UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI

J. P. Rizal Ext., West Rembo, Makati City

HIGHER SCHOOL NG UMAK
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
Course Title Title
Community Engagement, Module No.: 5 Selected Cases of Community
Solidarity, and Citizenship (CSC) Action Initiatives
At the end of the module the students should be able to:
1) recognize the importance of solidarity in promoting national and
Learning Objectives global community development (e.g. poverty alleviation); and
2) assess selected community-action initiatives
INTRODUCTION

Community Action Initiative is a community-based collaborative project in partnership with political and social
institutions and sometimes with religious and business association (Ariola, 2017). As discussed in the previous
module, involving the community to act requires effort, charisma, and persuasion.

This community action is anchored on the social relation build thru influence and persuasion within the
community and with neighboring communities and other networks (Mambiar, Marquez, & Quinones, 2021).

Community action initiatives

To start with let us define what is community action initiative. This is created to support
community-led projects that promote mental health, prevent substance use problems, and promote
effective treatment and support for individuals and families experiencing mental health and/or
substance use challenges.

Generally, it is a network of individuals and partner organizations dedicated to improving the

health and welfare of a community. It seeks to deal with and reduce the effect of social problems, to
improve peoples' quality of life. A way to cater to the needs of communities. The members of the
community and organizations become channels for change.

Anchored by objectives that are based on specific concerns that groups in the area want to
CONTENT

address. They may also be guided by a certain model or framework and may involve modification of
certain policies or practices for the community’s welfare.

Comprehensive community initiatives - This involves partnerships that take part in several interrelated
activities occurring simultaneously. These initiatives involve collaborative planning, documentation of
activities implemented, the assessment of the targeted community’s capacity and ability to adapt and
the promotion or dissemination of the objectives prioritized.

Issues that can be addressed by comprehensive community initiatives:

• Education related concerns such as increase percentage of dropouts
• The unjust treatment of the minority or the marginalized
• Abuse and neglect of the vulnerable people in the community.
• Self-destructive behaviors such as suicide, substance abuse, excessive drinking
• Problems in one’s mental and physical health
• Crimes and violence committed by young people
• Poverty caused by unemployment

PREPARED BY: RODNEY C. RAMIREZ

FOR HIGHER SCHOOL NG UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI (HSU) – AY 2020-2021
 Community Action Initiative’s Goal -
• One to one outreach, support, and advocacy to engage the target population.
• Improve linkages between service provider agencies on and oft reserve and increase capacity
to reach and support the at-risk population.
• Development of a core group of mentors within the target population group that can support and
train others.
• Intergeneration knowledge transmission through workshop and activities.
• The development of a food cooperative to address the basic needs of this population and
promote self-sustainability.

Core values and principles of community-action initiatives

These values and principles will be discussed further in the following modules but for heads up
below are the core values in which the community-action initiatives are anchored into.
 Human rights
 Social justice
 Empowerment and advocacy
 Participatory development
 Gender equality

Methodologies and approaches of community actions and involvements across disciplines

1. Partnership building with local groups - A community meeting on future perspectives in local
development planning is a way to create a shared vision for partnership building. It enrolls those
stakeholders, who have the power of information on the topics at hand and those who are
affected by the outcomes.

2. Community profiling – This refers to social research method which involves building up a picture
of the nature, needs and resources of a locality or community, with the active participation of
its members, the aim being to create and implement an action plan to address the issues
unearthed.

3. Needs assessment – It is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps"
between current conditions and desired conditions or "wants". The discrepancy between the
current condition and wanted condition must be measured to appropriately identify the need.

4. Working with a core group/leadership development/participatory action planning – This

refers to one in which everyone who has a stake in the intervention has a voice, either in person
or by representation. Staff of the organization that will run it, members of the target population,
community officials, interested citizens, and people from involved agencies, schools, and other
institutions all should be invited to the table. Everyone's participation should be welcomed and
respected, and the process should not be dominated by any individual or group, or by a single
point of view.

The Project Design – This is based on extensive community consultation as well as best practices
identified by the initiators, focusing on the assets and strengths of the largest group. Training of
program leaders and other volunteers will be designed based on native ways of learning and knowledge
transmission, rather than simply incorporating symbolic cultural content (Ariola, 2017).

Selected cases of community action initiatives

Below are some of the cases of community action initiatives that maybe a project of one or selected
group of people but will not be considered success without the support of the community.

