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RC 01 28

Prestbn, James C.; 4alton, Ka herine B.Leader's Guide to'Cdmmunity A tion. MiscellariedusBulletin 115.Cornell Univ. , thaca. N.Y. Cooperativ% Exte/ftion

. service.; State Univ.LOf Nevi York. ithage. Coll. ofAgriculture and Life SCience at Cornell' Unik4; State,Oily. of Neil York, Ithaca. Coll. of Human Ecology atCornell Univ.Extension Service (DOA), Washington, D1C.r.Aug 8128p.; For related document, See RC 013 284.Cornell Distribution Center, 7 Research Park, Ithaca-,NY 14850 ($2.50; quantity discount avaiXable).Guides -.Non-Classroom Use (055)

MF014Plus Postage. PC Not Available from 4EDRS.Arts Centers; Child Development Centern;.*CommunityAction; Community Centers; Community Cooperation;Community Development; Community Health Services;Community Involvement; *Community Leaders; CommunityResourceg'; Health Facilities; HOUsing; Libraries;Methodis; *Models; Older Adults; Program Descriptions;*Program Development; *Program ImplementatiOn; Rural p

Areas; Rural'Development*NeW York; *Small TownsIDENTIFIERS

ABSTRAftTo help increase leader effectiveness in planning and

implementing local action piojects, the booklet presents discussion. and examples of } the nature and characteristics of planned communityaction leading to community development. The booklet first explainswhy leaders should be involved with community action and then gives

//

abstracts of seven successful community action, projects in small New,-York. towns:_ The projects described include the establishment of

small /

medical clinic, senior citizens' housing, a 3-part complex for healthand day care and senior citizen housing, an arts center, and a/community library, and the organiation of a local festival. Thebooklet explains the characteristics of community action, notingthree key elements: the actors, the associations, and the actionprocess' itself. The booklet then provides a comprehensive 'analysii ofdeveloping and operating an action project using a model in 0

stages: project environment and background to action, initiation ofacti,on, expansion of the action system, operation- of the actionsystem, and ending or reorganization of the actipri system./ Thebooklet concludes with information about how to apply the model andwith a worksheet for each of the fiye stages: (SW

k.,..

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,ader-.8"--G(tid0.:to'Community

o. ton.:.

byJames C.Preston andKatherine ,

B. Halton

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS !'.`(MATERIAL IN MICROFICHE ONLY

HAS BEEN GRANTED BY- I

TirrammidlsilAt ESOURCESINFORMATION DENTER,(ERIC)."

MiscellaneousBulletin115 \

An Extension

wePublication of, the

we New York StateCO College of Agricultiire

and Life,,Sciences,iaNI A Statutory CollegeCel of the State University,

Cornell University,r" It aca, New York,

U.S.. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NINATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

RESOtiff CIS INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC) 4 LiG.,

This, document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationonginatmg it

0 Minor changes havrg been made to improve`reproduction qualt,PointstSlete or opinions stated in this dour.ment do not necessanly represent official NIEposition or policy

of,

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4

CONTENTS

Why Be Concerned with Community Action?

Community change

4 What Are Some Examples of Successful Comrounity_Action Projectsg.%

6 ss.

What bharacterizes Community Action?

Community identity

Elements Of cornmunitt adtion

1.1 What Does Development of a Community,Action System Involve?

11 D'e'velopment of e3.community ation -system

17 Change in the community °

18 Applying the Model 'Qf Community. Action to Your Community

AUTHORS

JameSC. Preston isan associate professorand Kathering B. Halton, a researchassistant, in the Department of RuralSociology, New York State College ofAgriculture and Life Sciences at CornellUniversity:

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thanylpe community leaderswho through their time and cooperationmade possible the community action stud-ies'used as a major part of thisdjuide. Wealso thank'the family of Louis.Taber who

''tVougha special grant made those studies.

and this guide possible. A special.apprecihtion is extended to Paul Taber,Professor Olaf Larson, Derwood 1E4 urns, andRichard Church as members of this specialproject advisory,tommittee. We also thankBetty Ann Bailey for her- dart in researchingthe first tliTge-itudies. 'N. ,

We appreciate the assistance of thefollowing pdople in reviewing-this guide:.Denvood, & Burns, Sidney C. Cleveland,Kenneth H, Cobb, Gordon J. Cummings,Eugene Q. Erickson, James H. Gould,David W. Gross,- Daryl K. Heasley, Chloe M.Wacehske, Donald J. White, and KennethP. Wilkinson. Howeverthe authors assumefull responsibility for the nature and contentof the guide.

We would like to thank Mary Ellen Jonesand. Jackie Bugonian for th)pir patiencp andability in typing the reports and this guideand for their general assistance throughoutthe study..

9

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INTRODU4ION

ofnmunity action involvesnearly everYorie at one time Or another:.The, purpose of this leaders'guide is tohelp increase leader effectiveness inplanning and implementing Iddar actipnpfcijects by-'discussing and providing.examples of the nature and characteristics of planned community acjjaileadiffg to community development,.

Perhaps you have a question about...becoming invOlved. Questions oftep

raised by docal people tire, Why 6econcerned?/What is distindtive aboutcommunity action? What has been theexperience of others undertakingCommunity action? What is involved inthe development of an action.systThese questions are answered ifollowing sections of the guide.

This guide reviews community action'research and summarizes over 2 yearsof studying action p'rojects. The authorsvisited seven New York State Commu-nities to study and report on individtjalcommunity action projects, (RuralCommunity Action: A Series of CaseStudies df Action Projects in Small NewYork State CommUnities,.C,omell Mis7cellaneous Bulletin,116, in press).These communities varied in size froma small rural village of ,about 1,000People ,to acity and surrounding areaaffected by the .problems of over $,000

. people. In the studies community wasdefined as a Village, town, or small cityor any, combination of such units in apredominantly rural area. County,region, or state action proAts wereexclUded.

The sever projects studied were the'following:

EstabliSh nt of a Medical Clinio, inWooCihull New York

Housing for Senior Citizens in,Sher-burne, New York

HOtising'for Senior Citizens, ChildDevelopment Center, Health Care Cen-ter, and Nursing Home Facilities in

rotbn, New YOrk

Economic Development thitugh theGreater Malone Community Counciland the Ballard Mill Center folic the Artsin Malone, New York

The Central New York Maple Festivalin. Marathon, New York

Transformation of School Buildinginto Rental Housing for Senioi- Citizensin SinclairvilleNew York

One Par[ of a Community,s Attempt at

Economic and Social Turnabout: TheLibrary project in Salamanca, NewYork

Even thrIgh each community has itsown Particular culture and set of eco-nomic, social, pOlitical, and physicalcharacteristics some general principlesof leadership and organization emergefrom the' action process at the locallevel. characteristiCs and pat-

,

terns of, COF1M y action projects pro-vide the fo s and examples for theremaind of the guide.

Th authors studied only successfulcommunity action projects. Unsuccess-ful community action ekperiences andthe many, lessons to be learned fromthem were not "apartpart of this study.However, our findings appear to beconsittent with the literature treating)unsuccessful as 'Well as successful

fictions in other 'settings.We turn'first to the question, Why be

concerned? A more searching reviewof the characteristics of communityaction and brief abstracts of the casestudies fellow. The case studies are-,incorporated in a thorough review ofthe development of the action system.

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?Irt ,1

.t ` 1 30

WHY. E CONCE.RNED WITH CitymmONITY,ACTION?.L.

e .

here is perhaps no means bywhich the people living in Americassmall comrpunities could make amore worthwhile contribution tothemselves and to the stability andwelfare of our nation, than through aConcerned effort to improve andstrengthen their own communities.''

