Creating a Common Vision
Conducting Community-Driven Needs Assessments
Mapping Community Resources
Conducting a Search Conference
Using Storytelling to Identify Neighborhood Priorities

Positive change starts with a common vision. A community-based organization and the families and neighborhood it serves need to focus on the same needs and the same solutions. An organization must be flexible and responsive, while making sure that information about the needs and experiences of residents is up to date. In short, it must conduct a community-driven needs assessment.

A community planning committee can stimulate conversation among residents to help identify the community’s main concerns. The planning committee also can:

• allow many voices to be heard and encourage participation
• identify community resources including the talents of neighborhood residents
• encourage leadership development by involving residents in the research process
• help organizations get accurate and important information in order to better target services and efforts
• meet legal regulations that require needs assessments
• help bring to light key aspects of community life
• help identify priorities for delivering services

There are seven steps involved in a community-driven needs assessment:

1. Establish a planning committee of residents, service providers and key public and private decision makers. Make sure that at least half of its members are community residents, and inform them of the benefits that their families and neighborhoods will gain from their committee work. Also, reassure them of the importance of their contributions, and address any concerns they may have about their ability to participate (due to child care, transportation, etc.). Have the planning committee develop an outreach plan to encourage community participation, as well as a strategy for consensus building and conflict resolution.

2. Set realistic objectives and goals. This step includes a number of activities: determining the purpose of the assessment; clarifying the difference between assessment and evaluation and for whom the assessment is being conducted; establishing a time line; and emphasizing the importance of the results and how they will be used. Involve stakeholders throughout the process.

3. Define community boundaries. To do this accurately, take several factors into consideration—primarily, the historic, cultural and economic lines that exist within the community. Make a preliminary map of these and collect feedback on them from residents.

4. Design appropriate assessment techniques. To determine what techniques work best, begin with these questions: What are the goals of the assessment? What is the source of input? What is the content of assessments? What are the processes of assessment?

5. Plan the Assessment. This can involve several
techniques:

• Secondary Data Technique analyzes using qualitative and quantitative data from several sources
• Key Informant Interview Method involves interviews with public officials, administrators or staff members of health or welfare organizations, health care providers, clergy alliances, community newspapers, etc.
• Forums—open meetings with residents—and focus groups, good techniques because they invite open discussion; However, building trust is a key element
• Nominal Group Technique relies upon a structured group that tends to eliminate the chance of a few vocal persons dominating the conversation
• Surveys and direct observation by staff are other ways to gather information from a structured group

6. Gather information about the method of assessment. Work with ten to twenty chosen respondents to critique, review and validate the method. Consider the following questions:

• What do these questions seem to be asking of you?
• How clear is the question? If it is not clear, what would be a better way of asking it?
• Are the questions helpful?
• Were there questions you felt were left out? If so, why?
• Are there questions that should be included?
• Is there anything else you would like to comment on/have questions about?

You’ll need to decide if members of your planning groups can help implement the next step or if you will need help from consultants. Good, often over looked resources include faculty at local community colleges or universities, who may be happy to help if you ask them.

7. Analyze the data and report your findings once the preparations are complete.

After completing the assessment, map community resources and capacity, identifying the skills, resources and assets of the neighborhood. The map will provide a solid foundation for community renewal and development. Avoid focusing only on the community’s needs rather than its assets—a common mistake that leads to programs centered on weaknesses.

Often, communities have limited understanding of their resources. By mapping a community’s strengths—including its intellectual, physical, and financial capital—you can determine whether the current service system is using all available resources. This important work requires careful planning and the willingness of organizations to go beyond traditional methods.

There are six steps to effective community mapping:

1. Involve diverse stakeholders in the process. Staff, individuals from the private/public sector, and of course, community members can all benefit from mapping.

2. Create a forum where stakeholders can learn about and help shape the mapping process. Make certain stakeholders realize that identifying community capacities and assets is the first step toward community revitalization.

3. Set up a planning team to inventory the community’s public (formal) and private (informal) support systems. Enlist team members who either are or want to be connected with community issues. Involving community members will improve the quality of data collection and create opportunities to develop "change" strategies. Perhaps most important, build understanding for multiple perspectives: Giving all voices equal time and respect will create and maintain trust.

