Neighborhood Transformation That Lasts
We help organizations understand the hidden forces that prevent lasting change in their communities—empowering them to transform their work, so their work can transform their neighborhoods.
Practical and Proven
We’re seeing a revolution in how people think about poverty. What started with one bold idea has resulted in over four decades of on-the-ground results.
We serve those who serve:
Unlock Breakthrough Insights With Better Diagnostics.
Why are some communities thriving while others are stuck? A smart strategy starts with an accurate picture of what is happening and where action can make the biggest difference.
Introducing the powerful
Seminars & Workshops
Find the right opportunities for you and your team to experience hands-on training on a variety of topics.
Open House
Join people from all over the country for a two-day introduction to our community development model and methodology.
Curriculum
Learn from experienced movement leaders through the eye-opening video course Seeking Shalom.
What is a Flourishing Neighborhood?
We often talk about flourishing neighborhoods…but what exactly do we mean? It’s not just a pleasant phrase – our view of flourishing neighborhoods is a well-defined concept that we use to power our mission at Focused Community Strategies. The concept of a flourishing...
Racial Equity is More Than a Priority
Recently, we’ve determined five priorities to guide FCS. Within these priorities, which will help align our work for the year, we determined not to include the idea of racial equity. At first glance, that seems very surprising. However, we’ve made a commitment to view...
Mission and Values: Neighboring and Dignity
At Focused Community Strategies, we’re powered by our core values. They can be stated quickly, but they’re profound when you dig into their deeper meanings. We’ve discussed our core value of development before, but today, we’ll dive into the other values of...
Our Mission and Values: Neighboring and Dignity
At FCS, our mission statement isn’t just a paragraph on our website – it’s infused into everything we do every day. We’ve been thoughtful about the way we’ve constructed our mission statement and core values, and they’re a great way for us to unpack the way we...
What makes Holistic Neighborhood Development unique?
Place-Based
One of the greatest indicators of one’s life-long economic mobility is the neighborhood in which one lives. HND asserts that place is the most important factor to consider when seeking long-term outcomes, and it is one of the most neglected lenses within traditional poverty alleviation tactics. Place allows us to go deep, work broadly, and invest in the long-haul for real results.
Proximity
We cannot solve anything from a distance. We have to draw near, enter into relationship, and open ourselves up to the possibility of mutual transformation. Transactional giving between strangers will never end poverty. You cannot serve someone out of poverty. HND leads with neighboring and relationship.
Integrative
Poverty is neither caused, sustained, or solved by any one thing; it is the dynamic intersection of multiple factors, systems, and circumstances. The “holistic” dimension of HND is about committing to comprehensive engagement that seeks innovative, integrative strategies for long-term outcomes.
Agile
Cities, people, opinions, policies, and economies can all change in the blink of an eye. Strategies that worked last year might night work in the next. Work done for months may come up empty and expectations may get upended at a moment’s notice. HND can create real change because it is flexible and adaptive, constantly committed to the best, healthiest approach, even if that means a radical course correction mid-stream. We do not seek the perpetuation of our program; it is always about the thriving of a community and whatever it takes to make that happen.
Impact-Oriented
Results matter. Not activity, not busyness, not arbitrary program numbers, but impact. They may be hard to come by, hard to define, or hard to measure, but they are core to what it means to commit to HND. We want to see lives and communities thriving, not dependent on external support year after year. We do not settle for less than true and lasting change.
Data-Driven
Flourishing communities is not just a big vision for us. It is a process we have developed with tools to track and measure the health of a place. This process will define and create the strategies that will lead to long-term, lasting change in your neighborhood.