Sample Community Development Plan for a Welcoming Neighborhood

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This community development plan was designed by the resident students of Fresh Love Neighborhood in order to make their neighborhood more welcoming. It is based on four goals: hosting a welcome party for new students to allow them to familiarize with each other and older students; providing free accommodation to the students that are struggling with housing pending when they finally get their own house; taking the students for an excursion so that they can know the city better and enjoy their stay; and providing the students with free counselling to aid them in choosing the right career path. Further discussion showed that the majority of the activities in this plan will be based on volunteering and that it will require funds that would be sourced through different public pockets. Excess funds will be deposited with a credible financial institution for future use. It is expected that if the plan is implemented as drafted, the neighborhood would become more welcoming and a go-to place for people coming to study in the city.

INTRODUCTION

Community development is the process whereby members of the community come together to take collective actions that would generate solutions to common issues faced in the community (Kenny, 2017; Stringer, 1999; Taylor, 2015a, b). Its importance is based on the fact that it provides the foundation upon which a city takes off with respect to improving the lives of its citizens, leading to the creation of strong diverse communities capable of attracting and keeping talent, starting and growing businesses, and overcoming issues that arise in the community (Kenny, 2017; Stringer, 1999; Taylor, 2015a, b).

In view of the above understanding, this community development plan is designed by the resident students of Fresh Love Neighborhood with the intention of creating a welcoming neighborhood. The plan is divided into different sections, starting with the background, which presents an overview of how the idea was conceptualized. The goals and objectives are discussed afterwards, followed by discussions on responsibilities and roles. The plan concludes with financial implications and how the funds necessary for its support can be sourced. It is believed that successful implementation of this plan would make the neighborhood more welcoming because numerous programs have been developed to attract and keep international students within the neighborhood.

BACKGROUND

Every year, international students and expatriates troupe into Australia in search of new hopes, greener pastures, and personal growth. However, coming from another country, they are met with numerous challenges that revolve around navigating the shores of the country and adopting it at ease. In cases where such people are not able to easily get along with the system, it is known that numerous issues might emerge, leading to overall dissatisfaction with their Australian experience.

The Fresh Love Neighborhood is known for housing a significant number of such people coming into the Melbourne suburbs. Its rich culture is based on the fact that numerous students from different parts of the world come to live together in the same place. The main reason why foreign students choose it as a preferred location is because of its proximity to many of the universities in the city.

In view of the need to make positive contributions towards the city, these residents, who come from different countries and are enrolled in different universities across the city, have decided to develop and implement a community development plan that would make the neighborhood more welcoming. It is important to notice that while the majority of the people living in the neighborhood are resident students, it also houses a significant number of expatriates and other locals engaged in different work professions. However, they have all come together to pursue this common goal. Thus, this plan outlines how they will be able to attain their set objectives.

OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

The undertaken research and consultation identified key issues that the resident students will embark on in relation to developing a welcoming neighborhood. These have been detailed in the key findings and recommendations section. To address the issues, four (4) goal areas founded on ten (10) objectives were created as illustrated in Table (1). These goals will be achieved across key focus areas, including a welcome party for new international students, free accommodation, and excursions.

Table 1: Goals and objectives

Goals	Objectives
Welcome party for new foreign students	Each session, new foreign students will be welcome into the university and hosted to a party. The party will begin with an orientation to enlighten them about the city and how to run their academic programs effectively and efficient. It would also allow for meet and greet with older students from their country or continent, expanding their network of friends in the campus. There will be personnel dedicated to assist them with their final documentations, so that they can better settle down.
Accommodation	It is understandable that the new students might face issues with accommodation, thus campaigns will be organized to encourage other students to accommodate them for free until they settle down. There will also be a tour guide around the city and residential areas close to the university, so that they can familiarize themselves with going out and back to the school. A university guide will be engaged to take them around the entire institutions, showing them different sections and what they are used for.
Excursion	Education should be fun and the students need to enjoy their stay in our city. Thus, they will enjoy a tour around the heritage centers in the city, and places they can relax while studying. There will also be a tour of the main libraries, museums and other places for where they can see artifacts.
Counseling	Finally, each student will be assigned a dedicated counselor that will help them chose the best career path for themselves.

 

THE RESIDENT STUDENTS’ ROLES IN THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Roles

In terms of achieving its goals and objectives, it is necessary that the resident students develop clearly articulated roles, and they are detailed herein.

1. There will be a small team of student volunteers that will be responsible for the community development functions detailed above; and

2. They will be charged with determining the most appropriate approach to attain the given goals and objectives, and they can undertake or adopt any role based on their skills and capabilities.

However, it is vital to state that the role of the volunteer students can and does change with time as the lifecycle of the program, projects, or services progresses. For instance, one that was initially in-charge of accommodation might move to excursion. No matter where one is assigned to work at any given point in time, it is imperative that they never shift from the focus of this community development.

Leadership

The leadership will be structured among the volunteer students, and the leaders will have the responsibility of providing strategic leadership in relation to the set goals and objectives by undertaking an active role in identifying gaps as they occur, mobilizing more resident students to volunteer for the course, and taking necessary steps to facilitate the solution. Leadership will be tenure-based, with leaders selected for each session, but there will be no limit to the number of times people can be selected to lead the course.

