RE: What makes the DSNI so special?

I am passionate about two organizations that believe in empowering people. The National Urban League (Empowering Communities. Changing Lives) and the YWCA (Empowering Women. Eliminating Racism). So I believe that any successful community development initiative will only be successful if the community itself is empowered to make the necessary changes in order to improve the quality of life. DSNI's restructuring of their governance board to be majority community members is the most important step they could have taken to ensure their success. After all they are the ones that will be living there. The residents were empowered to govern themselves and take charge of their destiny as a community. From that point on they were determined to be successful. There was no other choice.

DSNI success: Funding and Active Residents

The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative was and is successful for a number of reasons but two in particular stood out to me. The first is that the initiative began with the financial support of the Riley Foundation. The Riley foundation confirmed their support for the neighborhood while simultaneously staying in the background and allowing the community to lead. We have learned that many community development projects failed because they were implemented and led too heavily by outside financial supporters. The DSNI began without having to search for funding and was allowed to create its own leadership and strategic plan. I believe this made a huge difference in the support of Dudley residents and their willingness to cooperate.

The second thing I believe led to their success was the activism of the residents themselves. At the very first community wide meeting of the DSNI, community residents stood up against the governing board and its lack of resident representation. After demanding sufficient representation, they continued to participate through voting and meeting attendance. This is a perfect example of "let the people decide" community organizing and it is their persistence that led the community to overcome political, organizational, and structural challenges in the years ahead.

What makes the DSNI so special?

So really-- what is it about the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative that made them so successful? What do you think? I would like for each of you to create a NEW post discussing some aspect of WHY you think DSNI was a success. Then I would like for you to offer a substantive comment on at least two other posts.

Your post should be between 50-100 words and be insightful and thoughtful.

Your comments should be polite, but feel free to disagree or move the topic along. I would expect no more than about 50 words for each of your comments.

The deadline for everyone to POST will be Friday Oct 22. The deadline for COMMENTS will be Wednesday Oct 27.