Community building

Abstract

Community Building, Coming of Age reports the analysis of successful community endeavors to address poverty from five traditions of community work: faith-based institutions and settlement houses; mass-based community organizations; structured citizen participation; community-based evelopment organizations; and the more recent comprehensive community initiatives to address poverty. The authors report seven characteristics of successful projects and frame a unifying theory: community building. The current state of community deterioration and persistent poverty creates a context and rationale for the importance of community building. The authors then make specific recommendations for the field of practice, financial support and technical assistance, public and philanthropic policy, and higher education and training. (For full text and availability, visit www.dtinational.org). © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.