Definitions

  • The purpose of community organizing is to actively engage large numbers of people to powerfully solve neighborhood and city-wide problems.
  • Community organizing follows a three-step process of a. Systematically listening to residents and citizens in order to select and prioritize problems and visions, b. Research to identify potential solutions, and c. Solve these problems and achieve these visions through self-help approaches and/or  engaging key government and other institutions.
  • Community organizing can be done in a large number of contexts and with a variety of constituents:  individual members, organization of organizations, neighborhood or issue based, with religious congregations and/or secular groups, tenants, seniors, youth, etc.