Taking Action to Build Assets
Communities Taking Action
Key Themes in Asset Building
Eight Principles for Getting Started
Rebuilding Community
15 Characteristics of Asset-Building Communities
Community-Wide Asset Building in Action
5 Things You Can Do to Mobilize Your Community for Asset Building
Across the nation, hundreds of communities, organizations, and individuals are asking what they can do to strengthen young people's foundation of developmental assets. The answer doesn't lie primarily in creating new programs or in hiring more professionals. The primary answer lies in bringing into reality a fundamental shift in thinking-from a problem focus to a positive vision. It lies in each and every person reclaiming responsibility for raising young people. It lies in launching and sustaining a movement that changes the way society thinks about-and responds to-children and adolescents.
Asset building is not a quick fix. Widespread, dramatic change will not come overnight. It will take a long-term commitment, multiple and coordinated changes, and a passion for the vision that will sustain the effort for several decades-until the patterns and systems are in place so that asset building is a natural way of life in our families, institutions, and communities, not something we have to think about to do. Though asset-building efforts often begin small and in seemingly inconsequential ways, the long-term potential is tremendous. Individual acts and commitments add up. As an ancient proverb says, "Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea."
Communities Taking Action (Back to Top)
Uniting communities to build assets is more like playing in a jazz ensemble than conducting a symphony orchestra. For an orchestra to work, each player must carefully follow the musical score and pay attention to every nuance of the conductor's baton. In contrast, a jazz band relies on the musicians each knowing the tune, playing well, listening to each other, and improvising together--sometimes taking the lead and sometimes playing in the background.
To create a community-wide commitment to asset building, all the "musicians" need to be playing the same tune--working toward a common vision of what is needed to promote the healthy development of young people. But this is not an effort that can, or should, be fully orchestrated or directed. Rather, it will thrive from the inspiration, passion, and gifts of individuals and groups doing what they can to build assets in young people.
Key Themes in Asset Building (Back to Top)
Just as each jazz band interprets a musical piece its own way, asset building looks a little different in each community. However, there are some underlying themes that make "the tune" recognizable across communities. Though no community fully embodies these ideals, the vision can inspire communities to break out of current habits to try something new.
Assets are nurtured in all young people. Rather than focusing primarily on specific groups of young people for intervention (for example, those "at risk"), asset-building communities embrace and intentionally seek to nourish all young people.
Relationships are key. Rather than defining themselves primarily in terms of programs, asset-building communities view themselves more in terms of relationships. Initially, programs may be developed to help create connections in neighborhoods, schools, businesses, congregations, and other settings across all generations. But programs become less central as "natural" relationships, networks, and activities emerge to care for youth.
Everyone contributes to the vision. In an asset-building community, caring for young people is not the sole responsibility of families or schools or professional care providers. All residents-parents, neighbors, young people, educators, business people, senior citizens, congregation members, and others-see themselves as guardians of the community's young people.
Asset building never stops. Asset building begins before birth (equipping parents-to-be with skills) and continues at least until young people become independent adults. At each developmental stage, the community emphasizes different assets that respond to the young person's needs. Furthermore, the community explores how to nurture the assets that adults need.
The community is filled with consistent messages. If you spend time in an asset-building community, you quickly sense harmony in the messages that young people hear. One way communities and institutions are beginning to develop consistent messages is simply by using the language of asset building in describing relationships, activities, and programs. In this way, people consistently hear that young people are a priority in the community.
Duplication and repetition are valued. Just as marketers have learned that people need to hear a message several times before they fully grasp and act on it, the asset-building community knows that young people need to experience many expressions of care, guidance, and opportunities in all areas of community life. Rather than delegating one part of asset building to a particular segment of the community, the whole community recognizes its responsibility in strengthening the whole asset foundation.
Eight Principles for Getting Started (Back to Top)
One of the exciting, though challenging, aspects of launching a healthy community initiative is that asset-building is not just another chorus in a well-known tune. Asset building challenges assumptions and the ways communities typically work. Keeping the following principles in mind will help guide a local effort toward its vision.
