The idea that communities are fundamentally asset-rich rather than deficit-ridden can feel abstract until it is tested against empirical reality. Sceptics of asset-based community development often argue that while the philosophy is appealing, the actual evidence of hidden capacity in struggling neighbourhoods is thin. The research conducted in Woodlawn, Chicago and Spring Green, Wisconsin stands as a direct and compelling rebuttal to that assumption.

These two studies, conducted in very different geographic and demographic contexts, produced findings that were striking in their consistency. Beneath the surface of communities that external assessors might have characterised as disadvantaged or unremarkable lay an abundance of associational life and individual capacity that no institutional needs assessment had bothered to look for. The research did not just confirm the existence of hidden assets; it quantified them in ways that are difficult to dismiss.

The Woodlawn inventory: abundance in seventeen homes

The Woodlawn study focused on a neighbourhood in Chicago that carried many of the labels typically associated with urban deprivation. Researchers conducting the inventory did not begin with a survey of needs or a mapping of service gaps. Instead, they went door to door asking residents what they knew, what they could do and what they cared about.

The results from just seventeen homes were remarkable. Over 180 specific capacities were identified, waiting to be contributed to the broader neighbourhood. These were not abstract credentials but concrete, practical and relational gifts: people who could teach, repair, organise, care for others, create, build and advocate. In a community that an outside analyst might have written off as resource-poor, a tiny sample of residents revealed a vast internal library of human wealth. The implication was clear: if seventeen homes contained this much, what might the entire neighbourhood hold?

The Spring Green inventory: associations hiding in plain sight

The Spring Green research turned its attention to a small town in Wisconsin, mapping not individual capacities but the landscape of local associations. The findings were equally striking. An inventory of this modest community uncovered 62 active associations performing 299 distinct community-building functions.

These were not large, well-funded charities or formally registered organisations. They were the informal, voluntary groups that institutional assessors routinely overlook: the groups that meet in kitchens and church halls, the clubs organised around shared hobbies, the networks of mutual care that operate without budgets or letterheads. Together, they were performing nearly 300 functions that supported the health, cohesion and resilience of the community. The research made visible what had always been present but never recorded.

What the research tells us about assumption

Both studies challenge the most damaging assumption that professionals and citizens alike carry into struggling communities: the assumption that apathy is the default condition of ordinary people. The Woodlawn and Spring Green inventories prove that this assumption is not just wrong; it is actively harmful. When we assume that people are too busy, too disengaged or too lacking in capacity to contribute, we stop asking. And when we stop asking, the gifts remain hidden and the associations remain unconnected.

The research demonstrates that abundance is not an exceptional condition found only in wealthy or well-organised communities. It is the baseline condition of every human settlement. What varies is not the presence of assets but the presence of someone willing to look for them systematically and respectfully.

Turning research into practice

The practical implication of these two studies is straightforward but demanding. If 17 homes in Woodlawn contained over 180 capacities, then any team, street or neighbourhood willing to conduct its own honest inventory will find more internal wealth than it currently believes it possesses. The barrier is not the absence of assets; it is the absence of the question.

Beginning an inventory does not require professional researchers or significant funding. It requires the decision to stop mapping what is missing and start asking what is present. It requires the courage to knock on a metaphorical door and ask a colleague or neighbour what they know, what they love and what they would be willing to share. The evidence from Woodlawn and Spring Green suggests that the answers will exceed expectations almost every time.

Questions for reflection

If you stopped assuming the people around you are too busy or too apathetic, what hidden repository of voluntary capacities might be sitting directly adjacent to you right now?

How can you structure a simple inquiry to map the active groups and associations in your network rather than counting their needs or cataloguing their problems?

Think of a colleague or neighbour you have never asked about their skills or interests outside their formal role. What might you discover if you asked them this week?

What would it mean for your team or community’s sense of possibility if you could prove empirically that you already hold far more capacity than you currently believe?

Inspired by: Russell, C. and McKnight, J. (2022) The connected community: discovering the health, wealth, and power of neighborhoods. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.