Agency Based Community Building in Low Income Neighborhoods

ABSTRACT

The decline of community is a significant strain in recent social science literature. The concept of social capital has been used to describe the weakened state of communal structure. The most intense expressions of such decline have been experienced in poor communities. Relatively little attention however, has been paid to the difficult task of social capital formation or rebuilding community. This paper attempts to address that imbalance. It develops a very preliminary praxis framework for community building and locates such practice work within non-profit social service agencies. The framework was constructed from the practice literature and represents a first step in developing a wholistic approach to agency based community building. Critically, the paper also underscores a number of the dilemmas associated with implementing such a framework.

Key Words:

• Community
• community building
• praxis
• social capital
• nonprofit sector
• community development