in theory or a guiding framework in terms of what it is you hope to understand that is needed for community change AND aligns with the priorities of communities. I encourage you to view this as a broader approach to the community needs assessment as that will influence the impact you can make with it! 

One example is seen in the Gen County Community Needs Assessment Survey: https://gfhc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/hc726-CHNA-Report-2022_web.pdf. This community needs assessment applied the SDOH framework to help guide the design of questions, they also brought in community representatives to help with the instruments and data collection. Overall, your questions will depend on several factors and there isn't a template you can just copy and implement across all communities because every community is different. These assessments typically work better when you tailor them in collaboration with community members. 

You can review other examples on this page: /en/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/examples

Another idea to consider is having community member representatives help you shape the questions so that the design is culturally responsive and inclusive of the community's context. Is there a partner group you could possibly pilot questions with or elicit additional questions from? Perhaps conducting a quick scan of what kind of needs assessment the community has already done might also be helpful so that you dont ask the same questions (unless they are dated) and you can identify more relevant questions to understanding current priorities.

I also prioritize assets and strongly recommend this to other practitioners. As you build the needs assessment, you can build in questions that explore assets, expanding on needs, while also understanding the strengths that communities rely on and utilize as support resources. This question could be as simple as an open-ended item that allows folks to respond to: "What are some of the strengths you see in your community."

Hope that this helps and best of luck in your approach to the needs assessment. Feel free to post any additional questions as you learn more about the community's experiences. 

Dear Ida

I agree with you that most Self Efficacy Scales are designed (and validated) for students. On the CTB website, you can find an example (Toolkit n. 12, Evaluating the Initiative, Example n. 3, Depression Self-Management for Rural Women with Disabilities) which used the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, whose items have been “modeled after the types of items used by Lorig et al. (1996)” and constructed to assess behaviors of participants.  Lorig is an author who explores particularly health issues [Lorig, K., Chastain, R. L., Ung, E., Shoor, S., & Holman, H. R. (1989). Development and evaluation of a scale to measure perceived self‐efficacy in people with arthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism: Official Journal of the American College of Rheumatology, 32(1), 37-44.); Ritter, P. L., Sheth, K., Stewart, A. L., Gallagher-Thompson, D., & Lorig, K. (2022). Development and evaluation of the eight-item Caregiver Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES-8). The Gerontologist, 62(3), 140-149].
You may think about a way of proceeding like the Example n. 3, so “modeling” items to assess aspects related to your research and intervention design.
Hoping to have been helpful enough…. and many thanks for asking Community Tool Box!

Dear Kunbi
Many thanks for asking Community Tool Box.
We surely have a lot of suggestions you can use, and I think they will be useful. See the Toolkits on the website (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/toolkits) - specifically Toolkit n. 2. Assessing Community Needs and Resources, which guides conducting assessments of community needs and resources. 
I also found another interesting example in Chapter 3, Section 1 Developing a Plan for Identifying Local Needs and Resources, which also includes a PowerPoint summarizing how to plan a needs assessment. I used it in my action research, and I found it helpful.
Best wishes for your work!

Great work on your projects!
About Data Dissemination, you can find helpful suggestions on Community Tool Box website Chapter 1. Section 5. “Our Evaluation Model: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives”, and particularly Paragraph 5. Promoting Dissemination.
To find research mentors, we are sorry, but CTB cannot retrieve such opportunities for you. Perhaps, you can ask directly some colleagues members of SCRA, or – more easily – look for them between PhD students in a university close to your practice.
Thank you for your interest in CTB!
Best greetings

Hi Charisse, great question, and with an aging population timely too! Thank you. Example 4: "Tai Chi in the Parks" - Participatory Evaluation in Lima, Peru. This example discusses a program called Tai Chi in the Parks, which is a fantastic daily activity for the elderly. While this example focuses on the evaluation of the program it provides a nice overview, and if you scroll down to the preparation heading, you'll see a lot of organizations which offer Tai Chi programs. So, Tai Chi. Farashe Yoga for Healthy Living While not necessarily an elder-specific program it certainly can be tailored to that population - my 97 year old mother, for example, does chair yoga three times a week and loves it. So, Yoga. Here is an out of the box idea: leadership development. Chapter 13., Section 7. Encouraging Leadership Development Across the Life Span - Main Section Scroll down a ways to the Elder Statespersons (50 - 65) heading and read through that short section, likewise, the next section Retired Persons and Seniors. So in answer to your question Charisse, Tai Chi, Yoga, and leadership development (which includes advocacy and volunteering) are three excellent activities for elders. Do hope this information helps. If not, don't hesitate to get back in touch, that's what I'm here for, to get you an accurate and timely answer! With that I bid you a great day. Be well, take care.

