The Resource Center: National Neighborhood Day effective practices

Mobilizing a community with a Neighborhood Watch program

Keeping neighborhoods safe and crime free requires awareness and diligence on the part of area residents. Forming a Neighborhood Watch in collaboration with local law enforcement agencies effectively reduces crime and mobilizes communities to be a part of a larger homeland security effort. This effective practice covers the steps involved in forming and sustaining a Neighborhood Watch program, as well as how to plan and implement action, and is excerpted with permission from the Ohio Crime Prevention Association's 1996 publication, Neighborhood Watch and Community Mobilization. Read more.

Improving neighborhoods with web-based community mapping

"Neighborhood improvement and recovery is not just for the experts!" That is the motto of Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles, a community outreach program of UCLA's Advanced Policy Institute. NKLA has demonstrated the value of involving community residents in the process of monitoring neighborhood conditions and mapping community assets. Read more.

Providing childcare to increase participation in neighborhood events

Informed involved individuals are important neighborhood assets. In order to engage citizens from all reaches of the community, it is important to understand that lack of childcare can be a barrier for some. Recruiting and training community members to take on this function helps build healthy systems. Robert Jackson submitted this effective practice in February 2004, using best practices developed from the Wilder Foundation's Vital Neighborhoods Initiative. Read more.

Adopting community development approaches for collaboration

Executive directors of state commissions discussed effective practices grounded in community development initiatives and resulting in partnerships that increased the sustainability of national service programs. This effective practice offers suggestions drawn from a Massachusetts conference and was shared by Project TASC. Read more.

Assessing potential partnerships with community-based organizations

Many national service programs seek to expand their efforts by leveraging additional volunteers within the communities they serve. This effective practice, submitted by Hands On Network in August 2006, aids programs in determining the strength of potential partnerships with community service organizations in creating volunteer projects. Read more.

Assisting community-based organizations in delivering technology services

In their efforts to revitalize and enhance low-income communities near and around the Atlanta University Center's six campus university grounds, student volunteers, assisted by AmeriCorps*VISTA members, provide information technology, computer operations system training, and Internet/Web technical assistance, as well as mentoring and tutoring. This is made possible by the community-based organizations that identify and prioritize local needs, promoting the economic and social viability of the community, and allowing for appropriate leveraging of volunteer services. This effective practice was submitted by Bermira Gates, AmeriCorps*VISTA Coordinator at the Atlanta University Center, Atlanta, Georgia in October 2002. Read more.

Collaborating to develop service programming to address community needs

Promoting service-learning and citizenship education in K-12 schools and institutions of higher education is a large undertaking that requires a unique collaboration. In Florida, the Florida Alliance for Student Service (FASS) VISTA Initiative addresses community needs through a cadre of community service members, volunteers and education professionals. This collaboration includes Learn and Serve America, Campus Compact, Community-Higher Education-School Partnership (CHESP) and AmeriCorps*VISTA members. This effective practice was highlighted in the National Service News, Issue No.170, October 28, 2002, published by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Read more.

Developing community service career ladder programs to support welfare-to-work

In collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Human Services and the Providence School Department, the Parents Making a Difference welfare-to-work program enrolls participants as education award-only AmeriCorps members enabling them to continue receiving public assistance benefits. The Parents Making a Difference experience serves as training for jobs as educational aides and assistants in the Providence School Department, helping to meet a pressing demand for experienced, multicultural paraprofessionals. Recommendations and models are provided for establishing welfare-to-paraprofessional and paraprofessional-to-career training programs. This practice is based on research by Trina P. Barnes and Owen Heleen in their 1998 National Service Fellows report, "Career Ladders, Community Service, and Welfare-to-Work." Read more.

Developing community service programs for public housing residents

Public housing residents, often the recipients of social services, can be great assets to their communities as providers of community service. Self-Help in Public Housing: A Handbook for Developing Successful HOPE VI Community Service Programs was developed by the Corporation for National and Community Service to assist HOPE VI grantees in implementing community service programs from the initial planning stages to sustainability. The HOPE VI Urban Revitalization Demonstration Program by HUD funds the demolition and revitalization of severely distressed public housing. Read more.

Generating a list of 100 ways teens can serve their communities

For service organizations or agencies that involve teens, "100 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Community" can be a powerful starting point for affecting change. From something as simple as "walk a neighbor's dog" to the more structured "become a peer counselor" this list has something all members can relate to. Developed by Youth Service America, a resource center and premier alliance of over 300 organizations committed to increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for young people to serve locally, nationally, or globally, this list is sure to generate thought, discussion, and activity. Read more.

Honoring ordinary heroes through a community service project

The extraordinary contributions of ordinary citizens often go unnoticed in a community. Finding and honoring these ordinary heroes has become an annual cross-age service-learning project for fifth- and ninth-graders in Sharon, Massachusetts. During the year-long Ordinary Heroes Project, students explore the nature of heroic acts through literature and interviews with local citizens who exemplify heroic virtues. They also hone their interviewing, writing, listening and speaking skills. Excerpted from Community Lessons: Promising Curriculum Practices by Julie Bartsch. Read more.

Making community technology centers accessible and welcoming

Simply providing computer equipment isn't enough to bridge the digital divide. Technology is most effective when it is combined with technical support, staffed computer labs, and properly maintained computer systems. The Seattle Community Technology Alliance reassessed the needs of the community technology centers (CTCs) in its area and implemented an action plan. The results changed the perception of the centers from little more than empty computer labs to resources for individual and community development. This effective practice is excerpted with permission from an article that originally appeared on the Seattle Community Network website. Read more.

Maximizing higher education volunteerism at community drop-in resource centers

A national network of drop-in resource centers, staffed by student volunteers from area colleges and universities, provides information and problem-solving services to community residents in need of assistance finding sustainable employment, social services, and/or educational opportunities. AmeriCorps*VISTA members provide vital full-time, on-site support to local directors and volunteers, helping to build structure and capacity for this program. This effective practice was highlighted in the National Service News, May 12, 2002, Issue No.184, published by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Read more.

Using work-study to build community partnerships

Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, has designed its community work-study program as a way to develop and cultivate long-term institutional partnerships with community organizations. This effective practice from Lessons Learned from the Development of Community Service Work-Study Programs by the Minnesota and Massachusetts Campus Compacts details how the Macalester program combines work-study, community service and service-learning. Read more.

Volunteering by, in, and with low-income communities

Traditionally people in low-income communities help their neighbors in times of need without consciously identifying with concepts such as "community service" or "volunteering." An awareness of this and other cultural issues related to volunteering in low-income communities is helpful for organizations that "go into" volunteer communities for volunteer initiatives and service. To this end, The Points of Light Foundation in partnership with the Volunteer Center National Network and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, initiated a study to determine best practices for volunteering in distressed neighborhoods. This effective practice was highlighted in the October 4, 2002 issue of To the Point, published by the Points of Light Foundation. Read more.

Service Events