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Community Economic Development
Community economic development (CED) is said
to consist of three main principles: Self-help; Empowerment and
Capacity Building. This page will provide an overview of
Community Development (CD), CED (which is a subset of CD) and
definitions of these three terms.
It also provides a presentation on Community Based Development
that led to the establishment of the Kankakee Community
Development Corporation, the award-winning Community Economic
Development Resource Center and CAN DO!
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN PERSPECTIVE
"Community development is the process by which the efforts of
the people themselves are united with those of governmental
authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural
conditions of communities, to integrate these communities into
the life of the nation, and to enable them to contribute fully
to national progress. This complex of processes is, therefore,
made up of two essential elements: the participation by the
people themselves in efforts to improve their level of living,
with as much reliance as possible on their own initiative; and
the provision of technical and other services in ways which
encourage initiative, self-help and mutual help and make these
more effective." United Nations' definition of community
development.
SELF-HELP
The idea of self-help is one of several distinguishing features
of community development theory, practice, and ideology.
Self-help is based on the premise that people can, will, and
should collaborate to solve community problems. In addition to
the practical problem-solving utility of this perspective,
self-help builds a stronger sense of community and a foundation
for future collaboration. It embodies the notion that a
community can achieve greater self-determination within
constraints imposed by the larger political economy in which it
is embedded. Without a commitment to self-help, a community may
exist as a place, an organization, or an interest group but be
lacking the capacity building strategy. It is a style of
planning, decision making, and problem solving which is
endemic to the very idea of community, especially that of the
small, face-to-face community.
Self-help is emphasized not only as a goal to be achieved in and
of itself, but also as a strategy for the accomplishment of
broader development objectives. Helping communities achieve a
capacity for self-help is fundamental to both the theory and
practice of community development. If a spirit of self-help
doesn’t exist within a community as an extension of the members'
dedication to common goals and mutual respect; then, from the
perspective of community development or empowerment, a capacity
for self-help may be instigated with the assistance of an
outside community development practitioner.
" It is this idea of intervention to produce a greater capacity
for self-help among residents of a place that is a cornerstone
of the community development profession. In community
development practice, it is rudimentary that the solution to
community problems is sought first within the community, and its
resources and capabilities. While the community development
approach does not assume that all important social, economic, or
political problems of communities can be resolved by a
community's own efforts, the idea of mobilizing broad community
participation is prescribed as a goal of any community
development effort and most definitions of community development
include self-help.
Self-help embodies two interrelated features:
(1)it is expected to produce
improvements of people's living conditions, facilities, and/or
services)" and
(2)
it emphasizes that the process by which these improvements are
achieved is essential to development of the community. The
"developed community" is both improved and empowered as a
result. Of these two features, the self-help perspective
emphasizes that the process is more important in the long run
than the improvements, because the collaboration that derives
from a strong sense of community can be the means to continuing
improvement of community services and
quality of life. By contrast; if community services, facilities,
or improvements are contributed
by
an outside agency or organization with little or no community
involvement, such "improvements" are likely to be transitory, to
increase community dependency, to contribute little to a
greater sense of community, and to diminish the community's
future capacity to act on its own behalf. Thus a self-help
approach not only emphasizes what a community achieves, but more
importantly, how it achieves it. Another way of stating this is
to distinguish between development in the community (the
improvements) and development of the community (how these
improvements are achieved).
LOCAL CAPACITY BUILDING
The rationale for local capacity building bears repeating here:
local governments alone simply do not have the human resources
to cope effectively with the changing social, political, and
economic environments which they now confront. If the base of
human resources that local governments can draw upon is not
expanded, then communities and people will never achieve the
quality of life they want and deserve. The three general types
of strategies for local capacity building are: (1) expanding the
base of citizen involvement; (2) enhancing the leadership pool;
and (3) enlarging the information base of local communities.
