Strong communities: what did participants actually do?

Detailed information about what actually happened in large-scale efforts to transform communities is sparse. Using biweekly reports of the Strong Communities initiative's outreach workers' activities over a 3.5-year period, this article examines the characteristics of individuals whom the outreach workers were able to involve in the project, the degree of involvement that various community sectors (eg, fire, police, churches, civic groups) have had, the types of activities that they have undertaken, and the characteristics of volunteer groups that have participated. Results showed that Strong Communities has indeed penetrated into the target communities in diverse ways engaging people of disparate backgrounds. The first years of the initiative show the feasibility of engaging primary community institutions in a broad-based effort to enhance children's safety in their homes and the community at large. They indicate the importance of community gatekeepers and of seemingly "natural" but actually constructed events and groups in facilitating such efforts.