Utilizing Asset-Based Community Development within a Community-Research Partnership

Background and Purpose: Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) emphasizes enhancing resources and strengths within communities to affect community change. Given the importance of the community’s role in community-research partnerships, ABCD provides a framework that both appreciates and supports community capacity. As part of a community policing and neighborhood revitalization initiative within a large urban city in the southwestern United States, an initial asset survey was conducted to both examine the assets and initiatives already present within the area and serve as a tool for the police officers and community members involved for further development and partnership. This paper examines the tenets of ABCD, describes the initial survey of assets, and discusses the challenges and implications of this type of project task and using the ABCD model within a community-research partnership.

Methods: The information for the initial asset inventory was collected through a document study, interviews, and general information sharing. The document study included the city-adopted neighborhood plans as well as resource lists maintained by other organizations. Interviews with and general information sharing by those living and working within the community served to address gaps and identify assets that may not have been found through the document study. The interviews and information sharing were both informal and voluntary. Feedback was sought for both assets and ideas about how the information should be presented throughout the process. This information was shared in person at community meetings, over the phone, and via e-mail.

Results: The initial asset survey yielded 135 assets across 4 types of organizations and 8 priority areas. The 4 types of organizations included Citizens’ Associations, Government, Nonprofit Organizations, and Private Organizations, as well as subcategories. The 8 priority areas that emerged through the document study, interviews, and information sharing were Public Safety, Civic Life, Education, Health, Environment, Economy, Social Service, and Transportation. The asset inventory was then shared with the local police department to be integrated into a larger-scale community policing and neighborhood revitalization effort within the community.

Conclusion and Implications: In the context of community-research partnerships, it is critical for community members to be able to share their perspectives on resources that are available within their neighborhoods and for external partners to understand more about such resources when collaborating with the communities they intend to serve. This project task revealed assets that could be useful to the larger community policing and revitalization initiative, and also demonstrated challenges and benefits to carrying out this type of task. Ultimately, an asset inventory can function as a valuable tool in a community-research partnership by identifying the resources and initiatives that exist within a community and how external partners can align with these citizen groups, government entities, and organizations to optimize and maximize the effect on community change. Challenges and implications for community-research partnerships and lessons learned will also be explored.