This document includes a final report, guidelines for mentoring communities, and a guidebook for community-based planning developed by the Building Communities for Learning (BCL) project conducted to encourage Pennsylvania communities to develop community-based planning groups to improve the delivery of services for adult learners and maximize…

Describes rural implementation of the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities program, which combines flexible long-term financing with strategic planning and performance benchmarking to empower impoverished communities to address structural problems comprehensively. Impressive 3-year results include job creation; improved community services;…

Describes the development of a community information network funded by LSCA (Library Services and Construction Act) Title III money, from the Illinois State Library to Millikin University (Decatur, IL). Highlights include a historical background; strategic planning; community planning for the network infrastructure, including hardware and software…

The need to develop "family capital" (the attributes and skills that enable families to carry out their economic, social, and nurturing functions) in inner-city neighborhoods is the focus of this background briefing report. Part I of the report describes the characteristics and causes of distressed communities and their impact on families, and…

"Our Town: An Architectural Perspective" is a program for at-risk elementary school children which was instituted at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The goal of this effort was to introduce built-environment awareness in the public schools, where the neighborhood serves as the classroom and as a vehicle for…