Collaboration/Partnership

They will also have to develop and sustain relationships between the neighborhood and the entire city at large, making sure that this relationship leads to increased donations that would be used to fund the course. The partnership will extend to different NGOs that can provide the foreign and new students with necessary support during their study period. All forms of cooperation with universities and the city at large will be welcomed as the central aim is to make their stay in Australia memorable and fruitful.

Policy and planning

The leadership will have to provide a clear and transparent process that all decisions will be based on. This should reflect recent trends in society, and it should be particularly based on a structured approach that would prioritize maximizing benefits for the new students.

Key Findings and Recommendations

Prior to developing this plan, stakeholders (resident students and school management) were consulted. A number of key findings raised from the discussion formed the basis of the plan’s goals and objectives, as pointed out earlier. They are discussed below.

Students need to be welcomed with a party—the stakeholders highlighted the need for students to be welcomed officially into the neighborhood and school with a party. They are new in the city and probably do not know anyone. Thus, the best way to make them feel at home is to officially welcome them, indicating that the neighborhood will always be there to provide them with much-needed support throughout their study period. Thus, it was recommended that a welcome party featuring meet and greet and orientation programs be held to help the students familiarize themselves with the school and neighborhood.

Accommodation: It is normal for new students coming into the city to face challenges with sourcing accommodation. Therefore, it was recommended that resident students who are willing to help volunteer to accommodate them pending when they finally settle down in their new homes.

Excursion: when people are new to a place, they definitely need to be taken around in order to get used to it. Therefore, it was recommended that the new residents should be shown around the major places in the city like markets, shopping malls, game houses, sports centers, museums, libraries, and recreational centers, so on, in order to help them enjoy their stay.

Counselling – The school management pointed out that the main issue it faces with new students is their indecisiveness in choosing a career path, and this can delay their overall progress. Therefore, it was also recommended that dedicated counselors should be given to each student in order to help with choosing the right career path.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Attaining the goals and objectives would require certain levels of financial involvement. While all activities will be based on volunteering, it is important to have plans for contingencies and the potential financial implications are as detailed below.

Cost factor	Activity	Amount (AUD)
Welcome party	One party that will host between 30-60 people per session	5,000
Accommodation	Accommodation will be entirely based on freewill.	0
Excursion	One city bus-our per new session.	3,800
Counselling	At least 2 academic counselors employed on part-time basis for a maximum of one month (first semester in each session)	2,200
Total cost per session		11,000

 

Funding source

The funds used for the programs will be mainly sourced via free will donations, and websites like GoFundMe will be deployed for such purposes. Additionally, flyers will be distributed across the city to encourage contributions towards this course. In the event that an excess fund is raised for each session, the surplus will be deposited with a financial institution that has a strong credit rating, where it will stay safe and yield interest.

EXPECTED OUTCOME

If this plan is successfully implemented, it is expected that:

1. The neighborhood will be viewed as welcoming, and it would be considered attractive to international students coming into the city.

2. Residents will be able to live in harmony, protecting the interests of others within the area and always supporting each other.

3. Common social vices, such as crime, will be reduced because there will be a greater amount of peace, love, and understanding between people living in the neighborhood.

CONCLUSION

The discussions above detail a community development plan designed by resident students to make their neighborhood friendlier. To start, it is important to state that the decision of these students to positively contribute towards the growth of their neighborhood and the country in general is highly welcomed. Their decision was based on the fact that many of the foreign students coming to study in their city face a number of challenges surrounding accommodation, getting settled, and knowing what they do and don’t. As the management of universities interviewed pointed out, inability to address these issues can affect the overall performance of the students, their satisfaction level, and academic success. Thus, the plan is based on four objectives: 1) hosting the students to a welcome party where they will meet and greet with other people from their country, get to know the city and university more, and expand their network; 2) providing free accommodation for those facing challenges with accommodation until they find their own home; 3) taking the students on a bus excursion for them to get familiar with major places in the city in order to make their lives easier; and 4) assigning counselors to guide the students towards developing the right course path. It is expected that if carefully implemented, the students will be able to enjoy their stay in Australia and have numerous memorable experiences that they can take with them for the rest of their lives. However, success with this program would require some financial involvement and the funds will mainly come through freewill donations where excess funds will be deposited with a financial institution for the future. In conclusion, this kind of program is something that other neighborhoods should initiate.

REFERENCES

Kenny, S. (2017). in Chapter 5: Processes and values. in S. Kenny, Developing Communities for the Future. Cengage Learning's Link

Stringer, E. (1999). Chapter 7: Strategic Planning for Sustainable Change and Development. in Stringer, E. Action Research, 2nd ed. SAGE.

Taylor, J. (2015). In Taylor, J., Working with Communities, Chapter 6: Conceptual Approaches to Community Work Oxford University Press. Link

Taylor, J. (2015). Chapter 7: Practice Frameworks for Working with Communities in Taylor, J., Working with communities. link with Oxford University Press.