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The ABC’s of ABCD

Presenter:

Cindy Hallman,

Executive Director, Desert Mission & Vice President,

John C. Lincoln Health Network

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What We’ll Discuss Today:

• Assets vs. Needs

• Where to Find Assets

• What Is ABCD? Asset-Based Community Development

• Putting It Into Practice

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Assets vs. Needs

• The ABCD point of view encourages people to recognize that their community is a glass half full of assets, not a glass half empty with needs.

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Two Paths; Two Solutions

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Two Paths; Two Solutions

Problems

Assets

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Strength Comes From:

• Discovering local assets• Connecting these assets to work

together, and then• Creating opportunities for these assets

to be productive and powerful together.

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ABCD is rooted in the belief that…

• When people discover what they have, they find power.

• When people join together in new connections and relationships, they build power.

• When people become more productive together, they exercise their power to address problems and realize dreams.

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The Challenge

• How does a community develop a wider circle of people working together to address important problems and realize ambitious goals?

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5 Building Blocks of Community

• Individuals• Local Voluntary Associations• Institutions• Local Economy• Physical World

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Individuals

People’s gifts are the most fundamental building block of community.

Every person has many gifts to contribute if given the invitation and opportunity.

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Voluntary Associations

Allow groups of individuals to act together out of care.

• Effective in action• Amplifier of gifts• Creative• Reach large numbers

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Voluntary Associations

• Allow groups of individuals to act together out of care.– Effective in action– Amplifier of gifts– Creative– Reach large

numbers

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The Marketplace on Central: Before

Below - Panoramic View – Before Construction

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The Marketplace on Central: After

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Institutions

•Every institution can support local individuals and their associations

• Organized for efficiency, consistency & reliability

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Local Economy

Economic exchange circulates money, goods, and services through a community as people buy, sell, hire and invest.

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The Physical World

Both natural and constructed: •Landscapes•Buildings•Preserves•Streets•Transportation infrastructure

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Qualities of Effective Community Development

• Asset based: focus is on discovering what can be productive in a community

• Internally focused: recognize that the people who live in a community are the key contributors to community development that works

• Relationship driven: reminds that relationship building is the fundamental action of community building

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People In Every Community Care About Something

• Care remains invisible without intentional conversations about what people care about.

• People may not care about what those with a particular agenda want them to care about.

• Care must be discovered through relationships that are built on purpose.

• Learning conversations are the way to make care visible.

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If It’s the Rats, It’s the Rats!

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If It’s the Rats, It’s the Rats!

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People In Every Community Care About Something

• What are we doing to make care visible?• Are we surrounded by people who care

about the same thing we care about?• How are we building our team?• Whose perspective is missing?

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Never Do Anything Nobody Wants

• More Successful

Start with learning conversations

Discover what people care about, how they see the situation &

what they want to offer

Mobilize assets

•Less Successful

Start with the answer

Recruit people to implement the answer

Look for answers to the additional problem of “lack of

motivation.”

Lead by stepping back

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Putting It Into Practice

• Where is the opportunity for us to practice Asset-Based Community Development more?

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How can we use ABCD to assist the Arizona Association of Food Banks?