By Alan Pakaln, 2021-02-07
I believe there is a relatively simple, easy, and practical way to help local public libraries survive, or if you prefer, to thrive – and – at the same time, improve the general health of local...
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By John L. McKnight, 2021-02-04
“Agency” is a rather obscure word used in some circles in society. To better understand the word, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary translates in more popular language as meaning “the capacity,...
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By Allison Lourash, 2021-01-21
Hello—I am currently looking for volunteer participants for a research study titled “Exploring Practitioners’ Strategies for Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities.” This study has the...
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By John L. McKnight, 2021-01-12
Throughout America, communities are establishing task forces to respond to police abuse and the murder of Black citizens. These task forces have variously recommended cuts in police budgets...
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By John Hamerlinck, 2020-12-21
“Happy accidents are real gifts, and they can open the door to a future that didn’t even exist. It’s kind of nice sometimes to set up something to encourage or allow happy accidents to happen.”...
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By John L. McKnight, 2020-12-08
He was a corporate leader in a big city, well known for his progressive views on corporate responsibility. Indeed, he had led the corporate community in efforts to achieve equity and engage...
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By Alan Blackshaw, 2020-12-01
My father kept an old family Bible in his wardrobe. This wasn’t kept for religious observance but because it contained information about our forbears and a family tree. He would, on occasions,...
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By Michelle Dunscombe, 2020-11-19
The next issue of Practice Insights Magazine will focus on the Stories of ABCD, in collaboration with the ABCD Institute.
What is ABCD? Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) is a...
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By martin simon, 2020-11-18
The Unstoppable Advance Of Common Decency
The very first practical responses to the coronavirus pandemic were led from the ground up by front liners, families, friends, neighbours and...
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By Alan Blackshaw, 2020-11-01
Introduction
Local Councils can be confusing. They can cover a broad range of work in the community from roads, waste, water, parks, halls, facilities, amenities, parking, development...
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By John L. McKnight, 2020-10-12
It was the first meeting of a neighborhood organization’s Health Committee on Chicago’s westside. The six members met in the living room of Gloria Blunt’s home. After considerable discussion as...
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By Alan Blackshaw, 2020-10-01
Introduction
Local Government is the level of government closest to the community. From this it would be expected that one of the important functions of Local Government would be in...
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By Philip I Booth, 2020-09-30
Community Building before and since Covid-19
We were all set to launch our Community Building Guide in March of 2020 but Covid-19 put that on hold. We share this guide with you...
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By John L. McKnight, 2020-09-09
Many Americans of diverse persuasions feel that they are not “heard”. They express their grievances in various forms from demonstrating in the streets to posting on social media. The focus of...
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By Malikia Johnson, 2020-09-04
Hello Everyone,
My name is Malikia Johnson and I am a new member of the community. It's been so nice to see everyone's stories and reflections about this very important work! I wanted to...
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By John Hamerlinck, 2020-09-02
So we can't gather. That’s unfortunate. However, we can still do a number of things to move our community change efforts forward.
We can always learn. You can never have enough evidence at...
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By Alan Blackshaw, 2020-09-01
Over lunch today I had one of the local commercial radio stations on in the background. At one point they were promoting a Volunteer Expo happening at the weekend. The radio announcer summed it...
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By Robert Francis, 2020-08-04
Reflections On John Lewis
On John Lewis
These past several days have been very moving for me with the passing of John Lewis. When American democracy seems to be falling apart, he...
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By Om Dhungel, 2020-07-30
ABCD in Action – Strength Based Approach to Refugee Settlement
By Om Dhungel
As a practitioner of ‘Strength Based Approach’, I often get told that people working with refugees cannot...
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By Robert Francis, 2020-07-27
Ibram X. Kendi, How To Be An Anti-Racist
Most of us in the ABCD world might consider ourselves pretty advanced in the world of anti-racism but I came away from reading How to be an...
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