Describes Project HELP, an innovative community self-help program in Nashville, Tennessee which was developed in response to the inability of certain populations to pay their utility bills, and which is staffed primarily with volunteers and funded exclusively through contributions. Reports on the program's first five years of operation, and…

The power-to-the-people, as evidenced by the increase in self-help groups, is a force that the social work profession must reckon with. This article discusses the nature of the challenge and its implications for professional practice. (Author)

Determined the extent to which social workers participate in self-help groups and examined their role in planning, developing, and supporting the groups continued existence. Results indicated that social workers perform important functions in supporting the growth and continued existence of self-help groups. (RC)