Every Neighborhood Partnership is rooted in a framework called Asset Based Community Development or ABCD for short. Any Community Based Organization that believes in Asset Based Community Development starts with a basic premise that local communities can do more together by choosing to focus on what they have — their gifts, talents, and community assets — instead of what they are missing.* Imagine how you view a glass of water that is half-way filled up. Is it empty or full?

ABCD is a way of both strengthening community social capital and organizing community change. While this serves as an initial baseline for how asset-based inspired organizations approach the work of community engagement, not all organizations that adopt the ABCD methodology end with the same goals. 

The framework by design is not intended to be uniform across the board but rather promotes flexibility and adaptation because communities have their own unique context of social cohesion and shared narrative. Within this philosophy, each organization can interpret their own work of asset based community development according to their internal and external capacities as well as their areas of focus or interest. 

For example, some organizations are committed to a place or defined geography while others may have a different reach that is more larger in scope. This article briefly explores how an organization can adopt ABCD principles to inform their internal programming and value system.

Here are four values that reflect an asset based community development framework:

• Justice: Pursue equity so that everyone is given the opportunity to succeed. Listen and learn from diverse voices and invite those traditionally underrepresented to speak into our work. This leads organizations to be courageous in speaking up against injustice and telling the truth. An asset based organization works towards equitable distribution of funds and resources within programs and projects.

• Dignity: Recognize every community member (regardless of gender, age, race, or socio-economic status) has an inherent value and can contribute to the betterment of their own communities with their gifts, strengths, passions and motivations. This means organizations that are practicing asset based community development are staying consistent with grassroots principles that promote community led solutions. 

• Community Well-being: Prioritize self-care and practice self awareness in light of community trauma. An organizational asset based approach works towards supporting mental and emotional health to develop community resiliency. It also fosters places of safety where we can heal together from past trauma.

• Collaboration: Compatibility to interface with multi-sectors and faith rooted institutions. Partnerships are interdependent on each other for success. Building a healthy connective tissue in a community allows for stronger capacity building and resource sharing. Asset based community development breaks down silos and celebrates the shared learning of local stakeholders.

We believe ABCD is an important philosophical framework for more organizations in our community to adopt. We need to move away from a strictly social service model to a more empowering, holistic model that promotes dignity, justice, community well-being and collaboration. 

Every Neighborhood Partnership is a local organization that works to address the social disparities that exist in their community. Every Neighborhood Partnership has been operating from an Asset Based Community Development framework since 2010.

To learn more about ABCD and how your organization can implement this framework in your community, please visit us at everyneighborhood.org or contact german@everyneighborhood.org 

*Ron Dwyer-Voss and Indigo Bishop. “Let’s Get Explicit: Social Justice in Asset Based Community Development”. April 26, 2019