That statement was made in 1950.Today, there is incteased emphasia ondecentralization,of government actionwith iricreased focuS on decisiona andaction at the local level. As noted fly

another author writing in 1980:

With the level.ormonetary publ*sources going down both on thlocal .-

ing fcapd/national leyels, and show

signs of an upswing lin.the -

forseeable futur,,e, human resourcesmust be tappedrif local developMentis to continue* The action perspec-tive provides Lis with a methodologyto identify available resources.2

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MacDonald MedicalClinic in Woodhull

Community Chan0e-A number of theories deal with

change occurring in communitiesthroughout the United Stptes..RolandWarren, in TheCoinrnuqity in America,discusses the "Great Change.", Bythat term, he means, among other 177things, the increasing otntation of the_various segments of a c Minunity (theschools, businesses, organizatiOns,etc,) toward systems, institutions, or ,

agencies, outside the community, eitherstate, national, or international. A localchain -store whose policies andemployment practices as well as exis-tence are determined by the parentcompany in another community somedistance awaj,:illustrates this notion.Although there are obvious benefits tothis kind of structural arrangement,this outward-directed orientation, inv,olv-ing a shift in the center of decision-making, results in the community itselflosing cohesion atici autonomy."

BEST COP6VAILABLE

Warren argueSrat the "Gre6tCharige"wcirks to strengthen the vet-

relatiOnShipS between local pnitS,and the state:and ,federal centers while:it'WeakenS theshorizontal relatiOnShipsamong the loCal,Lipits.:Fle conaudesthat community- action has-ttie'oppositeresult, 4 "s)

During the 1970s.the rate of popula-tion growth.betWeen urban and ruralareas shifted..population growth in

. much of the rural areas increased at.s. higher rate than in urban areas for ti-lefirst time in decades As a result;many small,COmmOriitieS are experiencing problems associated with managingpopulation growth. These rapidchanges occurring. in American.com-munities increase the need for coOper-

, ation, coordination, planning, and actionat the, local.level. 'The choice is not :one of stability or change. It is ratherthat otplanned or haphazard change "5

A further question regardingthischange is "Who does,the Changing?"It can be either the local community ;

members or outsiders; independently orin partners(fip,or loth. One author ---

clearly argues;"F'eople have the opporltunity to either effect change or beaffected by it.",

Leadert in small communities have,successfully slpwed :or stabilized theproces's of decline, In.ManY Oases theyhave raised the quality of pUbliC ser-vice: Basic gbals.Of cbmmunity actionmay..therefore,N

to manage, if not halt, decline in a.creative way;

' to take,advantage of ppportunities-.-rather than to wairfor a problemto develop; ,/".to develop the abilit{of local peo-ple to-take action;to creates cooperative communi-tIkthatworkS for mutual benefit'.

AnIwarenesS and understanding ofthe. ariou5ip.rOgiamS aVailable to smallcorrimuniffesxe not alw*s, possible.Yet once, action begins, opportunities

Vertical ties:

Horizontal ties

increase through reaching out.fOr ../

information or advice beyond thelocality:: .

A positive vision of the kind of corn-.

munity that can occur as a result of .community action and coordination isthe following:

In a community, where therevigoki6scOmmanity life. . .th e is a.spiritof local pride, an intarpe °nal;network of relationships, that m ke It

-possible for the people who live,there to act with unity and resolution.There is a pervading climate of civicvitlity that makes cooperation the

Figure. 1 'The localcommunityvertichland horizontal ties

,rulenot the exception, enoughorganizational machinery to provideopen access to 'decision making,enough acCeptancer, of differences.toalloVvfor healthy debate, and' enough,active friendship, mutual respect, and,internal cohesiVeness to' maintain thecOmmunity's integrity as an organicwhble.There.,is a pattern Of. livingtliatmakes,if possible'for all localresidents tolfeer244fact tobe--important.'5

.

Is this type of:community worth workingtoward in your case?

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WHAT SOME EXAMKES::OF SliCpESSr.U-L.,.

-COMM y,AQTION, PFD% , . ' t ,

!

e like V& take advantage of thee eri fide of otherS in the arena ofcom nitytactiOn. Whether or not youhave been inv.olved with a communityaction project,- the possibility existsfiforlearnffig, from :th' experience of otters,something new bout the action pioc-

thelproble s encountered, andthe means.to complete a communityaction:project, to enable You to improveyour situation.

Mny excellent Community actionprojects have been and are being-Con-ducted throughout .New York State:717loweyei-, there have been few seriousattempts to study such; projects forbasic principles of leadership, commu-nity organization, and action. processesthat might be: shared with leaders.inother con-nullities. The following stud-ies .were undertaken with this in mind.- Abstracts of the sev9n action proj-

. ects studied as part of the researchconducteciTh preparation for this guidefollow.Many of the elements and spe-cific characteristibs of communityaction, projects to' e Outlined in detailin the following sections are illustratedhere. Findings from these projects are

:incorporated in the discuSsion of thedevelOpment of an action systemfound in the last section of the guide.We encourage you Jo acquire and readthe, c mposite cas.e-study'report pre-viou referenced for full details.

A. Woodhull - Medico! clinicThis project involved the establish -,

ment of the Fayette.D. MacDonaldMedical. Clinic. in Woodhull,-New York.Th6 people in this rural communitywere faceeingth.the impending loss oflocal,.physiciaheervices. Members "ofthe local Civic Club initiated action an0lateer broadened participatioh to includelocal business people, church leaders,Grange Members:and fraternal andvolunteer organizational ..members. Atthe Start, a small lOcal group.Obtainedthe advice from the SearsRoebuck

`FOundation (under-their pen existing4COmmunity Medical Assistance Plan)which enabled them to do a medi-cal-econornic survey of their area

Eventually, a not-for7profit corpora-tion was formed and fund-raiSingefforts, began in the local service area.Following several contacts, it becameobvious that they were not going to be

able to obtain'a comMitment from adoctortd:locate in' the community. Thisbrought about a change in strategywhereby they sOught.the establishrnentof*a medical clinic gerviced from ouf-side the community. From a privatepractice based outside the - Woodhullarea, they obtainedtWo part4irne doc-

. tors and one full-time nurse practitionerto serve a medicar clinic.,. *As tie project progressed, the Mac-

,-Donald Guild :Was formed locally.raise money and to assist with the

development and eventual operation ofthe clinic. The site chdten for the clinWas one wing of the town hall, ter rlya.school -building. The facilities: re'remodeled wittypart of the nyi ey

secured from local Aind-raisingeffOris..The in March1974 and continue o Serve thecommunity at th present time.

44 ,pp 4; 4

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Woodhull Town Hall,site of MacDonaldMedical Clinic

BEST con AVAILABLE

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Grace ManorApartments forsenior citizens inSherburne

131 S erburne - Senloi Citizens'H sing

Chenango County is a predominantlyrural county, sand the early impetus foraction in this study came from organi-

. zations.at the county levelCopperative Extension and the Coantj/Planning Board. They were' rimarilyresponding to a housing shortage forlow-income and elderly people, and in1972 formed the Housing CouncilofChenango County. Various countyagencies were contacted and broughtinto the council, such as the PublicHealth Department, Farmers HomeAdministration, and Head-Start: As theaction continued and mare peoplebecame involved, a not-for-profit corpo-

,ration was formed called the ChenangoHousing Improvement Program,'Inc.(CHIP).

