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Some organizations, like Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) in Ventura, California, integrate resident volunteers into all aspects of their work. Others may have the required one-third resident composition on their board (if they are a federally recognized community housing development organization) and that’s about it. Those in the latter category are missing out on a golden opportunity—or worse.

Volunteerism, when approached as a capacity-building community effort, aligns precisely with community development goals of sustainable, resident-driven neighborhood revitalization. When approached from this perspective, it looks different (sometimes in obvious, other times in nuanced, ways) than more traditional social service volunteerism.

CEDC’s leadership development opportunities present a good model of the type of new capacity created in the community even after the volunteers go home. There’s the typical board and committee work. Then there’s the organization’s partnership with the Gamaliel Foundation and CAUSE, two issue-oriented organizing groups. A year and a half ago, CEDC staff created opportunities for residents of their low-income housing developments to take part in planning a massive community action to draw attention to immigrants’ rights, youth rights, and environmental justice. CEDC staff encouraged participation of residents from three of their developments, Villa Cesar Chavez, Villa Victoria, and Hacienda Guadalupe, in a first planning meeting. The residents received training in outreach, community organizing, and public speaking. By the end of the planning process, these resident leaders committed to bring out 300 to 350 residents and their families. They applied new skills and became part of a successful grassroots effort that brought 800 community members to Oxnard High School to take a stand on critical community issues. This event culminated with a call to action for elected officials, all of whom agreed to work with the community to address their concerns.

There were several key elements that made this community development volunteer opportunity successful, including:

• Leadership training and skill-building for residents;
• Capacity building at individual, organizational, and community levels;
• Educating residents about how personal obstacles are connected to larger, systemic issues;
• Partnerships that address a broader array of issues than a typical community development organization; and
• Creating opportunities for action related to systems change.