| Throughout this handbook, we’ve
been stressing the importance of getting a quality-of-life plan
in place before taking action. But it’s also important to get
the neighborhood excited about comprehensive community
development as early in the process as possible. That’s why it makes sense to identify low- and no-cost “early action”
projects you can undertake while the planning process is still
underway. These projects should be meaningful, inexpensive tasks
that make a visible difference in your neighborhood. Chances are
some of the recommendations from your visioning workshop will be
perfect early action projects.
Whose responsibility is it to complete these projects? While
your steering committee should ultimately track all projects,
this is a great chance to get individual committees and other
community stakeholders involved. Collaborating organizations
such as schools, churches, and community centers might even be
the beneficiaries of such projects.
By taking early action, you show the neighborhood that big
plans are underway—and that even small projects can make a big
difference.
|
In Mapleton Fall Creek, we have a
“roving listener” who has been meeting with people in the
neighborhood to inventory the talents of the neighborhood by
asking people about their gifts and dreams. We heard about many
gifts: photographer, cooks, t-shirt maker, youth workers,
gardeners, etc. One of the things we learned is that if we are
going to ask people about their dreams, we need to be prepared
to act on them. When together we created small projects that put
these collective talents to good use, the word started getting
around. Now, there is a growing spirit of camaraderie in the
neighborhood and an increasing feeling that we can accomplish
things together to improve our neighborhood.”
- Rev. Mike Mather, Senior Pastor
Broadway United Methodist Church
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