Overview
This discussion asks you to think through the challenges of completing a needs assessment for a community outreach project and should also help you frame your final project assignment.
Before engaging in a community development plan, it is critical to understand peoples’ needs by identifying available resources, understanding who is and who is not given a voice in a particular community, and what your goals are for improvement. Doing a needs assessment is the first step in determining the direction for community outreach. In Section 1 of Community Tool Box: Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and ResourcesLinks to an external site., you are provided with a detailed guide for considering needs and resources for developing and implementing a plan to improve a specific issue (or related set of issues) in a community.
Then, choose an issue facing a particular community. This can be your own community, the community you grew up in, a community you have often visited or worked with, or any other community you choose. You can also choose a community outside a specific locale, selecting groups who are part of a subculture. Then, select an issue facing that community. Some topics might be food deserts, gentrification, the availability of opioids, or housing discrimination. Reach out to your instructor if you have any questions.
Once you have selected your community and its issue, respond to the following prompts:
- Describe the community you chose to focus on and the issue you’re addressing. Add details about the people who constitute the community and why the issue is harmful.
- What steps have been taken to address the issue?
- Why is it important to do a needs assessment for this community?
- Choose one tip from Navigating Difficult Conversations: 7 Tips for Civic Engagement DiscussionsLinks to an external site., and explain why that tip is important for the community you chose to write about. How might you use it to help better understand the community’s needs?
- Discuss the section from Community Tool Box: Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and ResourcesLinks to an external site. that you chose to focus on, and explain its relevance to the community issue and how you would use it in your needs assessment. How does it map to the issue at hand?
- Reflect on the process of developing needs assessments. What did you learn from this assignment? Why are needs assessments helpful?