Community builders and engagers are often the backbone of local action and comprehensive community development. They work with and support resident leaders to achieve the positive change those leaders have identified with their fellow community members. They bring resources but ultimately work to support the residents’ vision, which often includes addressing environmental challenges. For example, urban heat islands pose a greater threat to health because they don’t have the tree cover that other neighborhoods enjoy. Also, respiratory issues are more common in areas adjacent to industrial areas and can be exacerbated by gas appliances in homes. A Community Building and Engagement (CBE) practitioner can help resident leaders identify these challenges and come up with a holistic approach.

Matteo has been an active community member since his family moved to the neighborhood 20 years earlier when he was only 5 years old. Unfortunately, asthma has become a big problem in his community, which is close to a highly polluting industrial site. A few years earlier, he and some friends worked with their local community-based organization’s Community, Building and Engagement (CBE) team to improve respiratory health. The CBE team provided support and feedback and empowered Matteo and the other residents to make strategic decisions. The group was so successful at raising awareness and improving medical services that Matteo was hired as a member of the CBE team, working closely with the city government. Unfortunately, asthma is still a challenge.

Matteo was hired as a member of the CBE team, working closely with the city government. Unfortunately, asthma is still a challenge. Matteo hears about a grant program that a nonprofit and the city government applied for jointly. He and his city liaison apply and are awarded $10 million to implement their action plan, plus get some technical assistance support. They use the funds to plant hundreds of trees, help low-income households switch to electric appliances, and raise awareness of the power station’s effect. With the spread of rooftop solar and the awareness of the station’s impact, the station eventually shuts down and is replaced with a new business. Furthermore, the CBE team implements the plan by using the technical assistance grant to bring workforce development training to community members, thereby creating jobs in the process.

Hopefully you now have a sense of how a Navigator role may fit within your own position. Keep an eye out for best practices and real-life examples throughout the toolkit that can help guide your own approach.