1. Engage people from throughout the community. Because the asset building vision calls for community-wide responsibility for youth, involving many different stakeholders is important from the outset. A mixture of motivated citizens and their leaders provides an important balance. Many communities have developed "vision teams" with representatives from all sectors (schools, government, law enforcement, congregations, service agencies, business, health care, etc.) along with young people, parents, and other residents, including senior persons and people from various racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
2. Start with a positive vision. The typical community-wide effort is initiated because of a crisis. Too often, however, these initiatives deal with the immediate crisis but do not have the energy or vision to sustain them. A positive vision can energize a community for the long term. It can also help groups to lay aside political and ideological agendas to work together because of their shared commitment to the well-being of children and adolescents.
3. Build on quality information. Many communities find that a survey of young people can be an important catalyst for creative and sustained action. Quality information gives people a shared reference point for reflecting on the needs, realities, and resources in the community as they shape their vision for the future. Otherwise, you risk shaping a vision and agenda that do not adequately capture the needs, issues, and possibilities in the community for children and adolescents.
4. Resist the temptation to create new programs. Because most responses to youth issues in recent decades have been programmatic, intentional energy will be needed to avoid simply developing another program to respond to a specific need. The most important tasks for the "vision bearers" for asset building are to keep the vision of a healthy community alive and prompt individuals and institutions to discover ways that they can integrate asset building into their own mission and commitments.
5. Take time to motivate and educate. Because asset building represents a new way of thinking about communities and youth, it is important not to assume that everyone automatically understands the framework and its implications. Unless people internalize the many dimensions of the asset framework, asset building risks becoming a shallow campaign to "be nice to kids." Repeating key messages about assets lays a foundation for a more thoughtful, well-rounded response.
6. Celebrate commitments and successes. Asset building is a long-term vision, not a quick fix. But as communities embark on this journey, it is important to notice, celebrate, and talk about the landmarks along the way-the new awareness of young people, the shifts in conversations, the shared enthusiasm and commitments. These stories renew energy and refocus commitment.
7. Embrace innovations from the community. Once people are aligned with the vision of asset building, their creativity in finding ways to nurture assets can be startling. Encouraging this innovation is key to breaking out of old patterns and discovering fresh approaches to rebuilding community for kids. One example of grassroots innovation is occurring in Kennebunk and Kennebunk Port, Maine. Instead of being punished through the court system, first-time, non-violent youth offenders must take a class in which they learn about what kids need to grow up healthy. In the program, which is called Jump Start, each young person is paired with a volunteer mentor who lends support throughout the eight-week period. Youth who have taken the course have formed an alumni group to reinforce the positive messages they learned.
8. Network with other communities. While many communities have begun asset-building initiatives, the vision is only in its infancy. No one knows all the answers, and no one knows how everything will work. But each community is learning something new each day. Network with others. Share stories and ideas. Explore challenges. Together, we will learn what works-and doesn't work-to bring the vision closer to reality.
Rebuilding Community (Back to Top)
Rebuilding community is currently in vogue, with advocates across the political and philosophical spectrum. Many of the current efforts that seek to build new strengths in communities are compatible with an asset-building approach. Indeed, many of them could operate in conjunction with asset building. These include efforts to revitalize the economic infrastructure, address issues of city planning and architecture, and increase civic participation by residents. As communities discover the asset-building framework, many find that it provides a helpful structure within which to frame the other issues and strategies. It is often useful because the concrete focus on young people brings people to the table who may not relate to more abstract concepts. For them, asset building has a human face. At the same time, building assets in children and youth can be like dropping a pebble into a pond: the ripple effects get bigger and bigger. Once people have a commitment to creating a healthy community for children and adolescents, many other issues and needs come into focus. The result will be that, as community is strengthened for young people, the whole community will be transformed and renewed.
