Neighborhood Development

Mika’s core strategy for community development happens through our focus on Neighborhood Development. Healthy communities are built and sustained through systems that invite and welcome neighbors’ participation. In order to create sustainable solutions to the challenges facing Costa Mesa, we focus on building the capacity of neighborhood leaders to identify, design, fund and manage initiatives and projects that positively impact their neighborhoods and create communities with VISION.

Mika organizes neighbors into Neighborhood Action Committees, and provides a platform for these committees to articulate a shared vision for their community, identify potential stumbling blocks to reaching that vision, brainstorm solutions, and implement results-driven strategies.

Mika developed a unique Community Building process as a six-step framework to use in each of our target communities. These six steps are, Selecting a Neighborhood, Developing Partnerships, Connecting, Organizing, Capacity Building, and Linking.

Selecting a Neighborhood

Goal: Determine Target Area

Research of potential neighborhoods includes speaking with residents and observing neighborhood activities in order to compile an overview of the community’s status. Additionally, the assessment and feedback of community leaders such as police, school district officials, neighborhood pastors, and other existing agencies provides the organization with an insider’s view of the neighborhood.

Developing Partnerships

Goal: Determining Partner Church

The goal of this step is to have a committed church partner working with Mika in the selected neighborhood. Before the partnership is established, Mika considers the willingness of the potential church to make a long-term commitment of at least five years in a designated neighborhood.

Connecting: Getting Together

Goal: Identify Neighborhood Leaders

During this stage, the Neighborhood Advisor gains an understanding of the neighborhood culture, including routines, rhythms, and traditions. The Neighborhood Advisor begins building rapport and fostering trust with individuals and families that are part of the neighborhood. Relationships are built by interviewing neighbors and getting familiar with their life histories, sharing with neighbors referrals to resources in the community, and inviting children and teens to participate in Mika’s existing programs.  Early gatherings of neighbors offer opportunities to get to know one another around fun and inviting activities.

Organizing: Acting Together

Goal: Establish a team of neighbors committed to working together

The purpose of this phase is to organize a Neighborhood Action Committee (NAC) made up of residents from that neighborhood. Once the NAC is established, regular Neighborhood Meetings are scheduled and the NAC is encouraged to invite their friends and neighbors. Initial meetings build the trust of the team as they organize short term activities that allow neighbors to get to know one another. As they come together neighbors identify their shared values and agree on a shared vision of the future.  Utilizing group activities, home visits, and ongoing dialogue with neighbors, the Neighborhood Advisor and the NAC identify opportunities for action that will reflect their neighborhood values. The long-term purpose of the NAC meetings is to design and implement larger projects of change that align with their vision and values.  The group brainstorms potential strategies to address the identified issues, consider their capacity to carry out the strategy, and determine the sustainability of the initiative. Using project planning tools, the team designs initiatives by identifying opportunities, determining outcomes and objectives, deciding the process and/or methodology to implement, deciding the organizational structure and/or leadership for the process, determining the budget and timeline, delegating responsibilities, and developing resources.  These activities go hand in hand with the fifth stage, Capacity Building.

Capacity Building: Learning Together

Goal: To implement sustainable initiatives

During this stage, the Neighborhood Advisor uses the neighborhood activities and projects/initiatives as opportunities to intentionally develop the leadership capacity of specific leaders.  The goal of this stage is to increase the capacity of the neighbors to take on more responsibility in the areas of project identification, design, fund raising, management and evaluation. As neighborhood leaders work together we see an increase in their care and service of one another and other neighbors in need.  The friendships and trust built at previous stages instill a confidence in neighbors to voice their ideas and step out in actions that engage other neighbors in community projects. Additionally, during this stage the neighbors develop a strategic plan and look ahead to goals for the next three to five years.

New neighbors are welcomed to join the NAC at any time.  Activities in connecting, organizing and capacity building are constantly being revisited to deepen the development of the neighbors and the neighborhood.  At this point, neighborhood leaders step into leadership roles previously held by the Neighborhood Advisor and assume more responsibility of neighborhood projects.

Linking: Impacting Together

Goal: to implement collaborative initiatives

The final stage of Mika’s Community Building Process is linking Neighborhood Action Committees to other organizations, as well as to other NACs throughout the city. Bringing NACs together gives leaders an opportunity to share information on the actions they have taken to brainstorm together how to address local issues that affect the whole city. As the Neighborhood Action Committees grow in their capacity to manage and evaluate initiatives, they are able to identify and partner with other organizations that have similar goals in the community.  Current linking projects include the annual Christmas Store and a Healthy Marriage Initiative.