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Below... Is a Free to Use...
One Global Community . com
Detailed... OUTLINE...
To Help Create, Set Up and Start Your...
Community Center
Including ideas
and suggestions to help You and Your Community...
Open Your
Community Center... Anywhere on the Earth
I. Research and
Preparation:
A. Organizing
Support
When you first
start finding interested people keep records of who you talk to,
who supports what
aspect, and phone numbers.
Share resources
with all who are interested.
Become and share
the focus of the center.
B. Develop an
outline
Make all options
available in outline format; include activities, funding resources, resource
requirements, and products.
C. Research
Research other
organizations in the area that already operate centers of a specific kind.
Find out what they
need, what works, what does not, what rules are needed, etc.
Research funding
options.
Go to the local
and state, province, governments and follow the leads you get.
Keep accurate
records of conversations.
Talk to libraries,
Small Business Administration, Clubs, politicians, etc.
Whatever is in
your area.
D. Volunteers
Seek volunteers
from all walks of life in Your Community...
to help with
specific tasks such as finding a building,
developing a
proposal,
starting a
non-profit organization, and making a budget.
E. Meetings
Have regular
meetings at least once a month.
Find someone who
can run the meetings in an orderly and mutually respectful manner.
Bring "Roberts'
Rules of Order" or other ideas in to learn basic parliamentary procedures
or create your own
way.
AA and other (
step groups ) have a well established plans... using their set of 12 steps and
traditions, These will help in operating a center and...
keep it fun...
Except new ideas
and learn from the friction.
Agree
to disagree and give all people an opportunity to speak.
And make it easy
for the shy to become involved and the talkative to be quiet.
ll. Getting
started:
A. Election of
Officers Mission Statement, Name,
Non- Profit
designation 501-(c)(3) (optional).
B.
Budget for Center
Develop several
budget alternatives, fitting them together so that you can have a three-phase
plan for the Center.
This allows for
fund-raising at different levels of involvement.
C.
Fund Raising
Get commitments
from local businesses/groups.
Seek local, state,
and federal government support.
Apply for grants
from Foundations.
Hold a bake sale,
"tag" sale, auction, or other event to raise interim operating capital.
D. Notify other
non-profits in the community of your plans and ask for their support.
E.
Start a mailing list database with different categories such as:
individual
donor, community organization, church, government agency, volunteer,
business donor.
Keep a filing system that lets you update the database with the name, address,
phone for every individual who makes contact with your organization.
F.
Opening Day
Send out press
release at least two weeks prior to opening day.
Invite everyone!
Ask the local,
city government to join in and create "Community Day."
111. Resources:
A. Hospitality
Network
Collect information with people in the community who will let foreign
visitors Stay with them for a night.
Collect information from State tourism
Board and local businesses that cater to tourists. Include maps and travel
information.
B. Public Internet
Access Terminal
Computer Terminals that provide public access to the
information resources of the Internet. and your community...
C. Employment
Database
Allow people in the community to list
small jobs they have available (cleaning garage, weeding garden, baby-sitting,
etc.)
D. Barter Network
Let people list items they are willing to exchange for barter, sale or give
away.
E. Volunteer
Connection
Keep a database of other organizations
looking for volunteers.
F. Social Service
Solutions
Offer referrals to social service organizations and agencies of
government and other kind of groups and services.
G. Voice Mail
System
Offer information
on community meetings, events, and needs of the community.
Let people leave
messages for appropriate person, agency in government, to report potholes,
broken tree limbs, suspected criminal activity, etc.
H. Filing System
For brochures, press releases, and other printed material about everything in
your community.
L Housing Co-op
Let people
identify their housing needs and search for rooms, apartments, houses that meet
those needs.
Listing of
available spaces.
Build
environmentally friendly homes with no interest loans for people, placing and
making them part of the landscape.
( Habitat for
Humanity has some great ideas.)
J. Legal Aid
Have standard forms for most legal actions. Make sure everyone has equal access
to the legal system, keep money from being a requirement for justice.
K. Photocopy
Machine
L. Fax Machine ( for a small fee )
M.
Cable TV and VCR
N. Educational -
Videotape Library
O. Automatic
Teller Machine
P. Food Co-op
ordering center
-
( Food Co-op can
be elsewhere ).
Feed the community
using basic foods
And have teachers
available to show how to eat better for less.
IV. Activities:
A. Conflict
Resolution Classes
B. Community
Organizing - How to get involved in building a better
community.
C. Auctions of
second-hand and donated goods.
