Community Partners
Who are community partners and how does one define what a community partner does? How does a community patner relate to service learning and civic engagment? To really understand such a concept, it's helpful to first discuss some more definitions. Campus Compact, a great resource for service learning and civic engagment topics, offers the following definitions:
Community can be used in a number of ways to apply to almost any group of individuals. It is used here specifically to describe a geographic group whose members engage in some face-to-face interaction. Such communities exist all around us in our neighborhoods, our schools, our workplaces, our campuses, etc. The term community can also be used in a more meaningful sense to emphasize the common bonds and beliefs that hold people together.
Robert Bellah et. al. contrast the minimal notion of community with the idea of community in a "strong" sense. People in such a community share several characteristics that bring them together and create a sense of equality and common cause among them. Amitai Etzioni further emphasizes the moral aspect of communities and the demands that they make on their members. From these we may discern four aspects of strong communities:
- Individual community members are socially independent, and participate together in discussion and decision making.
- Individual community members recognize the rights they derive from the group, as well as the responsibilities they owe to the group.
- Community members share certain practices that both define the community and are nurtured by the community.
- The community itself has a history formed by common memories and stories of the past.
Etzioni, Amitai. The Spirit of Community: The Reinvention of American Society. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993
Bellah, Robert et. al. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985, p. 333.
Invited Community Partners
- University of Iowa - Iowa City - Eastern Iowa - State of Iowa - Midwest -
The collaborative opportunities are endless. The following communities partners have been contacted and invited to attend the Conference and participate in the Forum. Perhaps you will make your connection at the Forum...
Non-Profit Agencies
United Way of Johnson County
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County
Crisis Center
Elder Services, Inc.
Iowa City Free Medical Clinic
Iowa Legal Aid
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County
Shelter House
United Action for Youth (UAY)
American Association on Aging
Cartha
Englert Theater
Iowa City Noon Rotary Club
Iowa City A.M. Rotary Club
Iowa Public Access TV
Iowa Women's Foundation
Systems Unlimited, Inc.
Government
Coralville
City Manager
Civil Service Commission
Mayor
Public Library
Iowa City
City Manager
Mayor
Public Library
Senior Center
Public Schools
North Central Junior High
Northwest Junior High
South East Junior High
City High
Tate High
West High
State
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Iowa Department of Public Health
Project Wild
University of Iowa Organizations
Center for Teaching
Civic Engagement Program
Graduate Student Senate - Educational Outreach Committee
Obermann Center
Office of International Student Scholars (OISS)
Old Capitol Museum
Pentacrest Museums
Phiological Quarterly (journal)
Public Policy Center
Rape Vicitim Advocacy Program (RVAP)
UI Press
Walt Whitman Quarterly (journal)
Women's Resource Action Center (WRAC)
Other Organizations
Cultural Corridor
Iowa Children's Museum
