Identification of Community Assets: which potential assets in the community are important to consider and why? Based on the results of your secondary data analysis of the community, which particular assets may be important to engage? Strategies for Engaging

Community assets related to education and business development are very important to North Lawndale. Here, the community is demographics are much weaker than the national averages. Here, the economic success of the area is mixed. On the negative side, nearly 46% of the residents in North Lawndale have incomes of less than $25,000 a year. This is particularly alarming as the medium household income in the United States is roughly $63,000. Here, having an income that is much lower than the nation average may suggest a lack of needed skills within the community. This is reinforced by the fact that North Lawndale has a persistently highly unemployment rate of 16%. As a result, there is a substantial portion of the community that is unemployed and those that are employed are making well below the median household income. This is then exacerbated by rising inflation which has risen to nearly 7.5%. The higher price of goods and services, particularly gasoline, has put a much larger financial burden on low-income families, which permeate the North Lawndale market (Mulder, 2015).

As a result, a large community asset will be heavily related to education, skills training, and business development. These assets consist of Family Focus, Lawndale, Better Boys Club, North Lawndale YMCA, The Douglass Branch Public library, and the Wilbur Wright college. These assets collectively are important to consider as they provide an economic path forward for residents within the North Lawndale community. Namely, these assets can help increase incomes throughout the community, increase desirable skills to attract employers, and provide generational wealth that can be used to increase the overall quality of life within the community. This will also help in reducing crime while building stronger communities within the area as well. In North Lawndale, nearly...…types of additional data would help deepen your community health assessment? How would you go about collecting such additional data and what specific questions would you want to ask? Who would you look to for answers to these questions, and what would be the best format to obtain such answers?

The first limitation with the secondary data is its lack of consistency amount reporting. For example, the crime rate figures in North Lawndale to not break out certain crimes in the same manner as other secondary research firms. As a result, the granular details are difficult to compare as they are not apples to apples. Secondly the variability of rigor and analytical skill varies dramatically among secondary data sources. Additional data that would help my assessment would include personal interviews, surveys, and discussions with those directly within the North Lawndale community. To collect this data, I would like to engage residents on social media, digitally, or through the phone. I would like to ask about their experiences in North Lawndale…