Community development planning
Too often, change is something that happens to communities, particularly small communities, in a haphazard way. The community is left to react, rather than being in a position to be pro-active, to have a sense of at least contributing to the shaping of its destiny.
Most communities have leaders, identified and unidentified, who have good ideas about how their community could be improved. It is common for there to be a lack of communication, even in a small community, among those who have differing perspectives about what would be best for the community. The success of a community development plan is directly proportional to the degree of participation and commitment of diverse elements of the community. Community planning efforts rarely, if ever, achieve everything that is envisioned, but that is not a reason for holding back. Often, there will be incremental improvements that act as a catalyst for more fundamental long range changes. Our reach is likely to exceed our grasp, but we are unlikely to grasp more than we are reaching for. Planning should be visionary, yet realistic.
In rural St. Lawrence County, few towns and villages have the capacity to develop a community development plan on their own. The kinds of conversations that are needed for a plan to be successful are often best facilitated by “outsiders” with experience, but with no particular stake in the outcomes.
Over the years, the Housing Council has had the opportunity to play such a role for communities such as Hermon, Morristown, Hammond, Heuvelton, Edwards, Clifton, Fine, and the Tri-town area.
Today, the Housing Council is available for both limited and comprehensive planning projects.
Limited planning projects commonly involve 2-3 public meetings at which visions are shared, obstacles identified, goals prioritized, and a report prepared which can serve as a focus for enhancement of life in the community.
A comprehensive project involves the formation of a local steering committee, an in-depth study of many dimensions of the community, active and focused recruitment of representatives of various segments of the community to participate, community-wide surveys, and numerous focus group meetings to explore a variety issues and their possible solutions. The Housing Council´s participation as a chartered member of Neighborworks© America has made many tested tools available for facilitating this process. It is likely to involve hundreds of hours of professional consultation and a very significant number of volunteer hours by community residents.
If your community is interested in addressing Community Development Planning, please contact the Housing Council´s Community Facilities staff.