Heart of Stark: National NeighborWorks training provided for local leaders
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Last month, the Stark County Neighborhood Partnership Program (SCNPP) hosted its first NeighborWorks training to equip local neighborhood leaders with tools for collaboration. Twenty-five leaders attended the training from Canton-area neighborhood associations in all four of the city’s quadrants.
This training comes as a result of the partnership formed in 2021 between Stark Community Foundation and Community Building Partnership of Stark County Inc. to improve and expand neighborhood revitalization efforts in Stark County. The program provides neighborhood associations and community organizations with additional programming, training opportunities, expanded communication and financial support.
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NeighborWorks, institutionalized by Congress in 1978, is the nation's leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals. Its offerings, which are regularly updated to reflect industry standards and current trends, serve residents and organizations.
The neighborhood association leaders in attendance were invited to think more critically about collaboration initiatives that lead to neighborhood revitalization. Participants engaged in a community asset mapping exercise, were introduced to different types of community collaboration and learned about many elements and phases of developing successful programs.
“During the early stages of initiating the Stark County Neighborhood Partnership Program, NeighborWorks America was identified and communicated to existing neighborhood leaders as a resource for specialized training offerings,” explained Daniel Preacher, healthy neighborhoods program assistant at Community Building Partnership.
“This training was the first step of fulfilling the promise to neighborhood associations. More specifically, the training content helped to emphasize neighborhood collaborations which directly connects with one of the primary program objectives of collaborative, data-driven approaches that build on community assets.”
Participation in the program and NeighborWorks training is open to all local neighborhood association leaders. The program’s goal is to offer training at least once a year using NeighborWorks’ extensive catalog of resources. To learn more, visit www.starkcf.org/neighborhoods.
Stark Community Foundation helps individuals, families, businesses and nonprofits achieve their philanthropic goals through a variety of charitable funds and strategic initiatives. Ranked in the top 10% of community foundations in the country, the foundation and its family of donors have granted $215 million to nonprofits since 1963. Learn more at www.starkcf.org.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Heart of Stark: NeighborWorks training aids Canton-area leaders