Hi Angel, all apologies for the delay in my reply, I'm having tech issues with my laptop so have to work off my phone, again apologies. Thanks for the great question and I hope you find my answer suits your needs, if not feel free to contact me again and I will work to get you the answer you seek. First, we have a lot of free training within our Learn a Skill section, top left button on our homepage, which is self-paced and provides a myriad of resources for each skill you're learning. If you're looking for training in a specific area that you're not seeing as you scroll down the chapters simply us our search function at the top of our homepage and I'm pretty certain you'll find what you need. Admittedly, there IS a lot of information contained in the Tool Box, it is designed to be all-inclusive and provide you with nearly every tool you need to be successful in your endeavors. Full disclosure, it does take some time and effort on your part to find exactly the kind of training, or tools, you need but it's worth it - plus, you might find other skills and resources you didn't realize you needed!. Second, we do offer very low-cost training ($15 per training module, well below market value) in 16 key community building skills which I highly encourage you to enroll in as it is top-notch and widely acclaimed, provided of course it's the trying you want.  If you click on the Services button, top right on the homepage, you'll see that we offer capacity building training and on-line training courses. So, Angel, the Community Tool Box can train you in a myriad of skills through our Learn a Skill section for free, or you can take a low-cost training course as part of the services we offer. I do hope the information provided will be useful, if not just give me a holler. With that I wish you and yours the very best of success in all your pursuits. The Advisor

Professor Grӧhbiel, welcome to the Community Tool Box and Ask an Advisor. You seem to already be familiar with what the CTB has to offer and we’re really pleased you consider it to be a valuable resource. That said, in reading your question I think you might consider clicking on the often overlooked “Services” button (top right hand corner of our home page) and then clicking on the “ Build Your Tool Box” link (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/build-your-toolbox) as it looks to me like what you’re talking about is what we call a “ mashup.” Let me explain. Given that we don’t have any information on eco-agriculture in small communities per se, a mashup would be an excellent way for you to partner with us to integrate and implement curated tools from the Tool Box to, in this case, enrich your two modules in terms of food security and poverty reduction, As noted in this section of the Tool Box we have supported mashups, or supports for taking action with many different types of partners so it would be an honor to partner with you. As we mention at the very end of this section, if you think creating a similar “mashup” of free Community Tool Box resources could be helpful to your efforts, please contact us at toolbox@ku.edu or 785.864.0533 and we’ll talk through your ideas. I hope you find this information useful, if not please do not hesitate to re-engage with us through Ask an Advisor and I will do my utmost to make sure you get the resources you need. Be well and take care, the Advisor.

Hi Julie,

Welcome to the Community Tool Box (CTB), thanks for dropping by. Let me take your second question first about updating the La Leche League of Florida information on the CTB. Truth be told, I did a search across our site for your organization but no joy in that regard. If it’s there and I missed it my apologies; I provided contact information below. By way of explanation, when the CTB talks about an organization it’s usually in the context of a concrete example of the way in which that organization and the staff therein have utilized a tool or resource found in the CTB. If the La Leche League of Floridia exemplifies some aspect of the CTB I’m sure it would be of interest to us, but who to contact specifically at the CTB with organization-specific information I’m not sure. Again, if I missed something about LLL here is our contact information:

Center for Community Health and Development
4082 Dole Human Development Center
1000 Sunnyside Avenue
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045-7555 (U.S.A.)

Telephone: (785) 864-0533
Fax: (785) 864-5281
Email: toolbox@ku.edu
Website: http://communityhealth.ku.edu

To your first point about starting a breastfeeding coalition, we have a ton of really useful information that I’d like to pass on. Most of the information about starting a coalition is found in chapter 5, sections 5 and 6 but there are other chapters and sections I think you’ll find useful as well. Some of these links lead to main sections, some to examples, and some to useful tools. I would start with chapter 5 and then expand from there as you have time – this is really good stuff, I hope you’ll agree. Here you go:

Chapter 5., Section 5. Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition - Main Section

Chapter 5., Section 6. Coalition Building II: Maintaining a Coalition - Main Section

1. Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships

Chapter 28., Section 8. Mindfulness and Community Building - Examples

Chapter 2., Section 10. The Strategic Prevention Framework - Tools

Chapter 13., Section 4. Building Teams: Broadening the Base for Leadership - Main Section

15. Improving Organizational Management and Development

12. There are unintended or unwanted outcomes.

So, Julie, I hope you find this information to your satisfaction, if not please get in touch again and I will make sure you get what you’re looking for. On behalf of the CTB I wish you much success in your coalition building endeavors.

 Be well and take care, 

Ask an Advisor   

Interesting query about free AI tools for public health application including the ability of these tools to conduct needs and capacity assessments, a query I’ve never encountered in all my time as an advisor, but certainly not an unreasonable ask given the ubiquity of AI tools with all sorts of applications. While I didn’t find any resources for you in the CTB I did use my own ChatGPT-5 account to see if I could conjure you up some sort of answer. Here’s my prompt (in using LLMs such as ChatGPT the prompt is the game) based on your query (I took a little license) and the results therefrom, hopefully no hallucinations. The results were prolific so you’ll have to sort through them to see if there is anything useful.

Prompt: I am looking for new AI tools that can be used for various public health applications. Ideally they would be free and be of great assistance in a Needs and Capacity Assessment.

Results: That’s a great question. There is increasing interest and activity in applying AI to public health problems, including needs assessments and capacity assessments. Below I’ll share some ideas and existing tools (free or open-source) you might consider, along with suggestions on how to combine or adapt them. (If you tell me your context — country, level [community, regional, national], and data availability — I can filter further.)

