Principles of Community Engagement (Second Edition)

Action Steps
Morehouse continued to work with Joyland, Highpoint, and the surrounding
neighborhoods (known collectively as “Neighborhood Planning Unit
Y,” or NPU-Y) for the next few years, even long after the original grant had
expired In the mid-1990s, it took advantage of the opportunity to apply to
CDC for funds to establish a PRC Applicants were required to have a community
partner, and so Morehouse and NPU-Y became applicant partners
The grant was funded, and a community-majority board was created to
govern the center There were still issues to be worked out between the
medical school and the community, such as the location of the center and
the details of research protocols, but the foundation of trust allowed these
issues to be resolved while preserving the partnership (Blumenthal, 2006)
Take-Home Messages
• Community partnerships are not built overnight. A trusting partnership is
developed over months or years
• A partnership does not depend on a single grant, or even a succession of
grants The partnership continues even when there are no grants
• A partnership means that resources and control are shared. The academic
institution or government agency must be prepared to share funds with
the community The community should be the “senior partner” on issues
that affect it
• Community representatives should primarily be people who live in the
community The programs and projects implemented by agencies, schools,
and other entities affect the community, but their staff often live elsewhere
Reference
Blumenthal DS A community coalition board creates a set of values for
community-based research Preventing Chronic Disease 2006;3(1):A16
135