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Building Vibrant Communities: It's What We Do!
With so many programs and services, it's hard to explain what Neighborhood Centers does for our region. Now it's easy -- thanks to a new framework that is guiding our community development work: Building Vibrant Communities.
All of our programs (charter schools, Head Start centers, Early Childhood Development Centers, Healthy Start, community centers, youth programs, tax centers, the credit union) are now aligned around the common goal of building vibrant communities where people can thrive.
Neighborhood Centers looks at emerging neighborhoods and sees amazing promise in communities and individuals. We work through a network of schools and community programs that build upon the human, social, and cultural strengths that are unique to each neighborhood. Our asset-based approach focuses on opportunities rather than needs. We partner with residents, social service providers, local businesses, and other nonprofits to leverage resources and transform the lives of neighborhood residents. It is about hope; it is about aspirations.
How does it work?
The Building Vibrant Communities framework is an extension of what Neighborhood Centers already does. We use Appreciative Inquiry as a tool. Now, we are taking it further.
We developed our new framework over the course of several months with the help of McKinsey & Company, a leading business consulting firm. We identified six key elements that are always present in strong, vibrant communities: Education, Housing, Economic Opportunity, Health, Infrastructure and Connection. All of Neighborhood Centers’ community development programs are focused on building upon one of these six elements.
The work varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. In some cases we directly provide programs and services to our clients (as we do with our community schools). In other areas, we may elect to partner with outside organizations to support service delivery (as with Legacy Health Clinics). While the means and methods vary from community to community, the goal in each will be the same: building a vibrant community!
As a result of our work, Neighborhood Centers expects to create measurable impact in the following three areas:
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Educational Attainment
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Financial Well-being
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Engaged Communities
This work is evident in our Gulfton Promise Neighborhood where a collaboration of leading partners is working together to provide the elements of infrastructure to support community residents who are determined to build a better life.
Promise Neighborhoods are an initiative of the Obama Administration, and Neighborhood Centers earned one of only 21 planning grants awarded in the country. Next step: full implementation that addresses educational success -- birth through college to career -- in one of the most diverse communities in the nation.
Every one of us has a role to play in Building Vibrant Communities. Is your interest in improving education? Are you focused on creating economic opportunity? Or, do you enjoy passionate community interaction to effect change? Whatever your interest, Neighborhood Centers has a place for you. Learn how you can help by visiting our Volunteer page.
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