What to look for: functions useful in needs / capacity assessments

Before jumping into tools, here are key AI/enabling functionalities that tend to add value in needs & capacity assessments:

Existing Tools & Platforms You Can Explore

Here are several tools or frameworks (free, open-source, or low-cost) that align with the functionalities above. Some are general AI/ML tools; some are domain-specific

.How to Combine / Layer These Tools in a Needs & Capacity Assessment Pipeline

Here’s a schematic of how you might structure an AI-enabled needs + capacity assessment using a combination of the above kinds of tools:

1. Baseline readiness / capacity mapping
   • Use the PAHO Readiness Assessment Toolkit (or a localized adaptation) to map out existing capacities (data systems, workforce, governance, regulation).
   • Supplement with stakeholder interviews, document review.
   • Use NLP (even off-the-shelf LLMs) to help summarize and categorize document inputs.
2. Data gathering and integration
   • Ingest health facility data, population surveys, demographic data, geospatial layers, environmental data, etc.
   • Use DHIS2 (if relevant in your context) as a backbone for data storage, integration, dashboards.
   • Preprocess the data for missingness, consistency, normalization (use data science toolkits).
3. Exploratory analysis / gap detection
   • Use spatial analysis (SaTScan, GIS software) to find geographic gaps or clusters of need.
   • Use descriptive analytics to compute capacity indicators (e.g. ratio of staff per capita, equipment density, service coverage).
   • Apply anomaly detection or clustering algorithms on multisource data to flag underperforming or underserved areas.
4. Predictive modelling / risk scoring
   • Build models (e.g. via PyHealth or your own ML pipelines) to estimate the risk of service shortfall, disease burden, or resource stress under different scenarios.
   • Use scenario modeling: e.g. “if population grows by 20%” or “if disease incidence rises by 10%,” what capacities will break?
5. Visualization & decision support
   • Create dashboards or interactive visualizations tied to maps, capacity indicators, scenario outputs.
   • Use these visual tools to present to stakeholders, engage communities, validate findings.
6. Iterative validation & stakeholder refinement
   • Hold workshops where stakeholders review the outputs; feed their feedback back into refining models, weightings, or assumptions.
   • Use “explainable AI” techniques (e.g. Shapley values, feature importance) to show what factors drive predicted gaps or risks, so stakeholders can interpret and trust results.
7. Sustainability / monitoring & updating
   • Plan for how to update the models regularly as new data arrive.
   • Use validation tools (e.g. Epic’s open validation or your own local validation protocol) to monitor model performance over time.

Free / Low-Cost AI / LLM Tools You Can Leverage Immediately

In addition to the domain-specific tools above, you can use more general AI / large language model (LLM) tools (many have free tiers) to accelerate specific tasks:

• OpenAI / ChatGPT / GPT-4 / open-source models (e.g. LLaMA, GPT-NeoX, etc.)
  Use LLMs to help with:
  • Writing survey instruments, interview guides, logic models, data analysis plans
  • Summarizing qualitative responses
  • Suggesting relevant indicators, benchmarks, and literature
  • Generating stakeholder mapping templates or gap matrices
  • Proofreading, internal reports
    Just be careful to validate outputs — LLMs can hallucinate or misinterpret domain nuance.
• Topic modeling / NLP toolkits (e.g. spaCy, gensim, Hugging Face)
  Useful for analyzing large volumes of text (e.g. community feedback, open-ended survey answers, policy documents).
• AutoML / no-code AI tools with free tiers
  Some platforms (e.g. Google AutoML, Microsoft Azure’s free tiers, Hugging Face’s open tools) allow you to build simple predictive models without deep coding. These can help with demand forecasting or gap prediction if your data are modest.
• Data visualization tools (e.g. Kepler.gl, Dash, Streamlit, Superset)
  Useful to build interactive maps and dashboards at low cost.

Practical Tips & Considerations

• Data privacy, ethics, and bias: Make sure to anonymize personal data, comply with local laws (e.g. HIPAA, GDPR, or local data protection rules). Be wary of biases in training data that may lead AI to reinforce inequities.
• Stakeholder engagement & “human in the loop”: AI should assist, not replace domain experts. Use stakeholder review to ground-check AI-generated insights.
• Validation & transparency: For any model or analytic output, perform proper validation (hold-out test sets, cross-validation). Use explainability techniques so that the “black box” isn’t opaque to decision-makers.
• Simplicity is okay: You don’t always need deep neural networks. Sometimes simple regression, clustering, or spatial statistics will provide more robust, interpretable, and trustworthy outputs.
• Capacity building: Build local AI / data science capacity so that your assessment isn’t one-off but the start of ongoing analytics. The readiness assessment step helps here.
• Modular approach: Start with a small module (e.g. gap mapping in one domain) before scaling to full-blown AI integration. That way, you can pilot, learn, and adjust.

If you like, I can curate a custom toolset (open-source and free) for your specific country/context (e.g. Indonesia, Kenya, USA, etc.) or for your scale (district, state, national). Would you prefer I build that for you? (FYI, this was ChatGPT asking, not me)

Okay, I think that’s it for now, if you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask, that’s what we’re here for. Best of success in your public health endeavors, be well, take care, Ask an Advisor.

Thank you for getting in touch with us here at the Community Tool Box (CTB) and for your great questions. The CTB has resources in chapter 3 that are total money about accessing the community AND addressing your second question, the links are provided for you here. There is a lot of information provided in this chapter, but it will be well worth your time and effort to read it through in its entirety.

Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and Resources
Learn how to identify and assess community concerns, needs, and assets.

o    Section 1.Developing a Plan for Assessing Local Needs and Resources
o    Section 2.Understanding and Describing the Community
o    Section 3.Conducting Public Forums and Listening Sessions
o    Section 4.Collecting Information about the Problem
o    Section 5.Analyzing Community Problems
o    Section 6.Conducting Focus Groups
o    Section 7.Conducting Needs Assessment Surveys
o    Section 8.Identifying Community Assets and Resources
o    Section 9.Developing Baseline Measures
o    Section 10.Conducting Concerns Surveys
o    Section 11.Determining Service Utilization
o    Section 12.Conducting Interviews
o    Section 13.Conducting Surveys
o    Section 14.SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
o    Section 15.Qualitative Methods to Assess Community Issues
o    Section 16.Geographic Information Systems: Tools for Community Mapping
o    Section 17.Leading a Community Dialogue on Building a Healthy Community
o    Section 18.Creating and Using Community Report Cards
o    Section 19.Using Public Records and Archival Data
o    Section 20.Implementing Photovoice in Your Community
o    Section 21.Windshield and Walking Surveys
o    Section 22.Using Small Area Analysis to Uncover Disparities
o    Section 23.Developing and Using Criteria and Processes to Set Priorities
o    Section 24.Arranging Assessments That Span Jurisdictions 
Okay, I hope these resources are helpful, if not, please feel free to contact us again and we’ll do everything we can to get you what you need. Best of success in your endeavors.
Be well and take care,
Ask an Advisor.

Welcome to the Community Tool Box (CTB), we’re glad you stopped by. That’s an interesting question, and to answer, in part, yes, we offer advice to anyone about community building and development no matter where they are in the world, in fact many of the examples found in the CTB are provided by organizations such as your friend’s; we are truly global in our scope and reach. To the second part of your question, helping with contracts, is, sorry to say, outside our purview. What we do have in the CTB are examples from organizations which provide job training but not necessarily about contract work in the United States. While the examples I offer here are not wholly analogous to the kind of job training and contract work might be providing, they are illustrative and might prove useful. Not helpful in securing US contracts I know but perhaps of interest. Please share the links with your friend.

The Jewish Family & Children's Service designed the "Soups and Sweets" culinary training program to provide young adults with special needs an opportunity to gain marketable, transferable food service skills. The goal of the program is to increase paid employment opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities. 

 https://ctb.ku.edu/en/community-stories/soups_and_sweets  

The Empowerment Group’s Entrepreneurship Program trains low-income entrepreneurs in the skills they need to create sustainable businesses in the city of Philadelphia. The group helps educate individuals on the benefits of community businesses: self-employment, additional jobs for low-income individuals, and increased commercial activity.

https://ctb.ku.edu/en/empowerment-group-philadelphia 

The Empowering Girls Through Skills, Knowledge, and Leadership project was implemented to achieve the following objectives:

1. To train 90 girls in slum areas in Tando Muhammad Khan City on basic and advanced computer skills;
2. To provide career counseling, awareness, and job skills training to 90 girls;
3. To establish a Girls Youth Resource Center (GYRC) in order to provide a platform for freedom of expressions, views and discussion;
4. To build the capacity of 30 girls on social activism and understanding of social issues ranging from confidence building, life skills, HIV/AIDS, RH problems, gender, human rights, social activism, and leadership.

https://ctb.ku.edu/en/empowering-girls-knowledge-leadership 

Vocational Skills Training for People Affected by HIV / AIDS has been working closely with a Japanese church located in Mbarara District to improve the quality of life for the children in the area by providing vocational skills to the children and widows thereby helping the community reduce poverty, become self-sustaining, and also to start up small, income-generating businesses.

https://ctb.ku.edu/en/annovoc-vocational-training 

One last resource which your friend might find useful is found in CTB Chapter 12. Providing Training and Technical Assistance in which they might learn more about how to design and deliver training and technical assistance, not that they need it mind, but it might offer some useful tips of which they have yet to consider. I think the following sections will be of particular use:

• Section 2.Designing a Training Session
• Section 3.Delivering a Training Session
• Section 4.Conducting a Workshop

Well, I don’t think we were fully able to answer your question, regrettable, but please pass on the CTB resources listed here as your friend might find them useful in some way. With that, on behalf of the CTB I thank you for your question and if you have another question do let us know. Much success to you and your friend, be well, take care. Ask an Advisor

That’s a great question, and you’d probably get a different take on it from everyone you ask. 

Here’s how the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) (Community Psychology, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association, a network of Community Psychologists) defines it: 

Social justice. Action-oriented research. Global in nature. Influencing public policy. Working for empowerment. Multidisciplinary in focus. Celebrating culture. Preventing harm. behavior in context. Social action. Supporting community strengths. Reducing oppression. Promoting well-being. Scientific inquiry. Honoring human rights. Respecting diversity.

Community psychology goes beyond an individual focus and integrates social, cultural, economic, political, environmental, and international influences to promote positive change, health, and empowerment at individual and systemic levels.

Another definition that might be useful is from NOBA (a learning community that offers free psychology modules and textbooks):

Community Psychology is the branch of psychology that seeks to understand complex individual–environment interactions in order to bring about social change, particularly for those who have limited resources and opportunities. … Over the past five decades, the field of Community Psychology has matured with recurring themes of prevention, social justice, and an ecological understanding of people within their environments.

In my words, Community Psychology is an organized, rigorous approach to working for change. Community Psychology has an agenda: social justice. Community Psychologists (CPs) look at the big picture, and we have a critical analysis of systemic power imbalances, oppression, discrimination, and complex social issues. We engage communities and facilitate people from across sectors and disciplines coming together and building comprehensive strategies and solutions, always with an eye to improving quality of life, particularly for communities that are marginalized. We draw on community strengths to co-create multi-pronged strategies for achieving equity and fairness for all people, whatever their background, identity, or life experiences. 

