ABSTRACT

This paper examines the process and outcomes from a five-year, community-based participatory research (CBPR) study of a community building initiative to strengthen two neighborhoods in a mid-size, Mid-Atlantic city. In addition to supporting over 50 resident-led projects during the five-year initiative, outcomes included positive changes in resident perceptions about some aspects of neighborhood safety, cleanliness, greening, and vibrancy, and in both neighborhoods respondents who were most involved with the lead community-based organizations (CBOs) reported significantly higher social capital compared to those least involved. Nevertheless, analysis of the evaluation process revealed certain data were more meaningful to stakeholders during and at the end of the initiative, and other data were less worth the effort and cost to collect. This study offers insights for how foundations and nonprofit organizations can best use their evaluation resources in small-scale community-building efforts.

摘要

本文探讨了一项为期五年、基于社区的参与性研究 (CBPR) 的过程和结果，该研究涉及一项旨在加强大西洋中部中型城市的两个社区的社区建设计划。除了在五年计划期间支持 50 多个居民主导的项目外，成果还包括居民对社区安全、清洁、绿化和活力某些方面的看法发生积极变化，以及在两个社区中参与主导程度最高的受访者与参与程度最低的组织相比，社区组织 (CBO) 的社会资本明显更高。然而，对评估过程的分析表明，某些数据在计划期间和结束时对利益相关者更有意义，而其他数据则不值得花费精力和成本来收集。