Communities First Association: The Real Transformers

by Stelle Slootmaker, Communications Associate, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 616-538-0485

In these times of tight municipal budgets and high unemployment, communities across North America are finally getting some good news. An exciting, three-year-old ecumenical Christian organization, Communities First Association (CFA) transforms communities by sharing knowledge, resources, skills, and networking capabilities that revitalize neighborhoods by empowering the people living in them. Formerly an arm of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), CFA became a stand-alone entity on July 1, 2009.

A significant capacity-building grant from CRWRC will support CFA as it reaches out to a broad range of faith communities from many denominations. CRWRC-US director Andrew Ryskamp says that this next step for CFA is “the natural and logical outcropping of our mutual passion for eliminating poverty and transforming impoverished communities in North America. We’re thrilled to unleash CFA to meet demands from within and outside of Christian Reformed Church.”

An organization of Intermediary Christian Community Developers, CFA provides a supportive learning environment, resources, and tools to help transform communities.  One of those tools is the Communities First curriculum, which is available in both English and Spanish.

Director Jay Van Groningen, former team leader for CRWRC’s North America ministries, says that CFA’s vision “is to extend the reach of Christian community development across the US by providing encouragement and support for Christian leaders; serving as a place for retreat and refreshment; and developing holistic, multi-sector approaches that contribute to God’s shalom.”

Though no longer a Christian Reformed entity, CFA will become the primary network through which CRWRC does community development in North America, taking the place of that organization’s North America Ministry Team. As such, CRWRC will retain charter membership in CFA as it expands its financial and ecumenical base.

ABCD

Communities First Association uses “asset-based community development” (ABCD) to help churches, organizations, and individuals recognize the resources they already have and then utilize those resources to improve their neighborhoods.

CFA’s ABCD approach is working well in Holland, Michigan. Crime and violence in the Holland Heights neighborhood left residents living in fear and isolation. Local organization Heights of Hope teamed up with CFA and AmeriCorps volunteers to create a neighborhood where people are sharing their hopes and dreams as well as time and resources as they help each other find success.

“The residents rented a nearby apartment to use as a community center, and when the Holland City Council notified them that they were out of compliance with local zoning laws, they banded together to present their case to the Council and received a zoning variance for the Center,” VanGroningen says.

The center has become a hub for local gatherings, programs, and support activities for community members. Neighbors are thankful for less crime, fewer people moving out, and more neighbor-to-neighbor sharing and cooperation. “Learning from each other is what CFA is about,” Van Groningen says. “When neighbors work together, using what they have, a neighborhood becomes a great place to live.”

Another community where CFA has successfully implemented the ABCD approach, Sierra Vista, Arizona counts many prosperous retirees and career people in its upscale neighborhoods while military and lower income families live within mobile home developments. Within these less affluent neighborhoods, residents had no sense of community and lived in fear of increasing gang activity and illegal drug trafficking.

Thanks to CFA’s ABCD approach, Sierra Vista’s mobile home communities have seen a drop in gang activity, a reduction in illegal drug trafficking and more community buy-in among neighbors.

“Our goal is to have a group of people in a geographic area be willing to get together and decide what are the issues they need to work on, get those done, and make their community a better place to live,” says Rudy Gonzales, Southwest Regional Church and Community Consultant. “We’re doing what we’re doing because we believe that the gospel gives us a mandate.”

For information, visit www.communitiesfirstassociation.org.

Communities First Association

Andrew Ryskamp      1-800-55-CRWRC      aryskamp@crwrc.org

Jay Van Groningen      616-403-9309

Rudy Gonzales      909-653-3667