The book explores a transformative approach to community building, highlighting global efforts to enhance economic conditions, alleviate poverty, and revitalize neighborhoods. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration among citizens and various sectors, fostering equal participation to address social issues and improve overall quality of life. Through case studies and examples, it illustrates how engaged communities can effectively tackle challenges like crime and social disconnection.
Exploring the essential role of community in shaping identity and well-being, the book delves into how modern life's chaos has weakened these vital connections. Paul Born introduces the four pillars of deep community: sharing stories, enjoying each other's company, caring for one another, and collaborating for a better world. Through personal anecdotes as a child of refugees and a community activist, he illustrates the importance of these pillars and encourages readers to take action in fostering genuine connections.
Community engagement expert reveals how readers can identify their community’s assets and rally people together to achieve collective impact and solve deep-rooted challenges. Many of us are upset by issues like racism, poverty, and climate change, but it takes collective effort to get to the root of these complex problems. Whole Community Change offers a proven methodology for uniting leaders from business, human service organizations, and government to work together with people who have a lived experience of the problem. Readers will learn how to create a community plan, measure impact, and engage everyone in the process. A comprehensive manual, the book also includes sections on topics such as raising money for big change and hosting community conversations. Author Paul Born is president of the Tamarack Institute, whose work has contributed to lower cancer rates in Maine, improved mental health for young people in Florida, and reduced poverty in Iowa and in the entire country of Canada, as described in a April 4, 2019 David Brooks column in the New York Times. This book will provide access to Born’s coaching in an accessible and implementable format. People want change, and they want to live in safe and equitable communities. This book helps make that possible.