Maralee Gutierrez shares an asset-based community development (ABCD) story from La Comunidad - a faith-based community development organization she founded in Northern Virginia (https://www.comunidadva.org/). The video is from Lesson Three of the Serving with Dignity training that helps volunteers focus on what the people they are helping have rather than on simply what they lack. It’s rooted in doing things with people rather than for them. It is not dismissive of needs, quite the contrary, it meets those needs in a deeper way because needs are seen in a broader picture, a picture that includes a person’s hopes and dreams, skills, interests, and resources. In other words, Serving with Dignity is an asset-based approach to helping people. The community needed over $250,000 to put grass on a soccer field, a project they had hoped to see happen for 16 years. The residents put together what seemed to be a relatively small amount ($433) but it became the catalyst for reaching the goal and getting grass on the field. The field has become a place of play and gathering which has strengthened the community. The asset-based approach to ministry builds on the strengths of the community and trusts that God will provide the increase as he does tie and time again in the Bible (e.g. Elisha and the widow, Jesus feeding the five thousand). Learn more about the training and this unique paradigm of service at https://www.servingwithdignity.com.
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