Every day, communities around the world deal with problems ranging from health and safety to economic justice and education. Governments have proven slow and ill-prepared to respond to humanity’s most critical issues. At the same time, individuals may see no clear, meaningful way to approach chronic problems confined to their own community, let alone those more global in scope.
Taking simple steps to build community can create the awareness, desire, and momentum necessary for positive and lasting change. Those closely affected by issues possess the knowledge and incentive to create a desirable solution. Starting by saying “hi” to neighbors, throwing a block party, or starting a community garden not only makes the neighborhood feel more like home, but also creates a space for dialogue and trust. With this groundwork, communities can begin to work together effectively to address issues such as waste management, air pollution, or even national politics and global warming. Movements across the world such as the Salt March in India and Catholic Worker cooperatives have materialized as communities organized under common concerns and linked with others. We have the power to envision and create a just and peaceful world, and can begin by opening up dialogue in our own communities.
Community Organizing Resources
(The) Citizen’s Handbook
A comprehensive community organizing guide including step-by-step how-to’s and creative ideas on organizing and community building.
The SEAC Organizing Guide
Designed as a guide to campus-based environmental activism, this guide also provides good tips for facilitating any group-based project.
See also ENGAGE's
Resource Links page.
Alternative Ways to Get the Message Out
Sometimes it can be challening to think creatively about how to begin a discussion or generate collective action in your community. Fortunately, there are fun and creative steps that you can start with to spread the word about a certain issue or impact your local community in a positive way. Click here to visit our
Creative Action page.
A Community Organizing Example:
New Albany, Indiana
ENGAGE member Tabitha Sprigler became involved in community organizing shortly after moving with her husband, Jim, to New Albany, Indiana. She accepted an invitation to a neighborhood association meeting, and became interested in her neighborhood’s issues, such as absentee landlords, poor representation from government officials, and inner city "ghost towns." She and Jim broadened their knowledge about their community by attending neighborhood events, as well as by sitting in on City Council meetings and other commission meetings, such as Housing and Zoning etc. They also became directly engaged in the community by going to clean up days and meeting with officials and residents.
Tabitha and Jim joined together with other neighbors in the community to address the issues specific to their community. During this time, they found a multitude of overlapping ideas and issues. They decided to create a website which would serve as a public forum to organize this information, called Constituency for Progress. Through this group, members can attend different city meetings and report back to a central place. The group makes themselves heard through teach-ins and community activities, such as hosting free screenings of informative movies and independent films that don't make it into local theatres.
Tabitha and her community partners also believe that poor infrastructure impacts inter-personal relationships as well. “People need third spaces where they can meet, become friends, and share ideas,” said Tabitha. To support such spaces, she spearheaded the creation of a website that promotes local businesses and community organizations for free, called
New Albany Source. She hopes it will continue to have updated information about local businesses, nonprofit organizations, social action opportunities, and community organizing groups,
including reviews from individuals that have had experiences with these places and organizations. “We feel that if people can read about other people's experiences, they might actually try out these businesses, groups, and organizations, themselves."
During the past few years, Tabitha's groups have joined with other groups and movements throughout the region. In collaboration with these groups
, they want to develop questionnaires to see what residents
need so that the desires of a small vocal group do not suppress the desires of all residents. "We have also started a program called 'study circles,'" says Tabitha. "Here, people get together and talk about community issues and agree on one thing to address in the following few months and how to go about working on it. At the end of that period, individuals split up and each person from that group starts a new study circle. This is a great way to get to know people in our communities."
Beyond this, Tabitha has also teamed up with other nonprofit organizations
to learn about issues of community building throughout the United States and beyond. Tabitha explains, "These organizations focus on communities learning from other communities, as we are all in different stages of this process. While we want to make our communities become harmonious places where individuals can live safely and happily together, these steps cannot be taken too quickly. There is always the risk of moving too quickly and gentrifying the neighborhood. The trick is to create amazing places to live in such a way that no one is forced to move away due to increased housing costs or other socioeconomic, physical, or cultural barriers. This is a difficult balance that must be watched constantly. I feel that communities of mixed socioeconomic standing and life experiences are the most healthy. I wouldn't want my community to grow in any way that would impede these relationships."