We know it’s important to meet people where they’re at, and to respect and integrate their ways of knowing and being into the work we do together. Our processes are participatory, empowering, and holistic - we focus on well-being, and on building community strengths, capacities, and confidence. We care about the long-term health of people and the planet, and we promote eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable practices. We strive to build belonging and a sense of community for everyone.

We have lots of tools and processes we can draw on, and they can be applied in different settings and address different issues. Some of our tools are:

• community-based research
• evaluation
• strategic planning
• facilitation
• adult education
• coalition building
• influencing policy
• advocacy

A final point is that we recognize our subjectivity - we are not neutral, objective observers. Instead we reflect on and articulate how our values, assumptions, and life experiences influence our work; we support each other in surfacing biases and hidden assumptions, and identifying how they affect the way we bring ourselves to the work.

Resources

If you want to know more, here are some resources you might want to check out:

• Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA)
• The Nature and Core Values of Community Psychology
• Competencies for Community Psychology Practice
• Noba Project – Introduction to Community Psychology

It’s been an interesting process trying to articulate a definition, and thinking about how I would describe Community Psychology, so thanks for asking the question!

Thanks for this important question. I did a quick search, and I’ll summarize what I found about reducing substance misuse. Then I’ll share a couple of thoughts about other ways I think your activities are extremely beneficial.

Building Protective Factors to Reduce Substance Misuse

Research suggests that in-person intergenerational relationships, particularly mentoring between older adults and youth, can strengthen protective factors such as social connectedness, resilience, and self-efficacy—all of which are associated with reduced risk of substance misuse. 

One Intergenerational program, Across Ages, demonstrated improvements in social and emotional development, family bonding, and school engagement—key mediators of substance use prevention. LoSciuto et al. (1996) found that youth in the Across Ages program exhibited higher self-control and stronger attachments to family and school compared to controls, though direct effects on substance use were not sustained. Similarly, SAMHSA (2021) identifies bonding with prosocial adults and engagement in community activities as key protective factors that buffer against substance-use risk.

More recently, Kaufman et al. (2023) examined mentor–mentee conversations among African American youth and reported that these relationships enhanced protective communication and belonging, though no significant reductions in substance use were observed. Campbell et al. (2024) conducted a systematic review of intergenerational programs and found that such activities improved youth mental health and well-being—factors indirectly related to substance-use prevention. Phillippi et al. (2025) explored mentoring youth affected by familial substance use and found that mentorship buffered emotional stress and enhanced resilience, though quantitative effect sizes were not provided. Ongoing trials, such as Boering et al. (2024), continue to examine youth-initiated mentoring and its impact on delinquency, resilience, and potential reductions in substance misuse.

Collectively, these findings suggest that intergenerational mentorship has a positive but indirect influence on substance-use outcomes by reinforcing psychosocial protective factors rather than directly suppressing use behaviours. The strongest benefits appear when programs ensure long-term, consistent mentoring relationships (12 months or longer) and integrate mentorship into broader prevention frameworks involving families, schools, and communities (Erdem & Kaufman, 2020).

Several mechanisms explain the benefits of the intergenerational connections that were observed:

• Social modeling: Exposure to positive adult role models helps youth learn adaptive coping and prosocial behaviour.
• Emotional regulation and belonging: Supportive adult relationships decrease isolation and increase resilience.
• Monitoring and accountability: Adult mentors provide informal supervision and guidance that mitigate peer pressure.
• Enhanced self-efficacy: Consistent reinforcement of achievement expectations and future orientation strengthens resistance to risk behaviours.
  
   

It’s important to note that despite the conceptual and preliminary empirical support, very few studies include effect sizes or longitudinal substance-use measures. Few explicitly target opioids or other high-risk substances, focusing primarily on alcohol and cannabis. Intergenerational mentoring research remains largely descriptive, and outcomes vary with mentor quality, match stability, and program duration. 

Other ways these Activities Could be Helpful

I was really excited when you mentioned  the artifacts you have collected over the years documenting prevention initiatives, because:  

1. The kinds of artifacts you have collected are extremely useful for helping an organization or initiative tell its story, develop its theory of change, communicate its work, evaluate its work, and build connections among team members. You could, for example, ask a team to co-create a timeline of the program’s work (using the artifacts as props to get started). The exercise helps everyone deepen their shared understanding of the work, and it helps everyone see each other’s places in the work. I have led this kind of exercise with tremendous success (in fact I’ve had trouble tearing people away from it).

2. Relationships are key to everything. The Collective Impact approach for example, recognizes that strong relationships are at the heart of meaningful change (Kania & Kramer, 2011). The kinds of intergenerational activities you’ve been doing help build relationships across generations, and among program partners to the extent that they are involved as well. Partners who trust and respect each other listen, learn, and collaborate with honesty and care, which facilitates them aligning their efforts and adapting more easily as circumstances change (Smart, 2017).

I’m sure you’re aware of these benefits because you’re doing these things - and I think it bears emphasizing here.