D. Open Mic Night
for local poetry and music.
E. Network people
for the creation of new businesses - Identify needs and put people in touch with
each other through a special meeting. Use the database.
F. Publit. Access
Videotaped Discussions on Issues. G. Club Meetings - (Computer, Ham Radio, 4-H)
H. Voter
Registration - Make it as easy as possible for people to vote, E-Mail or
telephone in your vote, free rides to the polls. Work towards 100% voter
participation.
L Drug Abuse Peer
Counseling - Eliminate the advertising of the drug alcohol on television,
billboards or anywhere, to our children and the community.
V. Preventing
Problems:
A. Rules of the
Center
should be made by the community as a
whole and can be clearly posted for people to see for anyone using the
facilities, like meeting rooms.
B. Centers may
become
a "hang-out" for some people, and discourage others from coming.
C. Personal Power
Some individuals
may think of the Community Center as their own personal responsibility, or "home
away from home,"
And steps may need
to be taken to remind everyone that it is a center for everyone, not just those
who run it.
Remember that the
principles of the center come first, over personalities.
D. Excessive
Responsibility
Sometimes one
individual takes more responsibility than they can sustain.
This leads to
"burn-out" and all the volunteers and members must help each other and prevent
this from happening.
The more people
who know about the centers workings the better.
E. Cigarettes,
drugs and the drug alcohol
should be
prohibited, in the center.
Education about
drugs and the drug alcohol should be available at all times.
F. Long Distance
Phone Calls
The center may obtain Calling Cards and
delegate the authority to use them appropriately. Use E-Mail, Radio etc.
whenever possible.
VI. Business
Activity:
A. Community
oriented products
In most cases, products manufactured in the local community
by local businesses should be promoted and used.
Centers need to be
a welcome center for visitors, tourists and people who are traveling from center
to center around the world.
Maps, guidebooks,
and videotapes of the area can be included here.
Helping people to
feel a part of the community they are visiting will do more for the community
and the business community than a lot of advertising.
We are all
tourists.
B. Crafts
manufactured by members of the community could be placed on consignment.
C. Books, art
work, music, and other products produced by local people, artists, writers, and
musicians can be displayed.
D. Fresh
Vegetables Vending Machines for food items, may also be included.
A camp fire or
microwave can be made available, so that food can be heated.
Encourage foods
that are healthy.
E. Clubs and other
groups
which wish to use the meeting rooms should pay a nominal fee, perhaps
half of what is nominally charged by schools, YMCA, or other groups or pass the
hat.
F. The Video Room
Which includes
cable TV and a VCR, can be rented by the hour.
If it is not being
rented, it can be open for general use working with other community libraries.
G. Voice Mail
Services and other ideas that can be operated out of a center.
Example: a Voice
Mail Answering machine could service hundreds.
This could be a
service provided by a center.
V11. Networking
With Others:
A. Network with
local, state government and businesses.
Include new
information on meetings, policies, and social service referrals.
Include the
children.
B. Network with
other Community Centers.
Problems and
solutions can be shared directly with other centers around the world.
Get a list of
other centers from One Global Community.
C. Network with
non-profit organizations.
Be a service
organization to non-profits in your area.
Let them use your
FAX, Computer, and other resources at a reduced cost, providing they reciprocate
with information or volunteers.
D. Network with
the media.
Make contact with
all the local newspapers, radio and TV stations.
Make sure they
have the name of one contact person when they want to find out what is happening
with the center.
They can become
your community news media or start your own news media. Use news media of all
kinds. see ~ (page 47 )
E. Network with
Law Enforcement.
Make contact with the police and other law enforcement
personnel.
Make Sure that they feel comfortable with the center and the
operations.
Give them one
contact person that can always be reached in an emergency, (pager).
Encourage
participation and make it comfortable for all people to hang out
and become... One
With the Community.
V111. Ethical
Principles and Community Centers:
A. See The United
Nations... Universal Declaration
of Human Rights...
Click here... UNITED NATIONS
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
It
gives ideas about: Openness, Inclusiveness, Harmony, Peace, Love, Community,
etc.
That's it for the One Global Communities OutLine,
Good luck, OGC staff
Back to...
Detailed Writings...
To
Help You Create, Set Up and Operate Your Community Center.
Click here...
OUTLINE...
to Help You Start Your Community Center
Click
here... STRATEGIC PLAN... for Your Community Center...
Click here...
WRITE UPS... About Starting,
Operating, Building Your Centers
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here... BACK to HOME
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