Working primarily through the Sher-burne senior citizens" group known asthe Sixty-Plus Dinner Club,HIPachieved local acceptance of the proj-ect.,Using FmHA funds and HUD rentsubsidy, CHIP began plans to build asenior citizens' housing "Complex inSherburne. The. Sherburne Sildy-PfusSite Council was later organized tomanage the application and leasingarrangements. Cooperation fro'm the vil-lage and.town came in the form of taxarrangements that benefited the counciland the project. In 1977 a Joan fromFmHA was, approved, and constructionbegan, resulting in two four-unit low-income senior citizens' housing struc-tures. A definite change in the

:-Prelationships between a county levelorganization and Sherburne resultedfrom_t1 action, Which may have fur-ther eff cts on the community in daysto come through increased inter-agency communications and trust.

proved to be essential for an effort of

G.roton Health CareCentet

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C. Groton - Three-Part ComplexCommunity action in Groton initially

involved4hree separate: projectsdirected toward providing day care forhiliiren, improved health services for

the community, and nursing and hous--ing facilities for senior citizens.; Severalpeople involved in the different projectsdecided that a single organization Wasneided to coordinate the developmentin its entirety. An °umbrella group" wasorganized to oversee what was tobecome a rnuftimillion-dollar three-part

*complex consisting of a Child Devel-opment Center, a Community HealthCare Center, and fife Center VillageCourt, consisting of 40 one-bedroomapartments (later expanded to 60 units)for senior. citizens. The idea of adding a.nursing home to the complex wasunder consideration at the time thecase study was conducted.

kFtrong projept leadership and com-munity ayvareness and involvement

"and loans from a variety of outsidesources including the Appalachia Pro-gram, federal health assistance, andthe Farmers Home Administration ofthe U.S. Department of Agriculture.Throughout the 10 years of the project,local leaders maintained a positive"carido" attiitude in spite of confront-ing numerous obstacles to funding andother problems along the way.

this magnitude. Community col-Aril:1'U-tions through fund drives and uin.kind"donations orland and resources werecoupra1 with special program-- grants

D. MalOne-- Cominunity Council andBallard MillCenter for the Arta

Malone is located in Eranklin COuntyin northern New York State.. The areahas a relatively high unernplpyrnent

*rate and a high proporticift of familiesliving beloW theyoverty line. EffortS hadbeen made to attract industry andlcincrease human services to meet the,needs of the community,One sucheffort was initiaterPin 1975 by the crea'tion of the Greater Malone ComMunitYCouncil, containing members represent,ing 40 different local organizatibns. Theinitiation of community action involvingarts and crafts occurred with theeceiPt'of three New. York State Coun-Cil for the Arts grants to seek out a sitefor a community theatre. EyentUallyideas forrried about restoring'an'old,unused textileumill building and housinga-Community 'theatre and arts center in

.

The. Ballard Mill Commissionformedby the,Cornmunity coUnCil,'negotiatedtoo buy.theiland and the Mill building.After a loan from the Kresge Founde-tion, restoration efforts began and avast.local fUnd-raising campaign was .;

carried on in the form of subscriptionsto the art center: As restoration wasccinpleted in separate parts of the mill,building, a co.mmunity college crafts,:program Moved into the third floor: Thiswas followed by a Mohawk crafts guildfrom a nearby. Indian reservation andthe community theatre, and later byindividual craftspersons renting singlespaces, which they. restored: The millalso contained an old hydropoWer sy*,tent which' was:rebuilt.to make the artsand crafts center energy self-siffficient.The result after years Of i.kork andcommunity 'iniolvement is Ve Ballard.Mill.Center for the Ails.

E. Marathon -.Maple FeativalMarathon is a "bedroom Community"

for several middle-sized eities'in ceptralNew. York State. In recent years localbusiness and economy in general havedeclined..A variety Of_groups madeefforts for improvement in the commu-nity and looked for an idea to help sus-tain or revitalize the village. A maplefestival appealed to-triany actiye Com-munity members, who met as ari`informal Festival COmmittee to makesure that it actually, came about. Laterthe brganization incorporated into the'Central New: York Maple FestivalAssociation, Inc. Leadership includedassociation offiCers and a variety ofcommittee work,group chairpersons,who planned and Supervised the prep-.arations for the annual festival event.

The festival is significant primarilybecause of the amount of communityparticipation involved andlhe sUccess-ful Way festival leaders have drawnexisting community groups into the -.

preparations. and festival problems, liketraffic control, and food preparation. Thefestival proceeds are returned to thecommunity in theform of dOnations togroup$,.the' purchase of land; and theconstruction of a civic: center for useby the community; among other things.

One important result is:the realizationthat the small size of thiS.00rnrnunity.is .

not a drawback Cut a benefit in thiskind aindependent develcipment effort.

1

Ballard Mill inMalone.Photographs byRickAuger.

a Salamanca - Community LibrarySalamanca, New York, is a city of

approximately 7,000 people located insouthwestern New .York State. This.community has several very activecornmunity,Orgarizations, which areinvolved in a broad range of communi-ty actions and efforts, The crisis pointfor this city.carne in 1976 when sev-eral local industries were forced toclose plants. Out of this crisis emergedtwo organizations concerning them-selves with economic industrial level-opment and community irnprovement.Then, an informal group began a proj-ect to convert an empty grocery-storebuilding into a new community library.They raised funds Within the local area,invented new arid dramatic publicityschernes, and mobilizeciathe communityinto support and awareness of thenearly year-long.construction project.

F: Sinclairville - Senior Citizens'Housing

A group of people met with theCounty, Office for the Aging representa-tives in 1976 in an informal way to discuss the hoUsing needs .of the elderlyin their community. Their.survey ofarea houSeholds convinced them ofthe serious.need.for low-:incomesenior citizen housing. in the fall of,thatyear ;this group formed a not-for-profitcorporation, expanded their member-ship, and later that year found an ,;

. unused sChbbrbuilding that could beremodeled into apartments. The follow-ing year they hired a profesionaldeveloper:I:who bought the buildingfrom the grdup and was responeible forits actual renovation.

The. Sincleirville group wps.advised\ and'guided in its work by various\ county agenbies for the elcierly and.."\ housing. The entire prOject.took

years to complete and was funded, forthe most Part, by a loan frbm theFarmers Home Adrninistration. Thecommunity action project represents a

-pooling of local community and outsideresources and the cooperation 'andimiolvement of loCal government andinstitutions.

In the spring of 1977, the new libraryopened and has serviced the commu-nity ever since, both as a public libraryand as an example of the ability ofSalamanca residents to work succfully together for their own good.

The project was completed withalmost no.outside ruling and wasorganizeb by an ad hoc group ofpeople who were abletio pull intoaction members of the community with

,a large, variety of skills and expertise.This group has since completed othersuccessful projects that benefit the res-idents of Salamanca...

The next section of the .gUide gives amore-detailed study of the key ele-meets and characteftistics of community action Projects to help you analyzedand work through plans for the deVel-Oprnerit and implementation of a local,project..

Senioi citizens'housing inSinclairville

DA-

troaclikart

`COPY AVAILABLE

ow can community action bedistinguished from other kinds ofaction? One way is to identify thecharabteristids of community action tohelp:yob gain an overall perspective, ofthe action being undertaken. It alsomakes:it possible to evaluate theappropriateness of the communityaction approach in light,of the desiredchange.

"The mere fact that an, event oractivity occurs in,a specific localitydoeS not mean "that it is an integral,partorcOmmtinity life.' 9 There are actionsthat invOlve:Many people in a particular

'plabe,.buthaVe no ongoing connec-::.tioryWith the locality in which they

occur, such as 'a national conventiWhat then is community action?

Community Identity_A' community is partially defined by-

: itt geographical andgoyernmentallocation; thus, community action musthave some referenth td the place in

.which it its being :Carried out As pre -viously noted, in New York state thismay be a paiiicular town, village, city,or combination of such minor civil divi-sions. EYen-so,.an action project rarelydirectly involves the community as awhole, but rather one segment of it.

Actors1'. Leaaers of Action!

Leaders in a community action proj-ect are.those who can initiate actionand herp"rnaintain the organization thathas been fOrrned. They exert influenceto keep people >working toward a collective goal.

a) Those leaders involved With orsought after to become a membesi' of-the community-action initiating roupin the cooperative approach err

(1) those who have prestige andrespect in the community, or haveaccess to people with prestige'and power; °(2) those who have knowledge ofthe community's social and cultur-al background, especially its dom-inant values; -

(3) those who know, specificallyabout the action they are seekingto initiate; and(4), those who are recognized bylocal residents as persons whorepresent the interest - of thecommunity."

b) Many community action leadersalso have positions in organizationsin their communities. These leadersmay be of two types:

Generalized, those who contrib-ute prominently to Iwo or moreinterests in the locality such asgovernment and, education, and

Specialized, those With a highproficiency in only one area suchas health.' 2

Smaller communities may dependmore upon general-type leaders thando larger communities.2. Involvement

A central concern of society today isfon increased involvement or participa-

. tion by local people:in public affairs.Community projects by definition areopen to all who wish to participate andespecially td those to be affected bythe action. However, in reality it is morelikely that only a minority of the popula-

.

