Community Development

Community development is fundamentally based on the values of human rights, social justice, equality, and respect for diversity. It is a process where agencies support community members to identify and take collective action on important issues. If you want to play a part, Penn State Extension can help you learn how to apply for funding and help your community.

What Is Community Development?

Community development is a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. It seeks to empower individuals and groups of people with the skills they need to effect change within their communities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development is an agency created to enhance opportunities for businesses to improve the quality of life for residents. It also provides grant funding to community groups for projects such as revitalizing “Main Street” infrastructure, enhancing low-income housing availability, or improving access to technology.

Community Development Strategies

It is increasingly important for local residents to participate in community development programs. Without the engagement and action of local people, community development throughout Pennsylvania would be very challenging.

Engaging community members, however, is not always easy. Engagement has massive potential for solving or resolving many community challenges. One way to engage local people is to keep them informed of the issues and latest programs. One such program is the Well Connected Communities program.

Problems with community development often arise because people have a markedly different definition of community. The culture of a community can also shape debate and action significantly. A lack of collaboration between non-profit organizations can hamper community development.

Community Projects Best Practices

For a community project to be successful, the first step is building a foundation of trust. Effective community engagement requires two-way communication. Communication is not just face-to-face, either. Community social media groups have become important virtual gathering places and viewed as belonging to those who live in the community.

When a community is engaged, it can be very effective. It provides opportunities to build local networks, enhance relationships, leverage assets and resources, identify concerns and values, increase participation, improve decision making, and avoid conflict.

Best practices also come into play when developing and implementing community projects. For projects and plans to reach their full potential, they have to be continually monitored. Surveys effectively get an unbiased and accurate picture of a community’s perspectives and priorities.

There are some excellent examples of community projects in Pennsylvania that have employed best practices; for example:

• Community Forests: A community forest is much the same as a rural forest but has more people and built structures. Trees in a community forest are often a mixture of native and foreign or “exotic” species. People play an essential part in their care, and they don’t happen without thoughtful planning and effort.
• Community Supported Agriculture: This is a concept designed to encourage relationships between growers and consumers. It is estimated that today between 30,000 and 50,000 US consumers belong to a CSA. CSAs can be small operations with just a few members or larger CSAs with hundreds of members or subscribers.
• Community Natural Gas Task Force: Approximately 20 counties in Pennsylvania have formed local task forces to address gas exploration and development issues in their communities.
• Enterpreneurial Communities: An entrepreneurial community is a community that intentionally acts to cultivate and support entrepreneurs. An “Innovation District” is on the cards for downtown Erie, for example. The Pennovation Works is a distinctive blend of offices, labs, and production space developed by the University of Pennsylvania.
• Land Use Planning: Members of the public can play an essential role in aiding the decision-making process. Land use planning and regulations should not and cannot occur without opportunities for public input.

Community Development Grants

Anyone looking for funding for a community project can approach the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. DCED manages a variety of programs that might help.

If you’re thinking of applying for funding, there are things you can do to increase your chance of success. Your grant can be won or lost on the writing of the grant proposal. Numerous guides are available to help you write a grant proposal. One example is a grant writing program supplement that enables you to make the most of your grant writing efforts.

Grant writing involves many elements, including understanding and applying various components of information that the funder has deemed essential and necessary. Understanding how outputs and outcomes differ, for example, allows you to collect the most applicable information to include in your application.

In this section, find more information and advice on community development projects, community grants, funding, and more.