An Opportunity for Neighbors ​to Support Neighbors

One of the greatest determinants of a community's level of resilience, or ability to adapt to/recover from adverse events such as natural disasters, is social capital. 

What is Social Capital? 

The following definition is derived from our Larimer County Unmet Needs and Community Fragility Study. 

Social Capital is defined as: The networks of relationships among people who live and work in a community or society, enabling that community or society to function effectively. Key components of social capital include trust, social cohesion, and networks.

• Trust: Includes trust in other members of the community, trust in informal leaders, trust in elected and appointed community leaders, and trust in county-level leaders.
• Social Cohesion/Community Culture: The willingness of members of a community or society to cooperate with each other in order to survive and prosper. The process by which community organizations and individuals build ongoing, permanent relationships for the purpose of contributing to a collective vision for the benefit of the community. Involvement of community members in community-building activities, such as fundraisers, fairs, parades, pancake breakfasts, community meetings, etc.
• Networks: The arrangement of interconnections between members of a community or of an organization that contributes to the development of a strongly connected and engaged community or organization. Networks between communities.

Essentially, when community members support community members, and are well-connected, this indicates that a community has a better ability to band together, support one another through challenges, share information, and more effectively use resources. Building a community hub is a way in which to foster a culture of social cohesion in your community, and create a designated space for collaboration. 

How is a Hub Created?

A hub is created by the community, with support provided by Larimer Connects. A hub is created by residents motivated to make their community a more socially connected, safer, informed, and resilient place to live.

The following steps are typically how a hub can be created, however, because this is a community-led effort, the steps can be flexible or adaptable to fit the needs and/or goals of the community.

1. Establish Goals. The Larimer Connects Program Manager works with community champions who want to develop a hub with their neighbors and fellow community members. Using the local knowledge, Larimer Connects works with community champions to identify goals related to resilience in the community. These goals might include such things as identifying ways in which to improve communication and information sharing, developing community volunteer teams, working on community-level emergency plans, and more!

2. Identify a Hub "Headquarters." If a community has a designated space for coming together to meet, this can help foster a culture of collaboration. After establishing community goals, the Larimer Connects Program Manager will work with community champions to identify a local location to house the community "hub." Ideally, this is a place that community residents already go to socially connect (i.e. library space, community center, town hall, etc.). From there, community champions will work with the Larimer Connects Program Manager to identify what needs may exist to make a hub function, especially if the community wants to use it in a disaster situation. Then, Larimer Connects works with the community residents to identify sources of feasible sources of funding, partnerships, etc to help solve these needs. 

3. Build a plan. The Larimer Connects Program Manager will work with community champions to develop a plan to pursue community goals. This includes such things as helping to potentially identify sources of funding, connecting with local subject matter experts, coordinating training opportunities for community members, and more. 

Start Today!

Creating a hub in your community starts with a conversation. Let's chat today and see what is possible! Contact Camille Millard at millarcl@co.larimer.co.us or at (970) 619-4901 to get started.