Institutions as Fulcrums of Change
The Institutions as Fulcrums of Change program seeks to initiate and facilitate changes in the philosophy and programming of community institutions such as libraries, museums, and arts organizations to assist them in developing stronger and more ef
fective social and economic development agendas for their communities.
The Institutions of Fulcrums of Change program is a natural extension of Partners for Livable Communities’ thirty-year evolution. Since its inception, Partners has consistently argued that arts and cultural resources can play central roles in creating better communities, and in promoting social and economic development goals. Partners has found through its extensive technical assistance work in cities around the country that there are beloved, but underutilized institutions that should be better incorporated into comprehensive community strategies.
New Initiative: Creating the Healthy Community
This year, Partners for Livable Communities is addressing a new issue - public health - with its trademark approach: breaking down silos. Creating the Healthy Community: Civic Institutions as Fulcrums of Change will solve local public health issues at the community level. A diverse pool of stakeholders will be convened and a unique variety of civic institutions will be utilized to create and implement community-based, health-related programs.
The program combines the resources of civic institutions with the savvy of public health organizations to improve the health and wellbeing of three broad demographic groups. Partners will work to:
- Meet the health needs of people living at or below the poverty line
- Support youth development from early childhood to teen years, including mentoring and support for educational achievement
- Support vulnerable elders to maintain quality of life by meeting such challenges as disability, socialization, and transportation
Partners will combine its impressive roster of nationally recognized colleagues with a custom-tailored focus on local resources ranging from cultural organizations to community development organizations, community gardens, faith-based organizations, libraries, museums, parks, performing arts centers, public markets, sports organizations, and environmental groups, and more.
In Spring 2014, Partners will announce the initial laboratory communities. Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with Creating the Healthy Community.