4. Take stock of informal public systems—assets and capacities largely under neighborhood control and influence. These might include the talents of residents; individual businesses; home-based enterprises; personal income; life experiences; and commitment to community. Local resident-controlled associations and organizations are also considered informal systems. These may include: social action groups; self-help groups; social service collaborators; citizens’ associations; and associations of businesses, financial institutions, and other organizations centered around cultural activity, communications, or religion.

5. Consider formal systems: assets located within the community but largely controlled by outsiders. They may include: private and nonprofit organizations (such as institutions of higher education, hospitals, and civic organizations); public institutions and services (public schools, police and fire departments, libraries); physical resources (vacant spaces as well as energy and waste resources); and welfare expenditures, public capital improvement expenditures, and public information.

6. Put the resources map to use. Consider the following questions:

• Who will lead the community-building process?
• What kinds of community-wide research, planning, and decision-making processes can advance the rebuilding of a neighborhood?
• How might the neighborhood build useful bridges to resources outside the community?
• Who else can use this information to help improve conditions in the neighborhood?

A Search Conference is an effective technique for helping community-based organizations identify the program priorities of neighborhoods.

In a Search Conference, a cross section of people meet in two to three sessions to review the history of an organization’s responsiveness to families and neighborhoods. After assessing the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, participants develop strategic goals and action plans. Effective group communication is crucial to the success of this planning technique. Participants hold discussions in large and small groups, using flip-chart paper to record their ideas. Often, they develop long-term partnerships and strategic alliances, an additional benefit of this technique.

Steps to conduct a Search Conference:

1. Select participants based on their knowledge of the organization and the community, history of voluntary participation in diverse groups within the community, and willingness to learn and accept responsibility. The level of stakeholders’ participation will depend on their perceptions of the importance of the task, their access to transportation and child care, and the adequacy of meeting space.

2. Complete an environmental scan to validate community history and pride and identify changes and trends in the community.

3. Have the group review the organization’s history, examining its reputation and its original and evolved mission. Discuss the history of the organization’s response to family and neighborhood priorities and develop realistic goals and an action plan for it, including obstacles and ways to bypass them. Questions to consider include: Who is going to take responsibility for the plans? How are activities to be monitored and evaluated?

4. Identify likely major supports and allies for the
organization.

Storytelling is a powerful and intimate way to pass values from one generation to another—and not just in families. It can tell the "tale" of an organization’s past and bring residents together. By helping them reflect on how an organization has identified and responded to the priorities of a community, it can produce many benefits for both residents and community workers.

To set up a storytelling session, select a committee of staff and community residents served by one organization. Have them consider the following questions:

• What criteria will be used to select the participants
  for the storytelling session?
• Do participants share their stories individually or in
  a group?
• How will the organization use the information?
• Is the organization ready to hear the "good, the bad
  and the ugly"?
• How will the organization disseminate any of
  the information?
• What, if any, incentives are offered for participation?

Encourage elders to tell their stories first. The circle of conversation should move from the eldest to the youngest participant. Participants should tell the agency story by addressing several of these questions:

• What was the organization like in the past?
• What were the service priorities of the organization and the neighborhood?
• How were they different or the same?
• How would the organization identify the concerns and priorities of the neighborhoods? Were neighborhood residents involved in the process? If so, in what capacity? Has this changed? How do organizations currently identify priorities?

After the storytelling session, ask participants to identify themes that they have noticed during the process and list the themes on a flip chart. This "sorting out" of stories is the first step in identifying issues (both positive and negative) that the organization and residents will address.

Next, determine how to use the information gained from the storytelling session. Look closely for any patterns it reveals about the organization’s response to neighborhoods. Consider these questions:

• What methods have been used to gather community input to determine neighborhood priorities?
• What strategies has the organization used to respond to these priorities?
• Do residents participate in the organization’s response to neighborhood priorities?

One good way to use this information is to disseminate it through community newsletters or brochures. Another is to share it in board meetings and community forums.