COMMUNITY DEVELOPMET PRIMER
Part I: "Courage to Transform your Community"Part II: “Vision”
By: Stan Foster, PARC Resources President
During my thirty-two year career in community development, I have cultivated a pragmatic and reality-based understanding of what it takes to create positive change in rural communities. Over the next six months, I will share this expertise with you in the hopes that you will be inspired to plan and conduct your own community development project. While this information is not a complete study, it will highlight common themes that nearly all projects share. Through this series, I hope to inspire you to become a catalyst for change in your community.
COURAGE TO IMAGINE
How many times have you visited a town similar to yours and noticed a new library, a skate park, a performing arts center or a community hall that left you wishing for something similar in your hometown? The secret is that it took leadership to make it happen. It took courage, persistence and determination. You can be that courageous leader for your town! Above all, seeing an example of similar development provides hope that such a successful project is possible in your community.
Most people think of community development as a major initiative or capital construction project. While this is one aspect of development, the core of development is courage. When someone asks me what the single most important factor is for starting a project I tell them that it is courage. Although courage alone will not complete a project, without it a group of people could spend decades deciding whether or not to even consider making an improvement to their community.
Without courage it is too easy to abandon your dream and settle for what is, rather than what could be. I think of our ancestors who built our roads, bridges, schools, community centers and libraries without succumbing to the status quo because they envisioned a better world for their families and their childrens’ families. Today we are the beneficiaries of their courage. Although our modern world faces many challenges, the truth is that a few courageous souls can make the world a better place for all of us. Isn’t time for you to be that person?
COURAGE DESPITE ADVERSITY
“We can never do that here!”
“Nobody will support that kind of investment in our community!”
How many times have you heard those kinds of comments from people in your community? Unfortunately it is easier to be against something than it is to support the hard that work it takes to create positive changes.
A core group of people – and sometimes just one person – that have the courage to dream of a better community is the single most important factor in any successful community development project. These are the brave people who weather discouragement such as, “this can never work in our town.”
At each setback these are the people who hear “we told you that this would never fly.” If you talk to community leaders in places where projects have been completed, they will tell you about the negativity they had to endure before people began to believe that they could actually achieve the desired results. No one likes to be ridiculed or criticized. However, if you want to make changes in your community you must acknowledge that this is part of the process.
COURAGE TO BEGIN --AND FINISH-- A PROJECT
Webster’s definition of courage is “the attitude (sic) of facing and dealing with anything recognized as dangerous, difficult, or painful and the quality of being fearless or brave.” Furthermore, it states that “courage is to do what one thinks is right.” It is this belief in doing what is right that will strengthen the resolve of the community leader who wants to make things better for present and future generations.
To pull off community improvements, it takes a courageous leader who is willing to share his/her ideas with as many folks as will listen. It takes a determined soul who is willing to be a lightening rod for as much negativity as most of us can ever stand. It takes a person who will remain undaunted in continuously promoting change as something that we can accomplish. Being this person in your community is one part cheerleader and one part ambassador.
Your job is therefore to evaluate the community development idea fully in order to understand the spectrum of your neighbors’ views and opinions. This understanding will bolster your courage to adapt your strategy in order to respond to the opportunities --and the major objections-- that your conversations with the community have revealed. This may mean that your original idea has evolved, and in that case, you must have the resiliency to adjust and adapt. When people see that you are listening and talking they will begin to understand that what you are trying to achieve really is something that benefits the entire community.
COURAGE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
I encourage you not to flinch or waiver from seeking something better for the collective good. Worthy ideas and opportunities often go by the wayside without gaining community support simply because a courageous leader has not had enough persistence to advocate for the “right thing.” Courage is necessary to challenge the status quo and strive for better circumstances. Courage is an internal compass that serves as a continual reminder of what we should be doing.
From a personal standpoint, I have been a part of numerous projects where a local elected official will confide in me that the project has been talked about for years, but without ( insert your name here) pushing us to do the right thing it would have never gotten off the ground.
If you know that an improvement is the “right thing,” I want to persuade you to have the courage of your convictions. Do not accept no for an answer. Advocate for the results that you want. Continue to challenge your elected officials to support what the public needs and to support what is right. Do not allow them to fall back on what they know and on what is easy.
THE COURAGE TO MOVE FORWARD: IDEAS IN ACTION
PARC is blessed to work with amazing leaders who have the courage and vision to make our world a better place. If PARC can help you help your community move forward, call 800-758-6812 or email us today to arrange a free first consultation.