Elements of Community ActiOnKey elements basic to every com-

munity action project areActors, the leaders and participantsin the action process;Associations, groups or institutions,within and outside the community,relevant to the action and the inter-

,ests they expressAction, the process itself, the type ofplanned change that occurs.°

How are these elements transferredinto community action?

tion will be active in an action at anygiven tirne.'3 With this in mind, partici-pation by othera might be enhanced byinvolving people in short; specificundertakings using talents that are notreadily available elsewhere and wouldnot be available to the project on acontinuing 'basis."

What-Motivates people in a corrirnu-nity to involve themselves in communi-ty action? Several ideas have been put.forth. One aspect of motivation ia;,the:strong sense of identification that peoH- /ple in a community have with each /other, so that they ;see themselvesaffected by what happens to Others;Another aspeCt of motivation is whatone writer calls "tha interdependencYOf self-interests," whereby-people in alocality see their lives enh needthreatened by the same thi gs andthus may act together.15

Associations1. Organization

The need for individuals and groupsto act together calls for the establish-ment of a special action system withinthe community. In some instances, theaction may be directed toward assist-ing an existing organization; however, a_separate organization will be neededfor this assistance.

Once the initial action system is inplace, it becomes necessary to establish relationships with otherd within oroutside the community or both.

The important question is What addi-tional associations beyond the initialaction' systems are necessary for theproject to be successful? and Why.? . °

As4cciations are needed, with differentindividuals and groups. to gain support for the action

system,to sustain the action system,tOtelp carry out the necessaryfunctions of the action Systam.

Associations are established with indi-viduald'and groups on the basis of

PrA lAfk

what is, expected from them during theoperation of the action _system or aftercompletion of the project."

Action '1. Action Orientation

Principal actors and beneficiariesare locl 'residents.Goals of the action represent theinterest of local residents.Action is public as opposed to pri

" vate in that beneficiaries includepersons in addition to the actors.'

k A problet-solving orientation isusual.Volunteer participation of individu-als and groups is common.A democratic approach is used,including open participation by ,those who are expected to:beaffected by.the action.'8,Planned change toward some.agreed-upon'goal, to, either make.or block change, is the focus."9

2. ACtion strategyCommunity action tends.to be collab-

orative in its methods, there, being ahigh degree of cooperation and.work-ing together among its participgrits-Th?idea of people,organizations, and insti-tutions working together in a coordi-nated way it basic 'to this type ofaction process. .9.:

Although this guide is directed Orimarily toward the use of cooperation-andconsensus, community action may'occur, through the deliberate use of,conflict strategy. In.this instance, twoactiori systems concerned.with thesame problem must be involved, at aminimum, before the issue can beresolved. Conflict refers to the interac-.,tion of two or more groups engaged inthwarting eacnother's purposes."3. Types of Activity

There are two types of activity preS-ent-in an action system:

Task acc9mpliShment and'Maintenance of the.actionsystem.2,

Stage 1

Project EnvironmentBackground to. Action

Stage:2

Initiation of Action

Stage 3

Expansion of theAction System

to

p"774717:t,141777-.

:Stage.

Stage 5,

Ending or Reorganizationof Action System

. .In task accqmplishment,peobleworkto achieve a SCecific and ofteritanqibleagoal, suchas the c.onstuction of hous-ing for senior citizens At the same timethey also have to spend time andenergy toward maintaining the actionsystem ,(action organizatt,on) to enablethem to attain that goal! Both areeqUally important if comfiunity action isto occur: t4. Action Process--

One may view community action asthe process by which action occurs.Most frequently the action process isthbught of in terms of phases or stagesthrough which any'particular action--evolves. For the purpose of our studiesand for this guide we have adogedWarren's five-stage model of the com-munity action process.22 A brief outlineof the model here will suffice since -4t .

will be used more extensively later onin the guide (see fig. 2):

Five-Stage Process Model:IStage 1. Project Environment/Back-ground to Action

. In what ways does the existingcommunity environment create afavorable situation for the inception of aparticular action system?

What patterns of community- actionor inaction exist in the community fele-vent to the new community actionbeing proposed?

Stage 2. Initiation of ActionWhere will the action ;system be

located?..What is to be accornpliShed as a

result of the community action?Which elements of the community

must be involved.to assure thisaccomplishment?

Stage 3. Expansion of the ActionSystem

For What purpose are additional indi-i/iduals orgroUps-to be brought into theaction system? Alrnost by definition, the

`type of action that any panic actionsystemis capable of accompli ifigunaided is not a community action.

Stage 4. Operation of the ActionSystem -

How is the particular project' to becompleted? In most cases, this stage,is where the major activity of the proj-ect,involving a number of people and,groups, occurs.

Stage..5. Ending or Reorganization ofthe Action System

After the action project is terminated,"what is left? The action systern may ,dissolve..lt may need to be transformed .into a future action system. Or it meyresult in restructuring the informalaspects of the community, making .

possible more effective collaborativetefforts-In the future. Increased localleadership experience and. ability are adirect spin-off of such projects.

. Although outlined herd as.sequentialstages, in actuality the action processmay be less neat or some,stages maylie simultaneous in a particular com-munity action. .5. Variations

Finally, community actions varygreatly. Organizational sponsorship, forteexample, can,be a result of ,Some fed-eral agency program pursued by a .

small community, or it can be,the-resultof a small community group thatwishes to make some communityimprovement, such as creating a baSe-tall park. Some actions are :sponsoredby local governments, and some. occur,completely outside those institutions.Actions differ as to the scope of finan-cial commitment:from those thatinvolve hundreds of thousands of dol-lars td those that involve little money.'As previously noted, actions:are alsodistinguished by how many and who.participate in them. Some actionsinvolve all local volunteers, whereasothers include a paid professional- staff.Some actions necessitate a formal,

structured organization to carry .olit theplan lor the,project, whereas some only,require -an inforelal and loose structure.

° The amount of time required to com-plete the action varies greatly amongprojects. .

As noted, there are key elementsand a number of. distinguishing charac-teristics associated with communityaction. These elements and character-istics of community action are observ-able in the next section of the guide aswe study the development of an actionsystem, -

.WHAT DOES DEVELOPMENT 0ACTION SYSTEM INVOLVE?

p to this paid- in the guideyou have had the opportunity to con-sider the question Of why beon-cerned, to review summaries ofsuccessful projects,..4t.to study theelements and 'characteristics of action -projects. We turn next to a, more corn-.prehensive analySis of developing andoperating an action project Althoughno two community action projects areexactly alike, there.is, nonetheless, ageneral pattern that projects follow. For -the purpose of this part of the gUide,we return to our adaptation of Warren'sfive-stage model of community actionpreviously outlined (fig. 2), together ,with°patterns found to exist in the case stud-ies just cited, to identify importantaspects in the development of anaction system. The five stages ofcommunity action follow:

Stage 1 Project Environment/BaCkground to Action

Stage 2 Initillkon of Action -

Stage -3 Expansion of the ActionSystem

Stage 4 Operation of the ActionSystem

Stage 5 Ending or Reorganizationof the Action System

Development of a-Coenmunity-Action System

ProjectEnvironment/Background

to Action

p

. .

Stage

Stage 1. Project EnVironment/Background to Action

At the initial stage of action, the con-cern is with understanding the existingcommunity, before a project action sys-tem has been developed. Which condi-

-tions in the community favor action,and which oppose it? Should action beinitiated? For example, there may be atradition of concerted group action thathelps to make it easier to begin a newproject. There may be groups withinthe community that have consistentlyresponded to needs expressed bycommunity members. On the otherhand, experiencing a long period.ofserious economic decline and loss ofpopulation and social services mayproduce an overwhelming sense thatnothing can be done' to change orimprove the situation.

