John McKnight Livres

Find out how to uncover the hidden talents, assets, and abilities in your neighborhood and bring them together to create a vibrant and joyful community. It takes a village!We may be living longer, but people are more socially isolated than ever before. As a result, we are hindered both mentally and physically, and many of us are looking for something concrete we can do to address problems like poverty, racism, and climate change. What if solutions could be found on your very doorstep or just two door knocks away?Cormac Russell is a veteran practitioner of asset-based community development (ABCD), which focuses on uncovering and leveraging the hidden resources, skills, and experience in our neighborhoods. He and John McKnight, the cooriginator of ABCD, show how anyone can discover this untapped potential and connect with his or her neighbors to create healthier, safer, greener, more prosperous, and welcoming communities. They offer a wealth of illustrative examples from around the world that will inspire you to explore your own community and discover its hidden treasures.You will learn to take action on what you already deeply know—that neighborliness is not just a nice-to-have personal characteristic but essential to living a fruitful life and a powerful amplifier of community change and renewal.

Focusing on the power of local communities, the book highlights how neighborhoods can heal themselves without reliance on professionalized services, which often disrupt their natural resilience. John McKnight argues that the influx of social services has detrimental effects, leading to family breakdowns, failing schools, and increased violence. He advocates for tapping into the inherent strengths and capacities of local citizens as a more effective solution to America's social issues, emphasizing community empowerment over external intervention.

A movement is emerging where individuals seek fulfillment beyond traditional institutions, recognizing that true satisfaction comes from community engagement. This book emphasizes the potential of neighborhoods to nurture and support their members, challenging the notion that a good life is bought rather than built. It advocates for collective action among neighbors to create a "beloved community," highlighting our capacity to shape a hopeful future together. The narrative inspires readers to embrace their roles as architects of their own lives and communities.