The Search Institute is a leading center of research, training and resources on a community-based asset-building approach for strengthening youth. Among their wealth of information is explanation their asset typology and how to apply the assets approach in schools, congregations, youth serving agencies and other contexts. Also be sure to note the description of key ideas and methods in Healthy Community-Healthy Youth initiative, an excellent overview of community building for building youth strengths.

Some Extension services use a training approach to engage community members in limited income neighborhoods in community building for stronger families. A manual titled Building Communities of Support for Families in Poverty presents several background chapters and 10 workshop designs on topics like: values, communication, children and adolescents, program planning, the helping role and so forth.

A helpful set of presentation outlines can be found at the Iowa CYFAR Project Building Communities with Strong Families site. Presentations address topics like: community building, collaboration, risk and change, support, outcomes and other facets of building communities that support families. They are offered in PDF format which assures good download quality. Several presentations draw on a videotape of projects in two Iowa communities that can be ordered through the site. The presentations can be used for citizen training or for educating stakeholder groups about these important ideas.

The Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture currently funds 44 State Strengthening projects in 282 communities across the U.S. These projects engage communities in supporting at risk children, youth and their families. Projects employ collaboration across disciplines, program areas,and geographic lines as well as a holistic approach which views the individual in the context of the family and community. Many of these projects are being sustained by partnerships among Extension, community, county, and state organizations. The State Strengthening site provides overviews of the outcomes of each of these projects.

Another worthy site provides links to programs, resources and debates about the role of the community in supporting healthy families and children. It is the Families, Children and Education - It Takes a Village initiative of the Institute for the Study of Civic Values.

Annie E. Casey Foundation has made a 10 year commitment to supporting projects that seek to strengthen families by building strong neighborhoods. At their Neighbor Transformation/Family Development site you will find a description of this project and it's more specific short term initiative Making Connections.