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Partner Spotlight - The Institute for Community

The Institute for Community was created to fight social isolationism and individualism by creating the Community Life Program (CLP).IFC’s mission statement is “building quality relationships where people live and work through the power of genuine community”. IFC empowers a Community Life Architect (CLA), a Christ-centered incarnational missionary, or a group of people who live inside an apartment property that help connect residents to their immediate neighborhood.

This program derives in principle from Asset Based Community Development strategies established by, Northwestern University and its School of Education and Social Policy Program (SESP). The CLP integrates people of all ages and interests, and connects them in relationships through shared interests such as family services, recreation, educational, career, spiritual, service activities, and wellness groups. The CLP harnesses the existing connecting opportunities within the neighborhood and offers them to the apartment resident. The CLA researches groups, clubs, community organizations, programs, and services within a few miles of the apartment community and “maps” those services.  All residents of the property receive access to neighborhood activities through various tools. The hope is that by connecting with the CLA and their neighborhood, people’s attitudes, behaviors, and lives will be positively influenced.

To learn more about this program, contact Bill Barton.