ASSET BASED COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
Comes to Clare County as part of Planned Growth
Asset Based
Community Development (ABCD),
a way to identify and mobilize the assets in a community to facilitate
positive change from the inside out, is being embraced by three
communities in Clare County as a strategy to advance community
development through entrepreneurism, small business creation, and
community connectedness. With ABCD, individual capacities and community
assets are harnessed to build neighborhoods and communities. The process
is the outcome.
There are a number of guiding principles to Asset
Based Community
Development.
- The notion that everyone has gifts to contribute to the betterment
of
the community.
- Relationships build a community. ABCD is an
intentional way to build relationships.
- People in leadership roles in the community are at the core of the
community initiatives.
- Leaders in the community engage others in the community to become
involved in the effort to build capacity.
- It is a way to motivate people to act in behalf of their community.
It creates passion where apathy once existed.
- ABCD creates motivation to act.
ABCD is a process that gives a community the tools to address issues by
utilizing the individual and community assets. People begin to connect
by their capacities rather than their deficits. As a result positive
initiatives are realized based on the gifts, talents, and skills within
the community.
Middle Michigan Development Corporation (MMDC) and the Mt. Pleasant Area
Chamber of Commerce (MPACC), in collaboration with
the Small Business Initiative Council of Clare and Isabella Counties, is
bringing Asset Based Community
Development to Clare County. Through a
grant from USDA Rural Development, MMDC and its partners have identified
three communities in Clare County to pilot this important initiative.
The communities are Surrey Township, Hayes Township, and Lake George.
Leaders in each of these communities have volunteered to participate in
a full-day training to learn how to map the assets of their communities
and how to create a capacity inventory for the citizens of each
community. Once the mapping and inventory have begun, the leaders will
learn how to mobilize individuals to develop relationships around the
assets and capacities for the betterment of their community.
The USDA Rural Development Grant provides the funding to host three
full-day trainings and six half-day trainings in Clare County. The first
training was on Saturday, December 12, 2009 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. with
professional ABCD trainer Lisa Hadden facilitating.
Clare County Residents who are interested in participating in Asset
Based Community Development can contact Kathy Methner, Director of
Business Development, MMDC, by phone (989-772-2858) or email
(kmethner@mmdc.org) for more information.
To learn more view the PowerPoint presentation on Asset
Based Community Development.
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