While each is important, it is together that they establish a
solid foundation for citizen participation in community
development. These strategies have multiple purposes and
outcomes. They contribute to capacity building by nurturing and
strengthening local organizations, by generating citizen
interest to participate in community decision making and
actions, and by increasing the vehicles for citizen
involvement." Excerpts from Community Development
Perspectives edited
by
James A.
Christenson and Jerry W. Robinson, Jr. Iowa State University
Press/Ames
1989
EMPOWERMENT DEFINED
“Empowerment is another concept often discussed but not always
practiced. In broad terms, empowerment is enhancing the
possibilities for people to influence those persons and
organizations that affect their lives. Empowerment involves
recognizing and nurturing the unique strengths and competencies
of people that derive from the wisdom of their everyday
experiences. Empowerment also entails strengthening social
networks and community institutions by promoting a diversity for
approaches to deal with social life. An important route to
empowerment is building local capacity. When a community and its
people are empowered, they have the capacity to articulate their
needs; to identify actions to solve these needs; and, to
mobilize and organize resources in pursuit of community defined
goals. When the people of a community come together to visualize
a common future and then work together to achieve it, there
develops a recognition that everyone -regardless of education,
job, race, background or whatever -- has something important to
contribute to that process. Indeed, the greater the diversity of
the participants, the richer the vision and the more effective
its accomplishments.
Excerpts from a speech
given by Lorraine Garkovich before the Twentieth Annual
Conference of the Community Development Society, July
1989.
COMMUNITY BASED DEVELOPMENT AND
THE FOUNDATION FOR PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
An article presented by Charles Betterton to Community Leaders
in Kankakee, IL in 1988
Community based development is a process,
usually long term, which
is aimed at the development,
and not just the immediate relief, of a community and the
individuals who live and work in that community. It is a process
which initiates, sustains, and manages long-term growth,
improvement, and change in ways that foster a positive community
vision and a sense of personal and community empowerment. The
National Council for Community Based Development defines this
concept as "the range of activities carried on by community
controlled non-profit organizations, designed to improve the
social and economic conditions of low-income communities in both
urban and rural areas",
According to the National Task Force Report on Community Based
Development, what distinguishes community based development from
other efforts to revive depressed areas is the emphasis on
self-help. Self-help is the presumption guiding successful local
revitalization efforts throughout America with projects ranging
from simple initiatives such as neighbors volunteering to help
weatherize homes to complex models such as real estate
syndications and commercial developments. Regardless of the type
of endeavor, community based development translates into local
ownership of strategies, projects, and achievements. It is this
ownership that makes self-help a powerful approach for it
produces not only calculable results but also the intangibles
that are fundamental to an area's improvement: local expertise;
pride; and forward momentum.
While there have been many significant positive developments
throughout the Kankakee county community since the Fantus Study
was conducted, there are still many opportunities for the area
to cooperate more effectively and build upon these recent
successes. In response to these opportunities, a number of
community based development projects have been developed to
facilitate the establishment of new more effective partnerships
between the public and private sectors, non-profit
organizations, and private citizens in order to facilitate the
future evolution of the greater Kankakee area.
To help explain these programs and their relationship to
existing programs in the community, the enclosed chart was
developed to present an overview of the existing and proposed
community and economic development organizations and activities.
The enclosures present more detailed information on each
specific community based development program and a chart
depicting how they are interrelated and how they are serving as
"upward mobility ladders" to facilitate greater participation by
low income individuals, minorities, and youth in community and
economic development activities.
The impact of the Fantus report has included a greater awareness
in the local religious community that the churches may offer the
only hope if the area is to progress and overcome our past
problems. As a result, the greatest support the community based
development projects have received has been from the religious
institutions which are expanding their ministries into the
community. Community leaders used a request for proposals from
the Lilly Endowment as a vehicle for furthering these community
based development initiatives. As a result of these efforts, we
have made substantial progress toward our goals. For example:
*
For the first time representatives of the four ministerial
organizations met to explore the possibility of greater
communication among the religious community.
