Engaging the Community

Seeking wider participation in development decisions

In 2005, we launched a two-year Community Engagement pilot with five local CDCs: Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, Aeon Homes, Hope Community, Sparc and a partnership between PRG/Hawthorne/Stairstep Foundation.

We provided seed money, technical assistance, and peer learning opportunities to figure out better ways of getting more people of color and low-income residents involved in community development decisions.

Over the course of the pilot, each of the organizations deepened its commitment to community engagement in different ways. Twin Cities LISC will apply what we learned to developing our Building Sustainable Communities demonstration.

Those lessons included:

• » Community engagement requires a sustained, long-term commitment to thinking strategically and imaginatively with the community. This demands a high level of intention and accountability, because the process can be slow, cumbersome, sometimes tense, and can seem to undermine other community development goals and timelines. Progress can be difficult to discern.
• » Community engagement is resource- and time-intensive. It takes effort at all levels of an organization to build lasting, authentic relationships of trust among a variety of community partners. It requires greater resources from public and philanthropic partners to achieve deep, equitable civic participation.
• » No one size fits all. What works for one organization may not be easily applicable to others. What is effective in one situation may not be easily replicated in another. It’s important to remember that community engagement reinforces community voice not programs or strategies as the driver of process.