1. Asset Based Community Development
A Modest Introduction
Presented at the CCPH Summer Service-Learning Institute ~ June 2005

2. Why A B C D?
Opportunities disparity (for marginalized populations and communities)
Inconsistent and shrinking funds/resources
Shrinking political will
Victim-blaming
Unsuccessful social policies
Communities and their residents are disempowered
As we all know, things are getting worse for poor individuals and communities. The income gap is widening; the economic ladders of previous generations – unionized, solid-income employment for working class people, excellent public education – are disappearing
There is a political climate in which the poor are blamed for their circumstances;
While there are legitimate criticisms to be made of social services, all social programs tend to be lumped together and criticized in the public arena, and replaced with disinterest, lack of commitment to ANY policy that would shrink the widening gap
And it isn’t hard to find examples of social policies that have failed – to support the view that none will succeed – so clearly – a different view – a new paradigm is needed to rekindle belief and commitment to using social policy to narrow the disparity between rich and poor, and all of the marginalized social groups
Finally – perhaps most importantly – disempowerment has been written on the lives of many people and communities. Despite the potential riches they contain in energy, creativity, skill and talent, they lack confidence, self-efficacy and experience. They have been living as clients, molding their behaviors to that role. Something has to change

3. Why A B C D? Consistent with “democratic” principles
Empowerment
Social justice
Citizenship
Allows engagement with diverse communities
Supported by practice
Now, in a more positive vein, Asset based community development is consistent with democratic principles that go back to what de Tocqueville identified as uniquely American – the belief in the capacity of citizens to gather together, form associations in their own interest, and create a citizen’s space. The strength of an active and responsive citizenry
In an increasingly diverse world, there is not a one-size fits all approach to community development. Strategies must be locally relevant and culturally specific
Examination of successful programs underscores common themes and features – mobilization of local people, local talent; community definition of issues, processes, deep and broad mobilization of local people in their common interest

4. My first lesson in Mapping Assets

5. Traditional development vs A B C D
Needs, deficiencies, problems
Negative mental map
Client mentality
Resources go to social service agencies
Undermines local leadership
Dependency
Separates community
Outside in
Capacities, assets, dreams, strengths
Optimistic mental map
Citizen participation
Minimizes bureaucracy, resources to community
Builds local leadership and confidence
Empowerment
Builds connections
Inside out
The Asset based approach to community development was developed by John McNight, Jody Kretzmann and colleagues at Northwestern University. It begins with a critique of the standard, more social service agency orientation to community development. The standard approach begins with the fundamental belief that the community is broken. It creates problem lists, needs assessments, identifies inadequacies. In contrast, the Asset Based approach demands a major paradigm shift. This approach begins with what the community has. Its fundamental premise is that all communities have capacities, gifts, skills which, if identified, mobilized and applied can bring about significant economic and social change. Focusing on needs fails to harness the wisdom and strengths of community members – boxes them in and reinforces a client – fix me – mentality. Focusing on assets empowers individuals and communities

6. What’s wrong with the old way?
Deficiencies – define the entire picture
Problems become discrete units – not interlocking pieces
People become clients – “them” vs “us”
Resources ($$) goes to agencies, not to the community
Programs target individual needs, not community needs
Gives message that solutions come from outside
Individuals don’t connect with each other
Deepens the cycle of dependency
There’s a lot wrong with the old way
Essentially, the experience of people in the community is denied. Solutions come from outside. People’s experience of their problems as a network of interlocking issues is not reflected in the categorical, problem list approach to issues. Problems are seen as individual issues, people are seen and dealt with as individuals . The solutions don’t encourage people to connect with one another – they connect with social service providers – dependency is deepened. Leadership is not built; economic self-sufficiency will never be achieved

7. What’s good about A B C D?
Begins with what the community/individuals have
Can begin/be sustained without funding, grants
Builds leadership
Builds internal connections – no “them” vs “us”
Builds connections between community and the outside
Issues and solutions defined holistically – as they are experienced
Self-sufficiency/empowerment can be built
Ultimately, ABCD can lead to greater self-sufficiency and empowerment

8. Outside in – solutions come from outside, self-definition – broken, dependent on agencies
Inside out - solutions from inside, community fabric is built, self-definition - resourceful
In our increasingly diverse world, it is at our peril, that we fail to recognize and honor the values of a community. The following is a passage from Anne Fadiman’s “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” – a true account of the experiences of a Hmong child and her family as they interact with the medical system in a small community in California. Lia Lee a particularly virulent form of epilepsy. Both the illness itself, and the cultural divide are challenging – insurmountable – to the medical providers and the medical system – who are not unusually bad or insensitive. “Lia continued to have seizures,” said Peggy. “But was she having those seizures because she didn’t have enough phenobarbital in her blood or was she having seizures in spite of having enough phenobarbital in her blood? And if the parents weren’t giving what we told them to give, was it because they hadn’t understood or because they didn’t want to? We just couldn’t tell.” the absence of good interpreters was only part of the communication problem. Neil felt that Nao Kao put up a “stone wall” and was sometimes deliberately deceitful. Peggy felt that Foua (mother) was “either very stupid or a loonybird” because of her answers, even on those occasions when they were accurately translated, often didn’t make sense. Neither doctor could tell how much of their inability to get through was caused by what they perceived as defects of intelligence or moral character, and how much was caused by cultural barriers.
The Lee family, on the other hand, saw their daughter’s condition as something that made her special. They believed that rather than being in a hospital bed, the best way to keep their daughter safe and content – especially when she was ill – was to have her sleep next to them so they could comfort her.
The story goes on to describe a growing riff between the medical establishment and the Lee family – a riff that might have been averted if the medical providers had had an inkling of an “inside-out” approach