*
The religious organizations are cooperating on a community unity
event which will include presentations by all the participating
churches and community organizations involved in personal and
community development.
*
For the first time in the history of the community which has a
minority population of 35%, minority and non-minority residents
are beginning to share a common vision of community and the
means of learning how to facilitate communication and
cooperation.
*
The Kankakee Community Development Corporation, a new not-for
profit organization, was established to provide expanded
opportunities for low and moderate income residents to
participate in residential and commercial revitalization and
small business development. The CDC will also develop an
affordable housing project using a block owned by the City which
has already committed over
$100,000.
to fund this project.
*
A vacant downtown building is being acquired which will be the
location for the first Self-Help Empowerment Incubator Center.
This multi-purpose community development center will include the
offices of the Kankakee Community Development Agency, the new
Community Development Corporation, the Foundation for Personal
and Community Development and Empowerment, Project Trailblazer,
an entrepreneurial training program and incubator facility), a
Community Development Volunteer and Resource Center, and YOUTH
2000, a county-wide youth leadership development program which
has brought together over 50 community and human service
agencies to provide educational and recreational opportunities
for youth.
*
The Foundation for
Personal and Community Development is offering regular programs
with speakers and presentations
which foster the further development of communication and
cooperation between religious organizations, community
organizations; the business community and financial institutions
f
and rank and file citizens who are responding to the invitation
to play a co-creative role in community and economic development
and the future of the community.
The Foundation was established to facilitate personal growth,
community and economic development
and the resolution of
political, cultural, and racial concerns which adversely affect
the community, The Foundation is an organizational vehicle for
furthering implementation of community based development
initiatives in partnership with the participating organizations.
The Foundation has developed five separate community educational
programs which it offers:
(1) Kankakee County Can Do!; periodic one to two hour seminars
with a nationally known motivational speaker
(2)
Annual
Professional Development Conferences with several national known
presenters
(3)
Monthly meetings with
speakers who share their communities' and organizations'
successful experiences in addressing economic, political,
racial, and geographic divisiveness
(4)
Ongoing seminars and workshops on
personal, community, and organizational development
(5)
A resource library with books, periodical~, and audio and video
cassette learning programs about personal, organizational, and
community development,
The biggest obstacles we have had to overcome in this community
were negative thinking, lack of cooperation, and failure to
consider rank and file citizens (particularly youth, seniors,
minorities and low income residents) as community assets. To
address this lack of vision, the CDA and Foundation for Personal
and Community Development and Empowerment have brought in a
number of programs and speakers who have presented success
stories from around the country.
These have included the
Corporation for Enterprise Development,
the Institute for Community Economics, Jeff Bercuvitz of the
Regeneration Project, Gwen Jordan, Director of Community
Development for the Community Renewal Society, Dr. Richard
Poston, author of eight major books on community economic
development and founder of the Graduate School of Community
Development at Southern Illinois University, Dr. George Pintar,
Executive Director of the Illinois Community Education
Association, Dr. Steven Balkin, Professor of Economic
Development at Roosevelt University and author of
Self-Employment for Low-Income People, and Charles Whitnel;
President of the Resource Group of America.
In an attempt to address some of the negative findings in the
Fantus Study, the CDA held several community brain-storming
sessions to identify problems and potential solutions. The
questions asked and top three answers to each one are provided
below. The community volunteer resource center and the
Foundation's programs are designed to address these findings and
recommendations and build upon the recent positive developments.
(1)
What
are the greatest problems which affect the quality of life in
Kankakee?
Inadequate citizen involvement in community affairs
Inadequate
leadership throughout government
Lack of community unity and cooperation
(2) What corrective measures
can be taken to address the problems?
Expand community and church involvement
Develop more community
based programs
Provide resources which will enhance the self-help capacity of
individuals, organizations, and the community.
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