Welcome to the Community Center

• Go to Community Resources
• What's so important about the social systems?

Who socializes our children and youth?  Why, you probably respond, social systems obviously (families, communities, schools, peers, media, etc.). What do we need to know about community influences? Can we restrict negative influences?  How can we make better use of positive resources? How are the streets, our neighborhood, and this whole community a context for youth work?

SEARCH Institute has done most of the research on these questions. They have discovered 40 community assets that reduce the possibility of youth being at risk. They have encouraged programs that feature healthy kids in healthy communities.

How are municipal, state and federal governments helping or restricting/neglecting the vitality and functioning of your community? How can we work together on community development with governments? It sometimes seems as if community work is filled more with questions than answers. And, like many other fields of work, the questions are answered as you engage in your work. Hopefully, this section will give you a space to reflect and find some answers on some of these pressing questions.