9. Asset-based perspective – Determinants of health McNight & Kretzmann
Individual behavior
Social support
Physical environment
Economic status
Health system
Individual behavior
Social support
Physical environment
Economic status
Health system

10. Hear the difference
“Our purpose is not to help people. Our purpose is to build a different kind of neighborhood for us all.”
“Everything we do is intentional. It all serves to build reciprocal, supportive relationships.”
“We are committed to building a stronger, more diverse community, a community that extends hospitality and welcomes the contribution of everyone. A strong community is where everyone contributes: young, old,disabled or otherwise. Participation creates a happier, healthier, more productive community.”
“Building relationships is what it’s all about. The networking, the one-on-one relationships – that’s what builds inclusive neighborhoods for everybody.”
From Rans, SA, Green, M Hidden Treasures: Building Community Connections by Engaging the gifts..
2005 ABCD Institute

11. Principles of A B C D Asset-based Full participation/full contribution
Everyone is important
Mobilize all gifts, all creativity
Relationship-driven
Builds capacity, creative solutions
Internally focused - local solutions
More successful
More efficient use of resources
Creates citizen space
ABCD builds structures that fosters participation. People find their place in community through participation.This citizen space is where people connect, institutions connect – interact, cooperate and transform
In addition to asset-based – there are several other related principles of ABCD
Ultimately, ABCD – creates a citizen space in which individuals, associations and institutions are connected to one another and mobilized for the common good
Terry Tempest Williams, in an essay entitled Engagement (in The Open Space of Democracy) asks
“Are we ready for the next evolutionary leap – to recognize the restoration of democracy as the restoration of liberty and justice for all species, not just our own? To be in the service of something beyond ourselves – to be in the presence of something other than ourselves, together – this is where we can begin to craft a meaningful life where personal isolation and despair disappear through the shared engagement of a vibrant citizenry.”
Full participation – no individual or group is marginalized – everyone has something to contribute

12. Categories of Assets Individuals Associations Institutions
Skills, talents, capacities
Dreams, visions
Associations
Families,
Institutions
Businesses, schools, libraries, police, fire, non-profits
Physical environment
Greenspaces, transportation
Local economy
Present in every community
Associations – can be formal or informal – people who share interests

13. A B C D Processes Map of community’s assets
Individuals mobilize, contribute gifts, talents
Internal connections
Develop a vision, “common good”
Define and solve problems
Multiple pathways for leadership
External connections
Reinforce internal strengths
Appropriate to community’s vision
Outside resources are definitely needed. They can be used more effectively if the community is mobilized and ready to use them

14. A B C D and Service Learning
Core principles of social justice and equity
Respect for the community and its individuals
Paradigm shift – missionary mentality
Paradigm shift – community-driven vs research-driven, funder-driven
Conceptual framework/tools to understand communities
As faculty who will be lightening rods for service learning in our own campuses, it is important that we model the principles of partnership in our teaching, mentoring of other faculty, and in the institutional partnerships that we participate in creating.
Asset-based community development is a framework that is based on principles of social justice and equity, respect for everyone in a community, counters labeling, marginalizing individuals and communities
We want our students to become participating citizens – engaged in communities – both as students and for the rest of their lives
Students ill pick up on the missionary mentality that many academic institutions have towards their neighbors, and we as faculty have to counter that. Students will see how grant-writing, following the funding, looking for “what hasn’t been done before” drives much of academic culture. We need to shift that paradigm
Students will find themselves working in communities and may miss the boat without a compelling framework or tool – they may miss what is really happening, who the leaders are, how they lead,
And, for those students who will eventually spend their lives and careers working with or as part of communities, we want to start them off on the right foot

15. What do students learn from asset-based approach?
Appreciate strengths of individuals, how they keep themselves healthy
Understand community resources and how they provide for citizens’ well-being
Understand how community residents perceive their health and define their concerns

16. Institutionalization of service-learning will depend on the “transformation of a set of elitist, self-referential academic assumptions” Zlotkowski, E. 1995
Edward Zlotkowski has a vision of service learning as a “social imperative”. It is an opportunity for students ( and I would argue, their teachers) “to develop more fully their moral imaginations”,. I would argue that the asset-based perspective provides the necessary paradigm shift in which moral imaginations can be challenged and developed -
Finally, service-learning is, according to Edward Zlotkowski, potentially, transformative. Transformative of students, faculty, academic institutions, communities, and the relationships of all of these components. The ABCD framework can be a tool that allows us to envision that transformation