A community development project is a task that is started to help community members improve their social and economic status thus empowering them and improving their relationships. The project can be started through; finding out the needs of the community, coming up with a project that will help deal with their problem, creating a strategy, enquiring if there are people in the community who are willing to volunteer and train them, create a budget and a timeline and then raising the money needed.
The benefits of a community development project are;
To offer homes to the homeless
This is mainly to people who been have locally or internationally displaced by war or natural calamities. This is done by offering public funding and helps reduce poverty levels.
To create employment opportunities.
Community projects help adults secure employment by either offering training especially on the job the project is doing and also help in a job search. This helps improve the economic status of the community because now people are able to cater to their needs
A community project helps in stabilization.
Community stabilization involves the renovation of the abandoned properties and converting them to be of productive use by the locals. It also includes the demolition of abandoned homes which maybe centers for drug abuse and crime groups.
To help deal with cases of domestic violence
This is where the project offers a safe place for survivors of domestic violence to heal together with their children. They also educate the community members on the legal actions to take in cases of domestic violence and this helps lower cases of abuse and saves live.
For a community development project to be successful the following things are needed;
Involve members of the community. This is where the local people are engaged from the start of the project so that they can feel they are part of the development project. Engaging them also helps in decision making. A development project should have a leader who helps in achieving the goals of the project. For a project to attain its goals, there should be a collaboration of a handful of people including the locals. The evaluation process should be carried out to access whether the intended goals have been achieved within the specific time set. People involved in the project should be able to adapt to changes that come with running the development project. Some of the changes may be caused by; failed plans, change of mission of the project, or end/delay of funds.
