March 3, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A group of graduate students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) are developing a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plan for Birmingham’s Kingston community.

The project is the focus of a course “Community Organization and Development” offered through the UAB Center for Urban Affairs. For the course, students have been working collaboratively with Kingston residents to develop a strategic plan for enhancing the quality of life in the neighborhood. The students will present the plan at the Kingston Neighborhood Association meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, April 28.

In January, the 15 graduate students and their instructor, Betty Bock, M.A., launched the project by visiting the Kingston neighborhood and attending a neighborhood meeting. The students then began developing their strategic plans designed to address issues such as economic and business development, health, child abuse, crime prevention and teen pregnancy prevention, among others. To help with the project, Willie Mae Hale, the Kingston neighborhood president, and at least one other resident, have been attending Bock’s class each week to brainstorm ideas with students and provide input.

“I want students to see the experience and talent of neighborhood leaders,” Bock said. “Second, as the students develop their strategic plans, they can get feedback from residents to see if they are headed in the right direction.”

The students have taken the approach of identifying the neighborhood’s current resources and then finding ways to nurture and mobilize those resources to tackle community problems. The approach is called asset-based community development, Bock said.

“Much of the time, revitalization programs focus on problems,” Bock said. “With asset-based community development we first identify the neighborhood’s assets. In this case, we handed out surveys asking people in the community to list their skills and to tell us what they like to do, such as caring for the elderly or taking care of children.

“We identified nearly 160 things that residents say they enjoy doing and have the skills to do. Seven residents said they would like to help take children on field trips. Several said they enjoy volunteering at schools. There is a pastor in Kingston who said his church has a computer lab and he’s now looking for teachers. We identified five people who have computer skills and would be willing to teach classes.”

Once the assets are identified, the students will create program proposals. They also will prepare a grant proposal to help residents implement one of the recommended programs.

Through her course, Bock has already helped the Titusville, Woodlawn, Inglenook, North East Lake and Fountain Heights neighborhoods develop strategic plans.