Beulah Land Missions & Ministries

BACK

Recommended Books

20 of America's Poorest
Counties "Plus"

1. Starr, TX
2. East Carroll, LA
3. Zavala, TX
4. Shannon, SD
5. Owsley, KY
6. Ziebach, SD
7. Maverick, TX
8. Holmes, MS
9. Todd, SD
10. Willacy, TX
11. Dimmit, TX
12. Phillips, AR
13. Hidalgo, TX
14. Sharkey, MS
15. Lee, AR
16. Sunflower, MS
17. McCreary, KY
18. Perry, AL
19. Presidio, TX
20. Buffalo, SD

Recommended Reading

Here are a few recommended books and articles relating to the Rural Poverty Initiative and Community Development. If you have any comments on these materials, feel free to send your comments to the Dallas Resource Center.

(Short List)

1 - McKnight & Kretzmann (1993). BUILDING COMMUNITIES FROM THE INSIDE OUT. ACTA Publications, Chicago. If you get only one book, make it this one. Community groups have purchased several copies and held discussions regarding what does this mean for us in our work on any given place.

It is an excellent guide to a way of thinking and working with people based on their assets compared to focusing upon needs or what’s wrong with people and communities. Sets out Asset-Based development in readable, workable language. Practice tips, and activities to use locally.

2 - McKnight (1995). THE CARELESS SOCIETY. Basic Books, New York. This book will trouble many people, for it calls the traditional social service model into question. It explores how professional service workers tend to deal with people from a need orientation rather than a developmental approach. A very interesting, thought-provoking book.

3 - Nored (1999). REWEAVING THE FABRIC, How Congregations and Communities Can Come Together to Build Their Neighborhoods. Black Belt Press, Montgomery, AL. This is an excellent case study/example of how a small black church gave leadership to the social, housing and economic redevelopment of their area (Ensley, AL). It has an excellent short chapter on leadership plus it demonstrates how external resources can be used to help carry out the community agenda.

4 - Medoff & Sklar (1994). STREETS OF HOPE, The Fall & Rise of an Urban Neighborhood. South End Press, Boston. This an outstanding case report covering 10 years of work within a given setting. It clearly shows how over time community people, working with professional people, foundations, churches, government and their own resources including a strong political will, can redevelop an area.

5 – Lappe & DuBois (1994) THE QUICKENING OF AMERICA. Jossey-Bass Inc, San Francisco. A very effective book on helping people think about community life and what is possible. It is full of ideas and approaches to community work that is both practical and stimulating.

6 - Mathews (1999). POLITICS FOR PEOPLE. University of Illinois Press, Champaign/Urbana. This book introduces the reader to the concepts of citizen-based politics and makes the argument that future political success will demand much greater public input. A stimulating, fairly easy read. Mathews is President of the Kettering Foundation, and former president of the University of Alabama.THIS BOOK HAS BEEN PRINTED IN SPANISH.

The following foundations publish very useful materials at very reasonable prices:

Kettering Foundation, 200 Commons Road, Dayton, OH 45459-9830, http://www.kettering.org

Pew Partnership for Civic Change, 145-C Ednam Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903, 804-971-2073, http://www.pewtrusts.com

Kellogg Foundation, One Michigan Avenue East, Battle Creek, MI 49017-4058, 616-968-1611, http://www.wkkf.org
Detailed information concerning the Community Development Academy offered by the University of Missouri-Columbia is available at http://muconf.missouri.edu/CommDevelopmentAcademy

Annotated Beginning Bibliography in Community Development

It is an excellent guide to a way of thinking and working with people

For more information call (423) 207-1107
or email skip@blmm.com