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Community Assets Inventory Results-Community Assets
One of the primary objectives of COMPASS is to identify both community assets and issues and then to provide mechanisms and opportunities to mobilize all of our assets more effectively to improve our community quality of life. Asset identification is an inventory of both traditional and nontraditional community assets, such as associations, organizations and individuals, that play a role in building a sense of community in specific towns or neighborhoods and in addressing community issues. Additional background on asset-based planning is provided below. COMPASS is focusing on inventorying associations, including block clubs, civic groups, faith-based associations; organizations such as labor unions, service providers and businesses; and collaboratives and coalitions through which these groups currently come together. Click here (.pdf file) to view the Assets Inventory. The Assets Identification Team has reached out to associations and organizations in communities across the 12 town COMPASS planning region to provide information on their activities to produce a comprehensive inventory of community assets. From the perspective of individual groups, the COMPASS process can be a vehicle to: For the COMPASS Partners, the Asset Identification process is designed to: There are several possible asset-based approaches to facilitate community building work. Asset inventory
Through the Assets Team of the Data Committee, the COMPASS project has begun to inventory assets. Through the United Way of Connecticut's 211 InfoLine database, we have a good handle on the work of service providers in our region. Through the work of the Assets Team we have been collecting information on other assets, many of which may be underutilized or not widely known. The categories of focus have included businesses, arts organizations, civic organizations, faith based organizations, and collaboratives and coalitions. Identified groups were invited to respond to web-based surveys to identify their activities and interests. So far, 33 groups have responded to the survey and many more have expressed an interest in getting involved. While this process has not moved as fast as the other data efforts, the COMPASS Management Team decided that the most important phase for the Assets work is in formulating plans to address the issues and opportunities identified in the data collection phase. As the focus of COMPASS going forward emerges, the asset identification and mobilization can take on more focused and concrete forms. Collaboration in Greater New Haven
Attached is a list of initiatives underway in the New Haven area that currently address many of the issues identified through the COMPASS data collection process
. This data will be an important resource as COMPASS moves from the data collection phase to the Action Planning phase and seeks to bring together and build on the rich array of current efforts across the region. One of the COMPASS outcomes many people have told us they seek is a better way to facilitate connections across sectors and the development or enhancement of creative, flexible collaborations to address community opportunities and issues. People interviewed have identified several possible directions, from communication of the work of existing collaboratives to potential partners in other sectors to convening new community partnerships to weave together and strengthen current efforts on the issues that emerge as the highest priority. Key Principles of Asset-based Community Building
Asset-based Community Building involves a change in mindset from traditional needs-based planning. The focus of the effort shifts from examining issues to examining assets that can be developed, connected, or unlocked through community action. The theory is that every community, no matter how poor, is endowed with extensive strengths, skills, and capabilities. The challenge of community building is to identify those strengths and put in place new How do we define Assets? Assets are the skills, talents and capacities of individuals, associations, and organizations that are shared with the community. This definition is shared by several of the organizations promoting the asset-based approach, including the Connecticut Assets Network, John McKnight's Asset-Based Community Development Institute, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, and the Community COMPASS' glossary of terms. COMPASS Definition of Community Assets: "COMPASS focuses primarily on two types of community assets-the assets of associations and those of organizations. A basic premise of community building is that every person has assets, or gifts, and every person has the opportunity to give those gifts to build a better community. This premise applies to associations and organizations as well as to individuals. COMPASS provides a framework for associations and organizations to share their gifts through community-building efforts (COMPASS Guidebook, p.3-20)." What is Asset identification?
Asset identification is an inventory of the strengths and gifts of the people who make up a community. This process reveals the strengths of the entire community and highlights the interconnections among them, which in turn reveals how to access those assets. As the web of assets grows, so does the potential for the community. Dr. Diane Dorfman argues in Mapping Community Assets Workbook that, "from a community development perspective, it helps to think of our communities in terms of their wealth-in people, things, services, and resources that they possess….To build from what you have requires asking different kinds of questions to learn different kinds of things about where you live." The Connecticut Assets Network purports that asset identification is a mental attitude: "It's a way of relating to people, i.e., seeing all people as problem solvers rather than problems to be solved. It's more of an attitude you bring to what you already do at home and on the job, i.e., believing that people are resources and not problems to be fixed or recipients of services. This attitude or belief can be infused into and developed within any program you find yourself presently involved." How is it done?
Traditionally, asset identification begins with a survey of individual capabilities in a community. Individual assets are noted and asset identification moves to the next level: association assets are surveyed in order to develop a list of citizen associations and non-profits. A descriptive profile of this group is created (mission, goals, services, etc.). The asset mapping effort then moves to the next level: institutional assets. In this phase, information is collected about all the institutional assets in a community, which could include businesses, government agencies, and city services. The Madii Institute adds another component to this process known as "cultural knowledge." Their goal is to incorporate the voices of sub groups such as new immigrants or refugees and long-time residents. The COMPASS process focuses on associations and organizations. Assets-based Programming Models
Several models have been discussed for moving forward with an asset-based community improvement process. Ideas include: |
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