R. Benjamin Wiley has led the Greater Erie Community Action Committee (GECAC) in Erie, Pennsylvania, since 1969, creating a wide range of human services programs. His passion for education is reflected in the GECAC Learning Center, which offers numerous training and educational programs for residents of all ages, and in the GECAC Community Charter…

The Llano Grande Center is a non-profit education and community development organization founded in the mid-1990s by youth and teachers out of a public high school classroom in a rural South Texas (USA) community. The Center was created, in large part, to cultivate youth voices as important elements of curriculum development and teacher training…

This booklet is about what people say and do with regard to citizen participation. Explanations and key resources are provided for eleven techniques to obtain citizen participation: Alinsky Organizations, charrettes, citizen advisory committees, community audio and video access, community development corporations, community resource/information…

This paper reports on the progress of eight Chicago-based community initiatives designed to redefine social services and broaden social responsibility for the development of children and families. The paper has three sections describing: (1) general background on the children, youth, and families initiative; (2) early lessons from an initiative in…

Servol (Service Volunteered for All) is a voluntary organization in Trinidad and Tobago with a staff of some 90 people engaged in a wide range of activities grouped in seven Life Centers and a periphery of 13 nursery schools, as well as family farm units in a rural area. From a modest start in late 1970, Servol has grown steadily during its first…

Describes Catholic priest's founding and operation of Servol, grassroots community assistance and development center in Trinidad. Describes Servol's low-profile service-oriented approach to creating education and health services, programs, and facilities. Describes Servol's difficult transition from quixotic neighborhood project to national and…