LINCNewOrleans: Building Multi-Community Coalition
July 9, 2012 Leave a comment
Kevin Kieschnick-LINCNewOrleans
LINCNewOrleans seeks to transform community by crossing lines: neighborhood lines, denominational lines, and cultural lines. Building a coalition between 4 adjacent urban New Orleans neighborhoods is their goal; Marigny, Bywater, St. Claude, and St. Roch. These four neighborhoods are very close geographically, (just East of the French Quarter), but very different culturally and socio-economically. They have distinctly different assets and challenges. LINCNewOrleans is building partnerships with churches in each neighborhood, and has identified a number of young leaders passionate about developing and strengthening their neighborhoods.
LINC’s vision is to build a “QUAD 4 COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE” where a team from each neighborhood is trained in principles and processes of Asset Based Christian Community Development. They will then be coached and mentored by LINCNewOrleans leaders on an ongoing basis, gathering together regularly with leaders from the other adjacent communities to share ideas, strategies, resources, and challenges with the larger community, for the benefit of all.
As these leaders are trained and mentored, they engage their congregations and neighborhoods to asset map their own communities, work with community residents to build new visions for strengthening their neighborhoods, and network within the community and across neighborhood lines to strengthen everyone’s work. St. Roch may have resources and assets that are needed in Bywater, while Marigny might have human or material resources that could specifically benefit the people in St. Claude; that’s the idea of the networking strength.
Presently over 20 young leaders have been identified. Together with LINCNewOrleans, these leaders are raising support to travel to the Twin Cities to attend the Christian Community Development Association conference this Fall. Relationships are growing. Capacity is being built. And communities are being transformed!
