Disconnected communities

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet Richard Murphy, the founding direct of the Rheedlen Center for Children and Families (that would go on to become Harlem's Children Zone) and the creator of iMapAmerica. iMapAmerica is an innovative project that channels some of the best aspects of asset-based community development, service-learning, and deliberative democracy. 

First, iMapAmerica uses a curriculum to train teenagers to map their communities to uncover the resources that are available and useful to them. Then, it sends out youth volunteers to map their communities, which leads to information that populates dynamic "ilivehere.info" websites. New Orleans, one of the pilot cities, has a great website.

The way that Murphy talks about his work is that children are only in school for 15% of life; outside of school accounts for 85% of life. That said, we can't expect schools to be the silver bullet. Focusing on community solutions and reconnecting and revitalizing communities is the missing link in school reform but also in community revitalization more generally. 

The New Orleans "I Live Here" website seems incredibly useful for youth
looking for resources, but also for youth-serving organizations to
connect more effectively with one another.

Murphy imagines the next evolution beyond mapping pilot cities as a Mapping America Week every two years where youth across the country would walk their neighborhoods and report back on what resources they have -- and, sometimes more importantly, what resources they lack. This information would help state and local governments as well as youth-serving organizations respond to real demand-driven community needs. 

City-based initiatives like Cities of Service are working to re-engage citizens to volunteer their talents and skills to serve their communities and meaningful and mutually beneficial ways. Paired with a broader launch of iMapAmerica and greater support for connecting across sectors within communities could yield incredible impact.

Civic engagement is taking root in more ways than just volunteerism. Perhaps we won't be bowling alone anymore after all.