* Source: http://www.search-institute.org/archives/hchy/4a.htm
15 Characteristics of Asset-Building Communities (Back to Top)
What are some of the core features of a town or city that seeks to build developmental assets for all of its children and adolescents? Proposed here are 15 benchmarks.
- All residents take personal responsibility for building assets in children and adolescents.
- The community thinks and acts intergenerationally.
- The community builds a consensus on values and boundaries, which it seeks to articulate and model.
- All children and teenagers frequently engage in service to others.
- Families are supported, educated, and equipped to elevate asset building to top priority.
- All children and teenagers receive frequent expressions of support in both informal settings and in places where youth gather.
- Neighborhoods are places of caring, support, and safety.
- Schools-both elementary and secondary-mobilize to promote caring, clear boundaries, and sustained relationships with adults.
- Businesses establish family-friendly policies and embrace asset-building principles for young employees.
- Virtually all 10 to 18 year olds are involved in one or more clubs, teams, or other youth-serving organizations that see building assets as central to their mission.
- The media (print, radio, television) repeatedly communicate the community's vision, support local moblization efforts, and provide forums for sharing innovative actions taken by individuals and organizations.
- All professionals and volunteers who work with youth receive training in asset building.
- Youth have opportunities to serve, lead, and make decisions.
- Religious institutions mobilize their resources to build assets both within their own programs and in the community.
- The community-wide commitment to asset building is long-term and sustained.
Copyright (c) 1985 by Search Institute.
* Source: http://www.search-institute.org/archives/hchy/4b.htm
Community-Wide Asset Building in Action (Back to Top)
- Ozarks Fighting Back, an asset-building initiative in Springfield, Missouri, surveyed local companies about flexible work options for families, then developed a brochure highlighting the value of flexible options and the cost-to both workers and the companies-of not having options available.
- Youth in Hopkins, Minnesota, are working to create a teen center after they surveyed 1,200 students to find out what kind of center they wanted and where it should be. The center will include a coffee shop with couches, dart boards, and inexpensive food.
- Kindergarteners and their parents in Kennebunk, Maine, will learn about asset building from day one. Beginning in September, parents of each new student will receive a copy of the book What Kids Need to Succeed and will be invited to short asset-building workshops.
- Housing developer Gary Walker wants the planned community he is building in Mesa, Arizona, to be a community with kids at its heart. By designing neighborhoods, a community center, and other programs with young people in mind, the 10,000-resident community of Las Sendas will be a place where children are valued, respected, and cared for by all the residents.
- Many of the communities in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota have begun asset-building initiatives. Twenty-one communities jointly sponsored a "We Love Our Kids" celebration, which highlighted everyone's role in asset building.
- Youth and adults co-chair committees that are developing asset-building plans in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. The effort gives youth and adults the chance to spend time together and to develop asset-building plans. Members created sweatshirts, which they wear proudly in support of the effort.
- The asset-building efforts in Ulysses, Kansas, are all sewn up. Recently, community organizations and businesses designed and made a quilt showing their commitment to children, youth, and families in the county. Each organization contributed a square.
Copyright (c) 1998 by Search Institute.
* Source: http://www.search-institute.org/archives/hchy/4c.htm
5 Things You Can Do to Mobilize Your Community for Asset Building (Back to Top)
- Talk with leaders, friends, neighbors, and other citizens about the vision and potential for asset building. Share materials that describe the asset-building approach.
- Sponsor community-wide or regional events to talk about asset building and its potential. Invite influential people to the event. Also work hard to include youth, parents, seniors, and other groups.
- Gather information on what's currently happening in your community and how it could be enhanced with an asset-building focus or partnership.
- Work with a cross-section of leaders and other residents to develop plans or strategies for an asset-building initiative.
- Serve on a committee or task force to implement asset-building strategies.
For more information on launching an initiative, see the Healthy Communities - Healthy Youth Tool Kit (Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute, 1998).
Copyright (c) 1998 by Search Institute.