Iowa State University Extension

Building Communities with Strong Families

Healthy human development requires strong, nurturing families who are supported by their community. Efforts at building community help support families by developing and sustaining strong relationships, increasing community decision making, and improving the ability to collaborate.

The African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” has become a
popular phrase for describing a variety of community-building
activities in Iowa towns and neighborhoods. Through practice and
research we know that healthy human development requires strong,
nurturing families who are supported by their communities. Efforts
at building communities help families replace feelings of dependency
with attitudes of hopefulness, self-confidence, and responsibility.

These materials are designed for communities wanting to start new efforts and for those who wish to strengthen what they are already doing. They serve as a guide for policy making and practice and for orienting professionals and citizens to community building.

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download Building Communities with Strong Families, 64 pages, 2.4 MB, (pdf)

Table of Contents

Leader’s guide with suggested training activities for different audiences:
Presentation 1: Community Building
Presentation 2: Collaboration, Empowerment, and Citizen Participation
Presentation 3: Building a Pyramid of Support
Presentation 4: Risk and Change
Presentation 5: Promoting Citizen Participation
Presentation 6: Moving to the Next Level
Presentation 7: What Am I?
Presentation 8: Focusing on Outcomes
Presentation 9: To Collaborate or Not to Collaborate
Master for the fact sheet Overview with a self-assessment of current efforts
Master for the fact sheet Questions and Answers
Master for the fact sheet Promoting Citizen Participation
Master for the fact sheet Planning Together: Approaches to
Community Assessment and Action Planning
Master for the fact sheet Sustaining the Journey: Moving
Collaboration to the Next Level
Master for the fact sheet Examples from the Field
Visual masters numbers 1 to 5
Videotape Building Communities with Strong Families, was distributed to all ISU county Extension offices

This document is a Adobe Acrobat PDF file. If you need more information about PDF files or a free Acrobat Reader, please follow the directions found on the PDF help section.

Additional Resource
Asset-Based Community Development Institute
The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD)is co-directed by John L. McKnight, director of community studies at Institute for Policy Research, and his long-time collaborator in community research, John P. Kretzmann, an IPR senior research associate.

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Building Communities with Strong Families