Maximizing the Assets of
a Diverse Community
Dallas L. Holmes, USU Extension
Adapted from an article by Lisa A. Guion and Janet
Harper Golden, Florida State University
Cooperative Extension, 2005.
Needs verses Assets

Needs:
A gap or difference between a current situation and
the ideal or desired situation.
 In Extension, the needs assessment tool is used to
identify what the gaps are, prioritize them, and make
decisions about what Extension can do to help.

Needs verses Assets

Assets:
The strength, skills, talents, and capabilities within a
community that can be used to enhance that
community’s quality of life.
 In Extension, the asset model should be used to
recognize that even in the most disadvantaged
community, there are individuals and organizations
with talents and abilities.

Needs verses Assets
Needs
Focus on deficiencies
Assets
Focus on strengths
Result in fragmentation of
Build relationships among
responses to local deficiencies people, groups, and
organizations.
Make people consumers of
Identify ways that people can
services; builds dependence
give of their talents.
on services.
Give residents little voice in
Empower people to be an
deciding how to address local integral part of the solution to
concerns
community problems and
issues
Types of Community Assets
1.
2.
3.
Individual Assets
Community Organizations
Formal Institutions
Individual Assets




Everyone has talents, skills, and gifts relevant to
community activities.
Each time a person uses his/her talents, the
community is stronger and the person is more
empowered.
Strong communities value and use the skills that
members possess.
Such an approach contributes to the
development of the community.
Individual Assets
1.
Ask people for a list of their knowledge and
abilities.
• Surveys, direct questions.
• Work with the person to identify which of those
assets are most valuable or needed in the
community.
Individual Assets
2.
Look at community skills.
•
Identify the types of community activities that an
individual has participated in
•
Identify the types of community activities that the
person would be willing to participate in.
Individual Assets

Look at the individual’s enterprising interests and
experiences.
 Identify skills that could be used to launch a small
business, or that could be used in trade or vocation.
Community Organization Assets


When used with community associations, groups, and
organizations, the asset assessment is based on the idea
that every community has people who work together to
pursue common goals.
These groups may be formal or informal, and usually
function by carrying out three key roles:



Deciding to address an issue of common interest.
Developing a plan (formal or informal) to address the issue.
Carrying out the plan to resolve the problem
Formal Institution Assets

The assets assessment process promotes the
basic premise that every community has a variety
of public, private, and not-for-profit formal
institutions that carry out ongoing community
functions so that the social needs of a
community are met.
Formal Institution Assets

There are five steps involved in assessing the
assets of formal institutions:
Recognize that the local institutions represent
important assets to the community.
 Do an inventory of the institutions existing in the
community.
 Identify the type of activities in which these
institutions are involved.

Formal Institution Assets

continued.
Explore the types of links that can be built between
these institutions, as well as between the institutions,
local individuals, and informal organizations.
 Seek the assistance of local institutions as conduits
to resources outside the target community.

Formal Institution Assets

Formal Institutions can help the community by:
purchasing locally
 hiring locally
 training local residents
 developing human resources
 sharing meeting space
 initiating local investment strategies
 mobilizing external resources
 sharing other resources.

Recognizing Community Assets in
Cache Valley

Clark Israelson, Dr. Allen Young, & Dr. Ron
Boman taught three sessions of a Latino Milking
School in 2004.
Clark Israelson
Dr. Allen Young
Dr. Ron Boman
Recognizing Community Assets in
Cache Valley
They recognized both an asset and a need in the
Latino community in Cache valley:
Asset: Latino men can work in agriculture
without knowing much English and excel at
their jobs.
Need: Many of them require more training in
order to get the jobs that they need, but training
is often offered only in English.
Recognizing Community Assets in
Cache Valley

“The local Herald Journal newspaper did a story on
the second quarter classes and did a feature on one
of the participants. Gustavo Pena, grew up on a
farm in Mexico and milked cows in Oregon for
more than two years before coming to Utah. Pena
reported that he had never learned the proper way to
milk cows and care for dairy calves until he came to
school at the USU Caine Dairy.”
Recognizing Community Assets in
Cache Valley

The organizers also tapped into an asset of the
Latino community when they hired Giselle
Fernandez in 2003 to translate the program.

“As a native Puerto Rican, Giselle was already well
acquainted with many member of the Latino
community. She was able to immediately begin
translating many of our handouts and fact sheets for
upcoming finance and dairy classes that we offered
to the Latino community in 2004.”
Recognizing Community Assets in
Cache Valley

“In November, 2003, Giselle helped us to
successfully form a Latino Advisory Council to assist
us in identifying specific needs of the Latino
community. The lessons we have learned from this
group about the culture and the needs of the Cache
County Latino community have been very
instrumental in the success of this program. We were
able to adapt our current programs that are very
‘Anglo-oriented’, and make them much more
‘Latino-friendly.’”
Maximizing the Assets of a Diverse
Community

“By utilizing the identified assets of the
community itself, as well as the individuals of
that community and the community
organizations, you will get the residents involved
in building their community into a more
cohesive group. The residents will feel that they
have a stake in what is taking place. In other
words, if you involve the community in
programming, you empower the members by
making them part of the solution.” --Lisa Guion
References




Beaulieu, B. (2002) Mapping the assets of your community: A
key component for building local capacity. Mississippi State,
MS: Southern Rural Development Center.
Guion, L.A., Goddard, H.W., Broadwater, G., Chattaraj, S., &
Sullivan-Lytle, S. (2003). Strengthening programs to reach diverse
audiences. Gainesville, FL: Florida Cooperative Extension,
University of Florida.
Kretzmann, J.P., McKnight, J.L., and Puntenney, D. (1998). A
guide to creating a neighborhood information exchange: Building
communities by connecting local skills and knowledge. Chicago,
IL: ACTA Publications.
Kretzmann, J.P., & McKnight, J.L. (1993). Building
communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and
mobilizing a community’s assets. Chicago, IL: Northwestern
University for Urban Affairs and Policy Research.