It is important to understand howneeds are expressed and acted uponin the community. How was previousaction begun? Who initiated other proj-'ects? Each community has its own setof needs that it has to deal with andopportunities thant wants to respon&to. Before ihitiating action, people con -sidering a specific community action

project . maY nee'd to obtain informationabout population, resources, busiha-s-S,industry, social services, recreatiori,taxes, and government. These dataabout their community will enablethem to more clearly see where andhow a project might fitNnother methodis to survey people in the lqtal.com-munity to ascertain what theY perceiveto be their needs. Often both methodsare used.

In one community, Malone, the for-mation of a. community council, in avillage of_approximately 8,000, necessi-tated a survey of what councilmembers and others perceived as themost pressing problems facing thatcommunity. Following the survey, theproblems were listed, discussed, andassigned to committees for action. Inanother community, Sinclairville, agroup concerned about housing for theelderly in their area completed a door-to-door survey of every, household toassess the need for such housing.lhistype of survey is project specific in its,fecus and can be used to assess theneed for a particular concern. It is ola-tively accurate and timely.

Stage 2. Initiation of Action.The second, stage involves the

beginning of action within the existingcommunity. Two or three people maymeet at someone's home, on an adhoc organizational basis, to discuss apotential need or opportunity that theyfeel should be acted upon, or a cdm-rnUnity organization representatiye maymeet with the town board to bring upa project they woad like to seeaccomplished, or a local senior citizensgroup may.plan to begin a project intheir cohmunity.

However the effort is started, theprincipal task" at the initiation stage ofaction isjo define the goal or outcomedesired and to determine who in thecommunity must be involveti to assureits accomplishment. 4

In some community action projectss1the goal is spelled out, for exampleiobuild a new community libtary. Faiththat goal, it Becomes clear who heedsto be contacted and made aware of orinvolyed in the project for it to .be asuccess., In other types of projects, thegoal is less defined. For example, inMarathon the goal was stated as"communitOmprovemerit:" The meansto that end in this case was an annualmaple festival, which/would generateincome that could b'e used to build acivic c, rater, and tp`create other generalcommunity benefits.

The/group of'people that meetstpgether at 11)6 -outset, of an action proj-ect can be refehed to as an "initiationset." This group is most often a smallone, fronY2 to 10 people. In the.sevencommuhities studied, it usually con-sisted df people who have had some ..

local leadership experience, whether itbe thfough their work, their organiza-tional membership, or their institutionalpositions. TheSe people in the initiation.set also tend to hbe access to othersthi-ough the same 'means.

In Sinclairville one of the leadinginitiators of a project to build low-

income housing for senior citizens wasa grants administrator for the localschool district. ThrOugh her job shehad experiencein ge6ant applicationsand access to the/school boardmembers, who .were responsible forselling the building that later becamethe housing u96.

The few petople who form the initia-tion set ge9erally become the leaders°of the action project. It may be thattheyare fnore concerned with the outcome r more experience in communi-ty ac or more involved and able totak responsibility in their community.

The initiation set may operate infoi-.ally, but more than likely, the groupill need to organize into a formal

comnflttee with officers or even onsome more legally constituted basis. Aswill be noted, this latter organizationalapproach may logically occur in the

`next stage as the project expands.Contrary to conventional notions, the

initiation for an action project does notneed to come from within the localcommunity. If it comes from an outside'source, however,it must be in tunewith the community's aims and expe-rience. It must be accepted by thoseresponsible for its implementationlocally. In the seven case stu , wefound two instances where so e formof initiation came from agencies at thecounty level.. In both instances theecommunity's needs and goals corre-

-sponded to the courity's,pi-oject aimsand goals.

In the Sherburne project, the Che-nango Housing Improvement Programhad the general aim of improving low-income housing throughout the county.Sherburne was identified as a possiblesite for such housing. Following contactat the local community level, the focusbecame one of housing for low-income,elderly. fn this base; the outside agen-cy's goal was slightly transforMed to fitthe local community's goal and need.In another Case-study regarding elderly

low-income housing, the County Officefor the Aging was responsible for theinitial impulse to begin action. In each.case; the local community acted in a'way to fulfill its own aspirations and to,respond to its own problems.

J-

..Stage 3. Expansion of the ActidhSystem

The third stage of the model is the'expansion of the action system, where-in more people, groups, and institutions.-are included: It is expanded accordingto what is expected from different indi-viduals and groups laterg40:-For ex-ample, irone.commurilt*e local groupwith a historY of commOy servicewas involved as a sponSOr of the

In addition, various businesses.'were involved in specific publicityevents as this same project continued.

One important group of people toinvolve in-the action process are thosemost affected by the outcome of theproject. In the project referred to pre-viously regarding low-income senior-.citizen housing, many elderly peoplebecame involved in the survey and.

.needs a§sessment stage of the actionand rembined involved throughout andafter completion of the project.

When the action expands to inotude , .

more people, another, part of the.corri-.t-nunity to be drawn into either involvement with or general acceptance of theproject are local leaders from businessand other sectors particuarly.importantto the long-term survival of the project..These leaders have a great influenceon what occurs in the community andcan affect the outcome of a project bysupporting it or by creating barriers toits successful completion. Generally,they are almost automatically involved,since they often figure so prominentlyin community affairs. In the seven

-'--C-Ommunities studied, there was onewhere it was noted that several promi-nent and powerful leaders were eithernot consulted or avoided. The resulting

'.alienation may affect the long-term.outcome -of the action project. Forexample, a local leader in businessmay. not seem like,a necessary ele-ment in the specific action project; butif that person is also a leader in someinstitution involved with the project, it

Expansion of t0e Action System

Stage 3

may be cru4altd at least try to obtainthat person's support.

The leadership at this third stage ofa community action project may,expand beyond the initiation'semost cases some kind of orgahas been tormed, more formal'nature than before, arid the leaders.oroffices may be elected from amongthe members of the organization. Onecommon situation is the formation of anot-for-profit corporation, which musthave formally elected officers to bechartered.

The organization created to accomplish the goal may be a formal one;hoWever, many formally constitutedorganizations in reality operate in avery informal way. This is true particu-larly in small, rural communities wherethe connections among people are oflong standing. One example of thisamong the case.studies was Marathon,a community of. around 1,000 people,in which a nonprofit corporation wasorganized. The majority of the workwas done by committee chairpersons,whawere not elected, but simply volun-teered-to do the work. They formed asUblayer of leadershipunder elected.leaders and worked in an informalmanner..

Other comganities studied, such asGrotonchad 61genizations that operatedformally in dealing with large sums ofmoney, either as grants or loant from

federal agencies. By, necessity emit-,rate records must be kept if this is ttiecase At the other end of the spectrum,Salamanca completed fi library renova-tion project with no other organization

. Ahan an informal group oft friends, whoworked together for almost a year asleaders of a communitywide project.

. The question of a goal and plan, dis-cussed above in regard to the initiationstage of community action, needs to bereconsidered in the expan.Sion stage,The original plan may not be feasibleafter a while, and a new plan may bedecided upon, one incorporating thegen'eral goal, but representing achange in the means by which a proj-eCt might be accomplished. In Wood-hull, the goal was to attract a doctor tothe area to provide continued localhealth care. When that plan becameinfeasible; the local organization wasable td,change its specific strategy for

,achieving health care service and work,toward establishing a medical centerwith a full-time nurse practitioner andpart-time doctors. This change in themeans of accomplishing its goal indi-cates a flexibility within the organizationthat served the community well. Eachcommunity studied could show,someinstance of a change in plans wherethe ipecific goal or means or bothwere altered during, the action process.

With regard to broad communityinvolvement, there seems,to be a par-ticiilar point in the development of theaction systern,Aller each group feels it

needs and le to involVe the entire. 'community as much as possible. Thismay be during a fund-raiSing drive; aridpublicity becomes the center of effortfor a while. This proved to be netes,.:sary for a relatively brief period of timein most of the cases studied, and.sel7dom wasrit appropriate or even poS'sible to kb-ep "all" community membersmobilized thro.ughout the entire actionprocess.In the community that estab-'fished :a Medical clinic, ANdodhull, thelocal fund-raising campaign was theperiod of time when there was a major-attempt to gain awareness of the' proj-ect and to gain involvement (financial)in it by a broad segment of thecommunity.