References

Boering, M., van der Helm, G., & van Vugt, E. (2024). Effectiveness, working mechanisms, and implementation of youth-initiated mentoring for juvenile delinquents: A multiple-methods study protocol. Health & Justice, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-024-00258-9

Campbell, P., Hennessy, E., O’Shea, E., & Gleeson, J. (2024). What is the effect of intergenerational activities on children and adolescents’ mental health and well-being? A systematic review. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 31(4), e1429. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1429

Erdem, G., & Kaufman, M. R. (2020). Mentoring for preventing and reducing substance use and associated risks among youth: Outcome review. National Mentoring Resource Center. https://nationalmentoringresourcecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mentoring_for_Preventing_and_Reducing_Substance_Use_and_Associated_Risks_Among_Youth_Outcome_Review.pdf

Kania, J., & Kramer, M. (2011, Winter). Collective impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 9(1), 36-41. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact Stanford Social Innovation Review+2Harvard Business School+2

Kaufman, M. R., Clark, D., & Johnson, S. (2023). Preventing substance use among urban, African American youth: The potential of mentor–mentee conversations. Journal of Adolescent Research, 38(5), 612–634. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10615866/

LoSciuto, L., Rajala, A. K., Townsend, T. N., & Taylor, A. S. (1996). An evaluation of the Across Ages intergenerational mentoring approach to drug prevention. Journal of Adolescent Research, 11(1), 116–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743554896111007

Phillippi, J., Roberts, A., & Smith, L. (2025). Impacting the substance abuse epidemic in America: Mentors of youth experiencing familial substance use disorders. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41075745/

SAMHSA. (2021). Risk and protective factors for substance misuse in childhood. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/sptac-risk-protective-factors-substance-misuse-childhood.pdf

Smart, J. (2017). Collective impact: Evidence and implications for practice. Child Family Community Australia, Australian Institute of Family Studies. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/practice-guides/collective-impact-evidence-and-implications-practice

I’m sure a lot of organizations will be interested in your question, thanks for asking. 

Advocacy (i.e., influencing policy, systems change, public-decision-making) is often central to Community Psychology/Community Development work — not only when it comes to service delivery but also for changing underlying structures. The Community Tool Box defines legislative advocacy as one key way for groups to push system-level change. Community Tool Box

But many funders and traditional program grants focus on direct service delivery rather than advocacy or infrastructure (such as staff time for policy work). Without dedicated staff time, advocacy tends to be ad hoc or layered on top of service work, which could contribute to burnout and undermine the sustained impact of the organization.

Funding Strategies for Staff Time in Advocacy

Here are some strategies Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) use for funding staff time for advocacy:

• General operating/unrestricted funding: securing funding that covers salary/benefits (or a portion) for staff whose role includes advocacy (policy, systems change). This strategy helps avoid the “project only” trap. Chapter 46, Section 4 of the Community Tool Box emphasises sustaining positions through core funding. You’ll need to articulate the role, the time allocation, and the expected outcomes of the advocacy work.

• Program grants with an advocacy component: traditional program grants that include a portion of staff time for advocacy/ policy work. For example, a grant might say: “X hours/week on policy/legislative work”.  Chapter 25, Section 5 of the Community Tool Box notes that organizations have to be clear about what counts as advocacy vs. service, tracking time, and ensuring alignment with funder terms.

• Coalition or multi-organization funding/backbone support CBOs partner with others and share or pool staff time (e.g., a coalition lawyer, a community organizer). Chapter 46, Section 6 of the Community Tool Box addresses sharing staff or time across organizations, which can be useful for smaller organizations that cannot fund full-time advocacy staff alone.

• Hybrid or earned-revenue models:some organizations develop fee-for-service, social enterprise or contract components to free up advocacy staff time. Research on “creative financing” in human service organizations notes using innovative funding strategies to support infrastructure, including staffing (Jaramillo et al., 2019).

• Dedicated advocacy or policy grants/foundations: some foundations explicitly support advocacy staffing (though fewer than service grants). See Potential Funding Sources below. 

• Government contracts/public funding for advocacy-adjacent work: In some cases, public agencies fund CBOs for policy-related roles (e.g., community engagement, systems change). The National Council of Nonprofits highlights possibilities for nonprofits to be eligible for, e.g., fiscal-recovery funds if they define projects that government decision-makers will recognize. 

Challenges & Strategies for Addressing Them

Some of the challenges you could face include: 

Challenge: Funders restrict advocacy/lobbying or are uncomfortable funding policy work.

Mitigation: Clarify distinction between “educating policy-makers” and “lobbying for/against specific legislation”, and ensure compliance. Chapter 33, Section 10 of the Community Tool Box provides guidance on what counts as lobbying.

 

Challenge: Staff burnout if advocacy is layered on top of heavy service loads.

Mitigation: Protect dedicated time for advocacy in job descriptions, monitor workload, build partnerships to share advocacy commitments.

 

Challenge: Advocacy outcomes can take longer than service outcomes, making it harder to demonstrate immediate deliverables.

Mitigation: Set short-term indicators (meetings, policy drafts, coalition formation) and frame them as steps toward longer change. Using an evaluation dashboard can help track the indicators.

 

Challenge: Sustaining funding for advocacy staff across funding cycles.

Mitigation: Build diversified funding streams, showcase impact, and foster relationships with funders who value systems change.

 

There are some practical steps you can take when you are building a plan to fund staff time for advocacy.

Clarify the advocacy role and time allocation

• Define what “advocacy” means for your organization (policy briefs? community mobilization? systems-change partnerships?). See Chapter 33 , Section 10 of the Community Tool Box for definitions and checklists.
• Estimate time required for advocacy activities and build this into job descriptions/budgets. See Chapter 25, Section 5 of the Community Tool Box
• Build a logical link between staff time and outcomes (e.g., policy change, increased funding, shifting decision-maker behaviour).
  