 In Canada, the Community Action Initiative – Overdose Prevention and Response Project

PREPARED BY: RODNEY C. RAMIREZ

FOR HIGHER SCHOOL NG UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI (HSU) – AY 2020-2021
 Coordinator: It was created to support community-led projects that promote mental health,
prevent substance use problems and promote effective treatment and support for individuals and
families experiencing mental health and/or substance use challenges in BC. The CAI was
established in 2008 through a $10-million grant from the Province of British Columbia. In March
2013, the CAI received a subsequent $10 million grant from the Province to continue its work, as
well as $5 million to specifically address supportive recovery housing. The CAI Leadership
Council represents a coalition of non-government organizations (NGO), First Nations Health
Authority, Metis Nation British Columbia, and BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres,
provincial government bodies and other key stakeholders (Canadian Mental Health Association
British Columbia Mental Health for All, 2017).

 In the Philippine context, the GAWAD KALINGA (GK) is taking their mission, vision, and goal
into action. Their take on poverty is that poverty in the Philippines and through out the world is
massive in scope and depth. It requires nothing less than a heroic response in people to truly
make a difference. Therefore, the GK continues to rally all sectors of society to help achieve its
mission. Their mission is to end poverty of 5 million families by 2024 which is only three (3) year
to go from the time of this writing. Their vision is building a nation empowered by people with
faith and patriotism; a nation made up of caring and sharing communities, dedicated to
eradicating poverty and restore human dignity. GK has more than 4,000 volunteers on ground,
going where help is needed the most. In their promise to leave no one behind, GK does not
hesitate to enter some of the most troubled war-torn areas. GK communities are known to be
zone of peace, and they have successfully transformed slums into peaceful and productive
communities (GK, 2019).

ACTIVITY
Direction: Form a group with 6 members each. Discuss why did the two examples become
global and effective. Give concrete action that the two CAI used in making their project a
continuous success.

PREPARED BY: RODNEY C. RAMIREZ

FOR HIGHER SCHOOL NG UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI (HSU) – AY 2020-2021
 ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
1) What is a volunteer group? Are you going to volunteer, after graduation, as a community
development worker, an initiator, a mobilizer, or animator or just a mere community action
member? Explain.
________________________________________________________________________
ASSESSMENT

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2) Give additional three (3) community initiatives that can be acted upon by you as a senior high
school student.
1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________

WRITE A REFLECTION
DIRECTION: Indicate the things you have learned in this lesson; the things you have realized
and appreciated and the things you have discovered and wanted to do more, and lastly to
indicate the difficulties or challenges you encountered. Use the guide in completing the
reflection.

REFLECTION (To be accomplished by the learner)

In this chapter,

I have learned that

____________________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMENT

I have realized that

____________________________________________________________________________

I need to learn more / about

____________________________________________________________________________

I encounter difficulties / challenges in

____________________________________________________________________________

Bibliography
REFERENCES

Aguilar, A. C., Fujs, T., Lakner, C., Mahler, D. G., & Nguyen, M. C. (2020, March 31). March 2020 global
poverty update from the World Bank: New poverty estimates for 2018. World Bank Blogs.
Retrieved March 3, 2021, from https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/march-2020-global-
poverty-update-world-bank-new-poverty-estimates-2018
Ariola, M. M. (2017). Community Engagement, Solidarity and Citizenship. Manila: Unlimited Books
Library Services & Publishing Inc. Retrieved March 4, 2021

PREPARED BY: RODNEY C. RAMIREZ

FOR HIGHER SCHOOL NG UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI (HSU) – AY 2020-2021
 Canadian Mental Health Association British Columbia Mental Health for All. (2017, August 14).
Community Action Initiative (CAI). Retrieved March 4, 2021, from Public Health Association of
BC: https://phabc.org/community-action-initiative-overdose-prevention-response-project-
coordinator/
GK. (2019). About GK. Retrieved March 4, 2021, from Gawad Kalinga: https://gk1world.com/aboutgk
Mambiar, L. C., Marquez, G. F., & Quinones, T. F. (2021). PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT for SENIOR HIGH
SCHOOL (2nd ed.). Columbia: Educational Services Provider.
Stagner, M. W., & Duran, M. (1997, June). Comprehensive Community Initiatives: Principles, Practices,
and Lessons Learned. The Future of Children / Children and Poverty, 7(2), 132-40.
doi:10.2307/1602391
Tantuco, V. (2020, July 2). Expected increase in poverty as COVID-19 ushers in Duterte's 4th year.
RAPLER. Retrieved March 3, 2021, from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/expect-
increase-poverty-covid-19-ushers-duterte-4th-year
World Population Review. (2021). Poverty Rate by Country 2021. World Population Review.

PREPARED BY: RODNEY C. RAMIREZ

FOR HIGHER SCHOOL NG UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI (HSU) – AY 2020-2021