In Malone, the largest involvementwas during the restoration of the millbuilding, when local groups and indi-

iduals contributed either physicallabor, materials; equipment, or moneyto the project for an arts center. Thislasted for about 4 months, whereas thearts center project extended over a 4year period.

On the other hand, the leaders of theSalamanca library project were able tomobilize a large portion of-the local res-idents for the entire project, throughpublicity aid media coverage andingenious fund-raising events. In thecase of.the annual maple festival, in

'the, few weeks before and during the 2day festival, almost no one in thecommunity escapes involvement either_directly or- indirectly in the variousevents.

Publicity is necessry for mobilizing acommunity and asp for keeping peopleaware-of how things are developingwith the project. ln addition, it is ameans'of communicating organizationalmeeting dates, agendas, decisions, andfund-raisingdrives. In a rural commd-

nity, the local newspaper is crucialtolocal awareness of the project and willdenerally print news releases andannoi5ncements. .

One case study community, Sala-`Mance, provided an excellent exampleof tlever and novel public relationsmethods: Each story was accompaniedby a photo, and the action group hadtotal cooperation from the local news-paper, which enabled them to keepawareness of the project in the com-munity's vand for nearly a year.

Stage 4. Operation of theSystem

A dis.cussion of several. aspects of.this'o hese of the action process, where-in most of the detailed plans are gen-erally carried out, folloWs. .

Commitment. All the projects studiedrepresent a significant commitment oftime and even money on the part ofsome community rftembers. Projectleaders were able to demonstrate stay-ing power in most of the communityactions we studied, and very little turn-over occurred in leadership in the var-ious projects. For example, in theMarathon Maple Festival organizationand Work committees, the'sarrid peo-ple, for the most part, continued toassume leadership responsibilities. Thecommittee chairpeople expressedsome desire and willingness to passthis responsibility to anyone.

In the Groton project, several com-munity members gave a great. deal oftheir time,-expertise, and energy andalso committed a good deal of theirown money to the project. In eachcommunity studied, there have beenpeople willing to make this commitmentto the action project goal: They havebeen able to keep a positive attitudeabout the progress of the action projectwhen things dragged out for longerperiods than anticipated.

Operatton of theAction System

Stage 4

.Community invowernent. The meansthrough which people are drawn intoactivity varygreatly among the sevenprojects that we studied: In the case ofthe maple festival, the means are rela-tively simple, since the need for volun-teers is advertised and the meetingsare open to anyone who wishes toattend and to work. New people in thearea quickly year about and expe-rience the annual festival. In theMalone case study, involvement in themill restoration was more corlriplidated,since the work was complex and themeans through which people werebrought in'were often More formalthrough BOCES, CETA grants, and soforth. ,

Another significant asfpect of com-munity involvement in action projects isthat there appears to be a specific timein each one of them when wideawareness, involvement, and mobiliza-tion of energy are appropriate. Thistime span may be relatively brief com-pared with the total length of the actionproject. In Malone- during the most hec-tic period of restoration of the'old mill14uilding, there was a time when severalcommunity groups, volunteer organiza-tions, andeducational institutions wereparticipating in the actual work ofrebuilding. This occurred simultane-ously with a local,community fund-raising drive. The entire mill project

.lasted for several years. In the Wood-hull project, a significant amount offund raising went on in this rural born-rnunity for only a brief period of theentire action project.

, .

The extent of local involvement inthe manyspeOts of the project is alsorelated to the desire on the part of theorganizers and leaders of the actionsystem to make the project a totalcommunity effort. In some cases it iscrucial to achieve communitywideacceptance and, as much as possible,communityWide involvement in theaction project, as in the case of theMarathon Maple Festival. In other

cases, it is not really necessary or real-istic to expect the entire community tobe drawn into active participation withthe action project, such as in the caseof Sinclairville low-income housing forthe elderly.

In the Groton case, leaders wereaware from the beginning that theywere starting a relitively large andcomplex action effort. Their strategywas to make the entire communityaware of what was being planned andto seek general agreement with andsupport of the effort. The. Sherburneproject, on the other hand, involvedprimarily senior citizens and a few local

, officials rather than the community atlarge.

In addition, there are different typesof involvement in 'community actionprojects, due to the nature of the proj-ect and the type of person who getsinvolved. Besides leadership involve-ment, there was also financial involve-ment, usually during the fund-raisingphase of the process;' actual workinvolvement, such as conit ction workor door-to-door survey work;'ainvolvement on the more general vel

°,of awareness and acceptance of4vhat:ever is being carried out.

Through the involvement of individu-als and groups of the community in theaction process, a strengthening of thehoriZontal ties among these community..units occurs. Inthe Marathon MapleFestival projectowhere there was somuch coordination involved in the con-duct of the successful festival, thiewas

particularly visible. We discuss this.result of increased coordination and ,

cooperation in the Section on the effectof community action projects on'.thecOmmunity.Task accomplishment and organiza-.tional maintenance. Not all projectsoperate solely for the accomplishmentof a visible goal., such as the estabrlishment of2a medical clinic or the'con-struction o :senior citizen apartmenthousing. SOme of them have as theirgoal the creation of an orgthizationand a way of operation thal/MII be'ableto coordinate the community groups,institutions, and activities in a betterand more effective. way in the long run.This was certainly the case with theGreater Malone Community Council,which in itself was a community actionproject. Therefore, the work that wentinto making that organization a function-ing and accepted entity in the localarea was part of the operation of thataction system. This type of activityoccurs to some extent in all action proj-kts, because all of them have somekind of organization that needs to bemaintained for the action to occur.

For .some community action projects.the task tote accomplished is merelythe study of the-community or someaspect of it, such as the health needs.In .some cases a goal is set merely todevelop a plan for something yet tocome. If a community begins with thevague desire to improve thecommunitylife,.it may have as its goal to moreclearly define the means whereby thisimprovement can be accanplished.The process would beo.research andstudy as well as a survey of needs inthe community. It would be completedwhen a definite plan was agreedypon.

"-Project financing. Anotheraspebt-ofthe se/en case studies that variesgreatly from one to another is theN

'financing of the project..In 'some proj-ects, such as thethree-part Grotoncomplex, the financirig invOived largefederal loans, and the.action prOcesscontinued for many years before corn-pletion. Out of the seven case studies,all but two necessitated federal loansor- grants or both. In tfiecase of a .

Fagners Home Administration (FmHA)loan, for example, this means a rela-tively long and complevapplicationprocedure: In the Sinclairville, commu-nit, the Fmt-IA loan application proc-ess lasted more than a. year, whereasthe actual reconstruction of the buildingtook only 5 to 6' months. This applica-tion also entailed a feasibi(ity study todetermine if it was economicallyworthwhile to rehabilitate the building.In addition, an architect was brought inby the developer to consult on the

-condition of the building.Other public agencies, such as

those at the state level, have beenimportant to action projects undertakenin these seven communities. A NewYork State Council.for the Arts grant,although small, was the initial moneythat allowed the Malone participants tolook igto the idea of a communitytheatre and arts center in the OldBallard Mill building. They also used asmall New York State Department ofEnergy lbw-head hydropower grant fOrtheir rehabilitation of the turbihes anddams in the mill's hydropower system..

Not all the cases involved publicfunding, and two of them were helpedto completion by private fundingsources. In Malone, one of the first .

grants that enabled the mill commis-sion to begin the process of .rehabilita-tion was a Kresge Foundation grant, InSalamanca, a grant from a local foun-dation was used in the process of. buy-ing furniture for the new library.