   

Budget advocacy time explicitly in grants/contracts

 

• When drafting program budgets, include a line item for “Advocacy staff: X % FTE” or “Policy & systems change coordinator, X hrs/week” and attach outcomes.
• In proposals, make the case for why advocacy is core to your mission, not a side activity. See Chapter 25, Section 5 of the Community Tool Box for language about “changing policies” as part of your strategy.
• For multi-year funding, make sure the advocacy role is sustainable, not just a one-off.
  
   

Seek flexible/unrestricted funding for infrastructure

 

• Apply for general-operating or core-funding grants that allow staff time for advocacy. Although these can be harder to secure, they are critical for sustainability. 
• Develop relationships with funders (or community foundations) who have expressed interest in policy change/systems change work.
  
   

Collaborate and share advocacy roles

 

• Partner with other CBOs and share advocacy staff time or coalition positions (e.g., one full-time coordinator serving several smaller orgs). Chapter 46, Section 6 of the Community Tool Box for a guide.
• This spreads cost, increases reach, and may make funders more willing to support.
  
   

Track and report advocacy time and outcomes

 

• Set up systems to track hours devoted to advocacy. Use surveys, timesheets, staff logs.
• Report outcomes: e.g., number of meetings with policy-makers, changes achieved, decision-maker commitments, community mobilization results. See Chapter 25, Section 5 of the Community Tool Box for information about planning measurable goals. 

Make the case to funders

 

• Use evidence that advocacy produces change: e.g., “nonprofits that engage in policy work can achieve systems-level change as well as program-level outcomes” See Candid.
• Highlight how advocacy staff time is not an add-on but integral to mission and long-term sustainability.

Funders Supporting Advocacy, Systems Change & Staff Infrastructure

I asked ChatGPT for a list of U.S - based funders that support advocacy, policy change, systems change, capacity-building or staff infrastructure in nonprofit/community-based settings, and here is the list it generated:

Ben & Jerry’s Foundation: Offers unrestricted operating grants for grassroots organizing (typically budgets under US $350K). Designed for community-based groups doing advocacy and systems-change work.

Campbell Foundation: Provides capacity-building and operational support that can include staffing, infrastructure, and professional development for advocacy.

Carnegie Corporation of New York: Funds work advancing education, democracy, and civic engagement — including policy and advocacy initiatives.

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation: Offers capacity-building grants (US $100K–$250K) for nonprofit organizational development, which can include staff time for advocacy.

Ford Foundation: One of the largest social-justice funders globally; supports advocacy, equity, and systems-change work through general operating and multi-year grants.

Foundation for Systemic Change: Dedicated to supporting organizations promoting deep, structural social change — flexible funding that can cover advocacy staffing.

Meyer Foundation: Focuses on organizations using advocacy, organizing, and base-building to challenge inequitable systems. Provides flexible, general-operating support.

Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF):  Provides financing and consulting to strengthen nonprofit infrastructure — helping organizations sustain staff time and operations for advocacy work.

Open Society Foundations (OSF): Global leader in funding advocacy, governance, human rights, and justice work; supports NGOs engaging in policy and systems reform.

Public Welfare Foundation:  Supports justice, worker rights, and systems-change advocacy; funds organizing, policy development, and leadership roles.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): Major national health-equity funder supporting policy and systems-change initiatives that improve community well-being.

Smith Richardson Foundation: Funds public-policy research and advocacy aimed at strengthening democracy and effective governance.

William & Flora Hewlett Foundation: Supports civic engagement, education, and environmental advocacy; offers flexible funding for policy and systems-change work.

William T. Grant Foundation: Funds capacity-building and policy research focused on youth and systems improvement — often includes staffing and evaluation roles.

Thanks for your question. I’m going to answer broadly, focusing on the value of writing letters to officials and the media as an advocacy tool. I’ll use the topic of lowering the voting age as an example.

Why write to officials and the media?

Amplify your voice and reach broader audiences
 

• A letter to the editor reaches not just your friends or members of your group, but a wider public audience.
• A carefully addressed letter to an elected official shows that constituents are paying attention and care about the issue. This is a good way to explain how an issue affects you or your group and demonstrate to an official that their constituents are aware of an issue,  which can build your credibility.
   

Influence public opinion and decision‐makers
 

• Media letters become part of public deliberation, shifting how others view the issue, which in turn creates pressure on decision-makers. 
• For officials, letters signal constituent interest (or concern). This helps shape how they prioritize issues.
   

Sustain momentum and keep issues visible
 

• Advocacy isn’t just about one event; it’s about maintaining presence and dialogue. Sending several letters over time helps keep the issue from disappearing.
• A letter to the editor can spark further media coverage, amplify visibility, and invite additional community engagement. 
   

Humanize the issue, show impact
 

• When you describe how a policy or proposal affects real lives (yours or others’) it makes the message more compelling. For officials, this helps them see the impact beyond abstract statistics. 
• In media letters, using a short, clear statement of fact and a personal story helps make your point.

