Organizing action is often one of the biggest hurdles faced by community developers. Many communities have been the recipients of numerous studies and well-meaning groups offering help. However, these efforts do not always result in tangible action steps. The challenge for the community developer is how to help turn previous efforts into actions that are both driven by and beneficial to the community. A key to creating action that is visible is to help develop leadership from within the neighborhood or organization. Strong, engaging leaders have the ability to impact participation, which increases the ability of the action to prove successful. Local leaders also have their fingers on the pulse of the community and are able to both organize and gauge the potential effectiveness of an activity. Action is also dependent on creating connections both within the community and with outside resources. The larger and more complex the project, the more required resources. In order for developing neighborhood groups to make the most impact, it helps to be agile and resourceful, which is where connections can be utilized. By building a strong network, neighborhoods can leverage all of the available resources to make their actions more effective. Often one of the biggest results of a successfully organized action is the changing of perceptions. Whether it is the perception of inactivity or complacency by the residents or the larger, outside community, both can be transformed through the completion of a successful action. While not a “silver bullet� solution, the results of an effective action are often that the preconceived ideas about an area or community are affected in a generally positive way. This in turn makes the next positive action easier to accomplish. Positive actions show commitment from the community in a tangible way that is more recognizable to outside parties with little previous knowledge of the community or its issues. Likewise, internal stakeholders often are bolstered by positive action within their community and are willing to increase their involvement. It is often difficult to organize action at the beginning of a relationship between community developer and a neighborhood or community. While the most visible, the action piece is often a late piece
ORGANIZING ACTION
of community development due to complexity, lack of initial access to resources, and a lack of leadership and buy-in from community stakeholders. Action often requires a strong foundation of the other three pillars to be an attainable goal. The benefit of the sustainable community development model is that the integration of any combination of the pillars gives the community developer a toolkit to make organizing action more accessible and achievable on any scale.
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