The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine Bracht, Kingbury, and Rissel's five-stage community development model as applied to a grass-roots community action group. The sample consisted of low-income, predominantly Hispanic women in a community action group in a Southwestern barrio, some of whom were experiencing domestic violence. The…

This case study of one city's efforts to cope with homelessness centers around a conceptual model of consensus as a continuous process the nature of which is determined by the methods used to achieve consensus; the importance of maintaining consensus to the participants; the baseline consensus as interaction begins; and the political and public…

The need for a Gestalt Theory of neighborhood development was described in this paper. A model based on scale was developed in which small scale represents an isolated Appalachian who depends upon neighbors and kin and large scale represents a person who has developed a large number of relationships so that he is less dependent upon any one of…

This extension education publication contains insights and tools to help community members develop a strategic vision and action plan for their community. Presented first are an executive summary and an introduction that includes 10 reasons for a strategic visioning process. The first section, which deals with harnessing the power of vision,…

Ways in which community "visioning" can be used to generate support and action for community education are described in this paper. Six steps in the community visioning process are discussed: (1) preparing; (2) conducting a workshop; (3) obtaining community feedback; (4) action planning; (5) recruiting, implementing, and following up; and (6)…

A study examined how government agencies, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and community organizations in Latin America cooperate in development activities. A model outlines each sector's functions in service delivery, human resource development and training, resource mobilization, research, and public education; the stages of…

This report describes s a study that examined how seven groups in Edmonton, Alberta, used a community development model called Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping. The first three sections discuss the model's development and purpose and the methodology used to examine its application in community planning. Presented next are the results…

Decentralization and budget reduction in the public sector, and globalization and downsizing in the private sector have placed more responsibility on localities to address challenges to the health of their economies, ecosystems, and people. Community development theory and practice are also changing, evidenced by changes in vocabulary. Community…

Kentucky's SOS (Sharing Our Selves) Learning Networks are community-owned, volunteer-run, informal learning/development programs incorporating community needs and the skills/knowledge/experience of individuals regardless of academic credentials. The Cooperative Extension Service administers the programs. Interested community members list subjects…

Participation, empowerment, and sustainability are basic tenets of community development work of the Inter-American Foundation, but these are difficult to measure. The Grassroots Development Framework breaks these concepts into concrete, measurable components to evaluate sustainability over time and short-term cost/efficiency results of community…

This digest summarizes the underlying structure, concepts, and ideology of the Project NEXUS manual, "A Community Approach to an Integrated Service System" (CAISS). Project NEXUS is a 3-year project charged with the development and field-testing of a technical assistance manual to aid communities in the development and/or improvement of…

Since South Carolina's Title V Community and Resource Development (CRD) project is limited to one small rural county (Williamsburg) affording careful documentation, this paper explicates South Carolina's CRD process via a social action model. This project, then, is described in terms of the following model components: (1) community initiative…

Based on a panel presentation at the New England Personnel and Guidance Association meetings in 1966, this report describes a project initiated in response to community need in Roxbury by Harvard researchers and community members. Playroom 81, housed in a local basement, has utilized the aid of neighborhood mothers to provide babysitting services…

A guide for community leaders, extension staff, and community or rural development practitioners outlines the evolution of a regional training model for community-based problem solving in rural areas experiencing economic decline. The paper discusses the model's underlying concepts and implementation process and includes descriptions of four…

This document, third in a series by the Study Commission on Undergraduate Education and the Education of Teachers, is to be used in preparing the American educational community and specifically, institutions and people working at the reform of the undergraduate education of teachers, to think through the issues and plan reform programs envisaged…