In .several case study communities,

. .

comet nity member& individually orthrou -1 their organizations and institu-tions, donated significant sums of,money. An example is the Lions Clubof Salamanca,.which donated $1500 to,the library project. In that same com-munity, there were several large dona-tions from individuals and from otherorganizations, which are noted onplaques in the entrance to the library.The Salamanca approach to fund-raising was to open a savings accountin the localbank to allow communitymembers to'dohate at their leisure. Thebank account plan was accompaniedby a big, long, dramatic, and highly .

successful fund-raising program, whichlasted throughout the project;Other resources. Finance is not the ,

only resource going into a communityaction project that may make or breaka project. In most communities there isexpertise, which often is not discovereduntil the specific action, project begins;it is an important resource to anyaction project. In Malone, the millcommission was able to draw on thetechnical expertise of a local resident .

aeronautical engineer when they wereassessing the viability, of their hydro-power system.-In Salamanca, manylocal industries and busineSses fur-nished the library project with expertise

. on construction, roofing, electrical wir-.ing, and so forth, which saved thecommunity a large sum of money.These people were brought into theconstruction aspect of the prOject assupervisors of the work crews wheneach one's particular field of expertisewas involved. SkillfulneSs in public rela-tions and publicity was extremely valu-

e . able to the Salamanca library project.Local public resources have

emerged in several case studies in theform of town and village equipment andknow-how, and.local governmentalassistance was given in the form of taxarrangements and deed agreementsthat :aided the project. Local Board of

Cooperative Educational 'Services .

(BOLES) skill was used extensively in ,

the Malone rehabilitation Project .

With regard to resources brought intothe action project from within thecommunity, specialization is an impor-tant aspect of the ihvolvement of thesecommunity members. People volun-teered according to the skills and expe-rience they felt that they had to offer,ranging'from Sheriff's*Pepartmentvolunteers working in traffic control to anewspaper editor concentrating on pub-.litity before the maple festival. All theseskills and interests are, in reality, re- ,

sources available to action projects,and they exist in most smallcommunities.

In addition to resources within thelocal area, technical ssistance hasbeen received from outside the corm:munity, such as the Regional HealthProgram's assistance to the WoodhullMedical Clinic project. In Malone, whenthe Ballard Mill Commission decided toassess the power potential of thehydropower system,,brought in aconsultant from Albany associated withthe New York State Energy Office.

Another important resource that.'comes from outside the-loc4y is helpfrom nearby communities and theirrelationship to the community in Whichthe action occurs. Many small, ruralareas can contact nearby cities andtowns for advice, examples andassistance in their projects. In Wood-hull, the advice and help of the Hornellmedical community was very importantin their decision to staff the medicalclinic. A hospital in. Hornell helped theWoodhull group secure the services ofdoctors and a nurse practitioner. Theserelationships among communities are a.central part of the community actionprocess in many cases.

;

.Timing. The time span. of these seven'projects varied widely frohi ope to theother. Some'of the action protectslasted for several years from the plan-ning stages to the completion of *the',work. In Marathon, the ide'a of a maplefestival was brought up in, a communityround-table discussion in 1959, but notacted upon until the first festival in1970. The festivaj lasts for 2 dayseach spring and involves a few weeksof preparation. It necessitates a corn=plex system of coordination and coop-eration of some.outside agencies forsuch aspec6 of the festival as trafficcontrol and security, but as theseprocedures are done repeatedly, fromyearito year, less time is needed to getorganized.

The Salamanca library project beganin the spring of 1976 and was com-pleted in the-spring of 1977. On theother end of the time spectrum, the.Groton project fora three-part complex.began in the late 1960s and wascompleted in 1975, except for the nursing home component. The nursinghome is being added in 1981. TheSinclairville project for hoUtlid for theelderly began in 1976 and was com-pleted in the summer of 1980, whenresidents first moved into theapartments.

The other aspect of timing in thesecommunity action projects is,the issueof whether the timing is incidental orintentional. In Woodhull, for instance,the search for a doctor was begunwhen the local physician appr&achedretirement. During the course of theWoodhull project to obtain local medi-cal service, the St. James Meity Hos-pital at Hornell began seeking toextend services to outlying areas. Thisinitiative on the part of the hospitaleventually enabled the Wocidhull proj-ect to establish the type of clinical serfvices available today. The Sinclairvillegroup knew that the County Office forthe Aging was concerned about hous-_

ing and, henceMhat help and 'advice.would be available to them when theybegd4their project. Their timing was'intentionaKthat case.Canimunication: The communication'aspect offfiis operational stage ofaction is yitally important. There are .

two level.;` communication within theaction organization and public corn-munication aimed at the local commu-

the orgaZ'Olib ally done bynity as,ia7w e Communication .within

niholding regUlg4-neetings, by announc-

__ ing the* Meeting dates; time, lo-Cation,and agenda in the local news media,or by an informal telephone network.Public communication usually entails apublicity campaign, which may con- .

tinUe for'the duration of the whole proj-ect. There also.may be'selected public-ity and media events,to draw attentionto the project or some aspfect of it thatis more dramatic. Salamanca's,libraryproject'is a goocrexample of an, innova-tive publicity. campaign aimed at thebroadest audience possible. Publicity'gimmicks, such as a public auction ofthe mayor and a nightclub night, wereused tO attract local attention. InMalone the announcements of meetingagendas serve as communicationamong members Of the council andalso for the entire community.

Stage Ending or Reorganization ofthe Action System

Evaluation is something that needs !to go on throughout the action process;however, it takes on added meaningduring this, stage. What has beenaccomplished? Where do we go fromhere?

The organization for communityaction, on the basis of a careful evalua-

. tion, may dissolve or change its char-ter, or it may take ,on another project.In the case of the Sinclairville group, anot-for-profit-corpofation whose, projectresulted in -a:s'enior-citizens' low-:income apartment building, thp group is

Ehding orReorganization

of theActionSystem

now becoming involved in theAociaspects of the tenants lives ibuilding._ The new needs e p ar9ment: transportation,-.andAelsurfaced, and the action grow is,j4

,

ing to shift its involvement to titfil,p(5(4'needs..

A community is4changed fUndarlientally when a new such4.as the Malcine ConirnuriityCour]cii;.,1created. In Salarnanca; twoferent organizations grew outi5f),same crisis that stimulated" ellproject. Oneis concernedsprirna'riwith economic and irldustriartilre op-ment, and one is involyedigeneralcommunity improvemepf,.Tflese twoorganizations and the ad ."hoc librarygroUp haye helped to transform Sala-manca into a community that is dealingpositively and creatively with its com-mon and difficult situations.

In Woodhull, the actual organizationresponsible for themedical center hasall, but.disbanded, but ohe suspects anetwork of relationships continues in aninformal way. The organilation thatdoes exist has been maintained incase of ernergency. In Salamanca the,library group, nevek.fdrmally, consti-tuted, has gone oe.to other successfulcommunity projeolp.,since completingthe library. Howe'vr, one would expectit to fade out of existence over time.

This aspect of the, effect of commu-nity action, the continuanceof a net-work of new social relationships basedon involvement in community prbjectS,highlights the importance of the proc-ess of community action. A network

community canpr concerns or.other

k'Sporid to a 4isis.44 ter itself, created initially

P,PRITik arpO§e: may continue indernal:fashion after the project is

;comr3leted.

Change-in the CommunityAfter action is completed, there are

several different changes in the com-munity. In some cases, the result issomething easily identified, like a newor-reconstructed building, a new medi-cal center, a housing unit, or a newlibrary. Other action projects result in achange, in relationship-among commu-.,nity groups, individuals, and localgovernment.,

Another long-range effect noticeablein a community that has completed asuccessful action project is the positiveattitude, the self-confidence of thecommunity. One person interviewedcalled it a "can do" attitude, and itappeared in all the case studycommunities.

Community action projects such asthose discussed in this guide do addup and do make a difference in thequality of life in local communities.

Moreover, it is not necessary toapproach each project on a trial anderror basis, since this guide provides, aframework for viewing your involvementand particular leadership contribution in

'community action efforts. The next stepis to apply this model to your own proj-ect. Worksheets are provided in the fol-lowing section to help you do this.

7,"

I

LYING THE MODELOOF COMMUNITY ACTIONOUR COMMUNITY

e have discussed' e r a11 e'sons for and characteristics of,corn-munity action. You have beenpresented with seven case studies ofsuccessful action projects that haveoccurred in smell, rural communitiesover the last 5 years. The five-stagemodel for community action has beenapplied to these seven communityaction prgiects, and their patterns ofaction have been examined.

