Asset based community development action plan
- 1. COMMUNITY WELLBEING .. Thapa Chhetri 1 Community Well-being Action Plan Rogers Park is one of the most diverse communities in Chicago. Almost eighty different languages and cultures exist in this community. Its population consists of some natural born Americans, immigrants, and refugees of a variety of backgrounds, such as Euro-Americans, Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and Latino/Hispanic, some of all of these populations with and some without legal documents. Some have been living here for generations, and some are new to the community. The demographic information of Rogers Park is important because despite being a culturally rich community, Rogers Park residents are often isolated, and they are more organized around others who resembles their own identities. Factors such as socio- economic status and language barriers tend to explain why the community is organized in this way. The impact of such isolation can be detrimental in many ways to minority groups. Their issues can be overlooked during decision-making processes and neighborhood development plans. Such isolation also restricts them from utilizing the existing community resources and impairs their community involvement, which can lower the quality of their lives. Research suggests that quality of life is dependent on connectedness to ones surroundings and a sense of belonging in ones communities (McKnight, 2011, October 10). Therefore, the lack of integration between the people in the Rogers Park community can be detrimental to this community and the upcoming generation, as they will grow up without a sense of community belonging, and a feeling of belonging being held by all Rogers Park residents is vitally important for the overall well-being of the Rogers Park community. However, there are solutions. The way Rogers Park is organized can be re-arranged utilizing the existing assets in this community. For example, public transportation such as CTA busses, the Red Line, and the Metra are valuable assets Rogers Park has, and the majority of people utilize them. Public
- 2. COMMUNITY WELLBEING .. Thapa Chhetri 2 transportation could be a great source for advertising about other assets, such as the Glenwood Sunday Market which accepts SNAP and Rogers Park Library, to the community members. Sometime people in this community are so unfamiliar about the events happening just a few blocks away from them. One reason for this could be because they may not be able to navigate how to be involved, or it could be simply lack of information available to them or information not provided to them in a way that they can understand. Research suggests that people are more likely to try new things if they are told about it in some manner (Pinker, 1999). Also, the Glenwood Sunday Market sells fresh fruits and vegetables, and a large portion of this community is made up of families, who would likely go to the places where they can enjoy fresh food and meet other people. This can be a great medium to bring different groups together. Furthermore, the Glenwood Sunday Market can be a great mediam of interaction and exchange of information among Rogers Park residents. One could place an information booth at the market where other community organizations, institutions and local businesses can notify residents about their services and resources. The organizer from the market could partner with the cultural centers and religious institutions and request them to translate information into different languages, thereby breaking the language barrier, which is a major obstacle in Rogers Park community building. This will relay the information among residents about the existing resources while providing opportunities and creating an environment for different organizations, intuitions, and residents to know about each other. Knowing that other resources are available in the community, institutions and organizations can design their future events and plans to include a more diverse group of Rogers Park residents. For example, the Rogers Park Library hosts a free musical activity for ages 0-5 every summer. This event is either not well-attended or the majority of participants are white-
- 3. COMMUNITY WELLBEING .. Thapa Chhetri 3 identifying. While the neighborhood around the library is home to those whose families come from India and Ethiopia, the rhymes they sing at the library are mostly traditional English rhymes, such as London Bridge is Falling Down. This event could be made relevant for others if the library simply partnered with existing community organizations like the Pan Ethiopian and Rada Krishna Mandir, who could send volunteers to sing multicultural rhymes for the activity. More people are likely to attend events that embrace their values or culture (Hughey & Bardo, 1987). As mentioned above, ones well-being depends on their sense of belonging to their community. The Rogers Park Library can contribute to the well-being of Rogers Park residents by integrating emerging and existing cultures, languages, and values to its services and events. Another way that the Glenwood Sunday Market could further the well-being of Rogers Park residents is by collaborating with the Rogers Park Community Gardens. This would give residents an opportunity for economic growth, and the act of gardening itself can boost well- being. In community gardens, people will have to communicate with others as they share the same resources, garden equipment, and physical space. Also, it is an opportunity for different people to find out about others foods and method of working. While this is happening, people are integrating directly or indirectly with others, but they are doing what they aspire to do; one can grow bitter melons while an another grows cabbages, and both can sell what they dont want to keep for themselves or their families at the market. Rogers Park is a great community with lots of resources (assets). However, the way the community is organized restrict the overall community from utilizing said resources. Proper communication and increased community integration is what is needed most in this community. This integration and interaction is possible in combing the existing resources within the Rogers Park community.
- 4. COMMUNITY WELLBEING .. Thapa Chhetri 4 Reference Hughey, J. B., & Bardo, J. W. (1987). Social psychological dimensions of community satisfaction and quality of life: Some obtained relations. Psychological Reports, 61(1), 239-246. Pinker, S. (1999). How the mind works. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 882(1), 119-127. McKnight, J. (2011, October 10). ABCD 101. Retrieved from http://www.abundantcommunity.com/home/videos/abcd_101.html