| Evaluation of the Community Challenge, Phase II |
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The Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) engaged PPA to conduct an evaluation of a 15-month long process in the Flint, Michigan area that was designed to (1) identify and address a broad spectrum of communitywide issues, and (2) do so by establishing a new, sustainable approach to dealing with community issues to serve the long-term interests of the greater Flint area. An approach that is typically implemented within Fortune 500 corporations to change the prevailing organizational culture was implemented in the Flint area over a year-long period through the identification of a number of critical issues within the community and the establishment of separate but associated working groups to address them. Specific efforts were made within these groups to bring a wider spectrum of community participants than ever before in order to build capacity within the community and to assure the sustainability of the process in the future.
PPA employed a multifaceted research approach including observation at Community Challenge work group meetings, leadership meetings, and communitywide forums; in-depth interviews with the members of the project’s leadership team; surveys conducted with active participants in the project as well as interested community residents; and primary-source data collection on the personal characteristics of project participants. PPA produced a final report that concluded that significant progress had been made in implementing a new approach to community development projects in the greater Flint area and that measurable progress had been made in identifying and addressing important goals by each of the four community work groups. The results of this effort are that the Greater Flint Community Foundation and its funding partners planned to continue the project for another year or more. |
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