Sample Issue: Lowering the Voting Age

Imagine your organization is advocating for lowering the voting age (for example, from 18 to 16). Here are some considerations for leveraging letters effectively:

To an elected official:
 

• Introduce yourself and explain why the issue matters (e.g., your organization works with youth civic engagement).
• Briefly explain how lowering the voting age would affect your community (e.g., “Allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote would increase civic participation, reflect the lived experience of young people who pay taxes, and promote lifelong habits of engagement”).
• Provide one or two concise data points or stories (for instance, youth engagement, education on citizenship, or comparative jurisdictions where the age is lower).
• Clearly ask the official what you want: (e.g., “I urge you to support the proposed bill to lower the voting age and sponsor amendments to ensure youth voices are included in the electoral process.)”
• Thank them for their time and offer your support (e.g., “Our organization would be pleased to assist with youth consultation sessions”).
• Include your full name, title, organization, and contact details
   

To a newspaper (letter to the editor):
 

• Address the editor and reference a recent article about voter turnout or youth engagement to tie your letter to media coverage (important for chance of publication). 
• Hook readers with a strong opening: e.g., “Why should a 16-year-old who is paying taxes not also have a say in who shapes those tax decisions?”
• Explain why the voting age matters, using a brief fact or personal story: (e.g., “In communities across my state, youth are volunteering, paying workplace taxes and caring for siblings — yet they remain voiceless at the ballot box.)”
• Make the call to action: “I encourage your readers and decision-makers to consider the merits of lowering the voting age to 16 and wiring our democracy to include all voices who are already contributing.”
• Keep it concise (under ~300 words) and provide your name, city, and perhaps role. 
• If you get published, share it widely among your networks to amplify the message.
   

Tips

• Be timely: A letter sent shortly after relevant coverage or ahead of a vote will carry more weight. 
• Choose one strong point: Don’t overload your letter with too many arguments. Focus on your most compelling reason.
• Write clearly, simply and respectfully: Avoid jargon. Editors favour letters that are brief, direct and free of personal attacks.
• Use credible evidence + personal story: While the issue is larger, you bring a unique voice.
• Offer your contact details: For both editors and officials, this increases legitimacy and opens further communication.
• Follow up: If writing to an official, keep the conversation going. If your media letter is published, use the momentum to invite further action.

Resources

See Community Tool Box Chapter 33, Section 1 for information and tools about how to create both printed and electronic communications to maximize reading and get a positive response.

See Community Tool Box Chapter 33, Section 2 for information and tools about writing and sending effective print and e-mailed letters to editors of various media types.

The Community Tool Box is a Creative Commons publication, so we encourage users to share the materials. We have a suggested written citation (example below) if you are printing material that will use or reference Tool Box materials:

KU Center for Community Health and Development. 2025. Chapter 3, Section 7: Conducting Needs Assessment Surveys. University of Kansas. Retrieved December 1, 2025, from the Community Tool Box: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conducting-needs-assessment-surveys/main.

If you are not printing materials, we kindly request that, within your presentation, after referencing the Tool Box materials, you acknowledge its origin from the Community Tool Box and provide the web address of the home page: ctb.ku.edu.

Learn more about our Use Policy here.

Hello,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful message, and for sharing your interest in strengthening cultural transmission and belonging through intergenerational traditional music groups. It’s wonderful to hear how you hope to integrate community-oriented approaches into your work, and we’re glad to know the Community Tool Box (CTB) has been useful in that journey. While we’re not able to offer guidance on formal research design or specific funding sources, we can share some CTB resources and general considerations that may support your thinking from a community-building perspective.

Exploring community-connected evidence and examples
Although the CTB doesn’t maintain a database of academic studies, you might find useful concepts in sections focused on cultural identity, intergenerational engagement, and strengthening sense of community, such as:

• Assessing community needs and assets (helpful for understanding where traditional music already lives in the community)
• Understanding culture and diversity in building healthy communities
• Developing a framework or model of change
• Encouraging involvement in community work (especially among varied age groups)

These resources can help you think about how a music-based group might support belonging, cultural connection, and community participation.

Considering feasibility from a community-development lens
From a community-building perspective, starting a group like this often begins with:

• Identifying community partners or local leaders already engaged in traditional Irish music
• Learning from existing intergenerational initiatives (formal or informal)
• Holding small listening sessions or conversations to understand community interest and readiness
• Beginning with a pilot group to explore what participation looks and feels like across generations

These steps align well with many community-engagement approaches, which can be found throughout the CTB.

Connecting with others
While we can’t advise on specific networks or funding initiatives, many CTB users find it helpful to explore local cultural organizations, arts councils, community centers, or heritage groups who may already support traditional arts or community music efforts. They can often provide insight into existing work and opportunities to collaborate.

Again, thank you for reaching out and for the care you’re putting into preserving and strengthening cultural heritage through community practice. We wish you the very best as you explore the early stages of this meaningful project.

Warm regards,
CTB Contributor

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out and for your commitment to supporting people in your community. While the Community Tool Box (CTB) cannot offer guidance specific to individual clinical situations or personal experiences, we can offer some general ideas about how community members and organizations often come together to build supportive initiatives.

For your first question, many communities strengthen comfort-care supports by forming small volunteer groups or partnerships with local organizations (such as faith communities, civic groups, or volunteer sew/knit circles). These groups often help gather donated items like blankets or cards, or assist with creating a welcoming environment for individuals receiving end-of-life care. Chapters 6 and 7 of the CTB include tools for engaging volunteers, building partnerships, and organizing community support for a shared goal.

For your second question, if a community group or organization decides to pursue funding for an initiative like this, the CTB provides guidance on the general process of preparing grant proposals. You may find the resources in Chapter 42 (“Getting Grants and Financial Resources”) helpful in learning how to define the need, outline a plan, and develop a proposal that aligns with a funder’s interests. 

Because every setting has its own policies and procedures, it can be useful to coordinate with your organization’s leadership to ensure any new effort aligns with existing guidelines and involves the appropriate internal partners.

We appreciate your initiative and hope these resources support you as you explore community-based approaches to this important work.

Warm regards,
CTB Contributor