At this point, it would be helpful toapply this model of community action'to your own community. Perhaps youhave just tompleted a communityaction project and would gain some-thing by evaluating it..You may be con-templating a project and would like tolook at it within this framework. Or, yo1may be inipe middle of a project andare examining Certain aspects of theproject and deciding what to: do next.

This section contains a sample ofthe five-stage model of communityaction that we have applied to one ofthe previously discussed case studycommunities. We have put some of theparts of the Malone experience into thediagram to help you see how.this dia-gram can be applied to a concreteexperience.

Chamber. of Commerce

Other.vommunity

grouPs

Stip 1

Malone Environment &Backgreund to Action

Econbmiczilly depressed area

Stage 2

Ihception of'Action1972-1975

Stage 3

Expansion ofAction System

Bioad community. involvement 1976

Following the Malone case studydiagram (fig. 3), there are fiie sheets,one for each stage of the motel. Eachworksheet has questions for ybu to usein analyzing your own communityaction project. Fill in the details aboutyour project in the space provided foryou.

We' hope that this format will facilitatean analysis and discussion of, your particular community and the action proj-ect(s) that may be carried out, thathave been accomplished or attempted,and that are going on now.

Stage 4

Operation of ProjectRestore Ballard Mill .1976

Stage 5.

TransfounationACtion System ..

Ballard Mill Center for the Arts

Involvementof local people,

k tourists,craftspersons

Figure 3.Framework ofcommunity actionin Malone

18

Stage 1. Community Environment and Background to Action

auestions:1. What conditions in yourcommunity favor action, and what conditions oppose it?

. Are there groups or individUals in the community who often respcind to and act on bbminunity,rieeds?

3. How has action begun before in your community?

4. What data has been collected on the communityeconomic, political, cultural. Is this information accessible

to members of'the community?

'5. What agencies and institutions in the community are there to help you understand existing needs and opportunities?

Outside the community?

ti

6: Have needs-assessment studies been done in your community?

A

7. List the problems that you perceive to exist in the community?

8. List the opportunities for improvement that you think exist now?

orksheet 2Stage 2. Initiation of Action

Q ue,stions:'1. Whb has mad the first efferts toward action? Do these people occupy certain positions in the community? Have they

I:ieen influence by developments dtitside the community?II

2. Is this a new group of people who are initiating'action,or is it an existing group within th4 community?

3. What kind of organiiation has been formed to initiate action? Is it a formal or informal gr

4. What is the goal of the action, as defined at this early-stage?

5. How has 71ls goal been defined? Who defined it?

6. Has initiation for action come from outside the community? If so, from whom?

C'

7. If initiation came from outside, do the local people agree with these goals? How do you know?

20

3:

Worksheet 3Stage 3. Expansion of the A tion System

A

Que.stions:1. How has the action group been

1U _

expanded? How have new indivi uals aqd groups been brought into action?

e.

2. Who else has been brought into the action group, and why?

'3. Who has taken on leadership roles in ththis their first project?

action organization? Did these people have previous experienCe or is

4. Is there a group or person acting as-sponso of the project?

5. Are many local people participating in the Pi-oject? How are they drawn into involverrient?

6. Are there local people who are not involved? Is thisi situation appropriate or should they be brought in?

7. Has a specific plan of action been decided upon to achieve the goal?

. What kind of action organization is. developing? Isit a formal corporation or an informal group?

9. How long have localpeople participated in large numbers? Was there a peak period of participation? :

10. Were there people contributing according to, their expertise and skills?

Workstitet_4.Stage 4. Operation of the Action System

Questipns:What kind ofcommitment do you have frOrri those involved andleading the project?

2. Is a good part of the community involved or is that not necessary?

3. Is the agreed upon task being accomplished? Are there any difficulties or problems?

4..How is the action organization being maintained?0

5. How is the project being fin nced? Is there a community fund-raitinb drive, or is it financed from .outside'agenciesand institutions?

r

6. What other resources are being used from within the community? Technical "resources? Human resources?What about outside resources?

7. How long will the action take? Can people keep, up their commitment during this time?

8. How is publicity being handled'? Are the local newspapers and radio stations inVolved in the action; project?

9. What kind of communication occurs within the action organization?Are, there regular meetings, published agendas, etc.?

2

2

Worksheet 5Stage 5. Ending or Reorganization Transformation of the Action. System

QueStionns:. Now that the protect goal has been acornPlished, how has the community changed?.

2. How have relations between members orthe community d groups changed?

3. Do you Kaye tangible results, such as a building or Civic center?

4. Are there other projects'that this action organization is thinking of taking on?

5. Do you think the organization should, disband since it haS accomplished its objectives?

6. Has the action organization become a permanent institution in the community? Is there a community'council, for example?

7. Has everyday life in the community changed?

ott

8. Do,you think local people feel differently about the community now?

23

NOTES

1. Richard W.-PCstorf, Small TOW°Renaissancp: A Story of the MontanaStudy. (New York: Harper and Brothers;1.950), pi193.

2 Vernon D. Ryan "A Critique, oftheAction Perspective. within the Develop,merit Framework"' (Paper preparedlorthe RUral SbEiological Society AnnualMeeting, Ithaca, NeW York, Aug. 1980),p. 7. ,

3 . Roland L. Warren, The Communityin America, 3rd ed. (Chicago: RandMcNally College Publishing Co., 19785,p. 52. a

.

4. CaNin A. Beale, RuraTand SmallTotnin'Ropplation Change, A970 -1980,Economfos*Cci StatistiCal ServiCe,ESS-5 (WaVingtorl,, D.C.: Dept. ofAgriculture, 1981.)

5. HarOld F. Kailfrrian and Kenneth P.Wilkinson, Community Structure andLeadership: An Interactional Peispec-live in the Study of Community:SocialSciences Researcp Center Bulletin.;13,.(Mississippi State: Mississippi StateUniversiti; 196?),

6. James A. Christenson and Jerry W.Robinson, Jr., eds., Community Devel-opment in America (Ames: Iowa StateUniversity Press, 1980), p. 6.1 thi

Nef

7. William W. Biddle and LoureideBiddle, Encouraging Community!. Devel-opment: A Training Guide for LocalWoikers (New York: Holt, Rinehart andWinstOn, 1968), p. 42,

0:8. Richard W. Poston, Action &ol.v.. ACitizen's Guide to' Better Communities(Carbondale: Socithern Illinois Univer-.sity PreSs, 1976), p. 5.

9. Dennis E. POplin, Communities: ASurvey of Theories and Methods ofResearch (New' York: MacMillan Pub-lishing Co.:, 1972), p. 181.

10. Harold F. Kaufman, "An ActionPerspective of Community Develop-ment" (Paper prepared for the RuralSociological Annual Meeting, Burling-ton, Vermont, Aug. 1979), p. 11.

11. Ailerit'D. Edwards and Dorothy,Jones, Community. and CommunityDevelopment (Paris: Mouton Press,1976), p. 151.

12. Kaufman and Wilkinson, p.

15.

_,13...GeOrge M. Beal, "Social ACtion:Instigated Social change in LargeSociaLSyst.4ms," in Our Changing

"Rural Social', ed. James H. Copp(Ames: Iowa State University Press;1964), p, 235.

14. Leg? J. Carey, ed., CornmunitDevelopment as a Procesq (Co ia:University of. Missouri Press, 1970), p.167.

15. :Edwards and Jones, op. cit., p,144. .

16. Warren, op. cit., p. 31.8.

17. Kenneth P.'Wilkirison, "A Field.Theory Perspective foiCommunityResearch," Rural SociolOgy 37(1., Mae.1972):44..

18. Poplin, op,.cit., p. 187.

19. Beal,-on..:cif.7pp, 233-34.

2Q. Edwardi ind:Jones, op. p.

144.

2) . Wilkinson, op. cit., pp''. 59-60.

22 Warren op, hit., p. 316,

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