Community Principles
We value innovation and entrepreneurship in seeking new ways to respond to the challenges of distressed communities. We are dedicated to a set of principles that:
- Promote active and representative citizen participation so that community members can meaningfully influence decisions that affect them.
- Engage community members in issue identification so that those affected may adequately understand the factors that contribute to their situation.
- Help community members understand the economic, social, political, environmental, and psychological impacts associated with alternative solutions to the issue.
- Assist community members in designing and implementing plans that build upon community assets by emphasizing shared leadership and active citizen participation.
- Seek alternatives to any effort that is likely to adversely affect the disadvantaged segments of a community.
- Actively work to increase leadership capacity, skills, confidence, and aspirations in the community development process.
