Networks of relationships build the social capital to drive neighborhood change
At the center of SBCC's approach to neighborhood-based, resident-driven community transformation is a countywide relationship-based organizing strategy that mobilizes more than 100 resident organizations (called Neighborhood Action Councils, or NACs) with more than 1,500 individual members throughout Los Angeles County to build and strengthen community bonds on the basis of participants' shared gifts and talents. This journey from social isolation and disempowerment to inclusion in expanded circles of kinship and community is the foundation of our work, building the social capital and neighborhood human infrastructure needed for all of our other programs to take root.
Our model of community organizing differs from most by placing the long-term development and growth of relationships at the center of the process. Our commitment is to support the creation of resilient, adaptable, socially-engaged communities over the long term. Resident members of the NACs work together in this process to build their own neighborhood-based identity and mission, and then design and lead neighborhood projects focused on education, health, safety, and economic development. The network of relationships within the NAC, and between the NAC and the larger community, serves as a resource to increase the efficacy of this work and ultimately contribute to the vitality and well-being of the neighborhood.
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