7 Signs of a Vibrant Community

Beacon, acrylic on wood panel, 16” x 20”, 2019.

In 2018, the Northwest Mississippi Regional Station of Amtrak opened in Marks, Mississippi. Seven days a week, the southbound (#58) and northbound (#59) “City of New Orleans” passenger train stops in Marks en route to New Orleans or Chicago.

“How has it impacted [our community]? It’s like a beacon of light…It brings hope to the community, so it’s been a real positive thing. But Jennifer, we have not yet even tapped into what this Amtrak station will do for us." - Velma Benson-Wilson, Quitman County Director of Tourism and Economic Development

Many blogs ago, I rattled on about the basics of asset-based community development***, including why it’s been so influential to me as an artist and how it’s been the grounding nugget of The What’s Good Project. Each painting that I create is a testament to an asset shared with me by someone with strong ties to that particular community. And The A Quick 48 Hours guides are quite literally travel itineraries made up of community assets.

(***As a refresher, ABCD = capitalizing on community strengths rather than dwelling only on challenges.)

An Overview to the Community Capitals Framework

And I fully credit my very wise colleagues at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach for introducing me to ABCD and the Community Capitals Framework (CCF)***. In my layperson’s terms, the CCF is a just deeper, more structured dive into community vitality and was formulated by Jan and Cornelia Flora, two rural sociologists from Iowa State University. According to the Floras, we should explore each of these seven areas to see how healthy our communities*** are.

(***Capital = an asset that can be invested to create new resources.)

(***I define communities loosely. You can insert a neighborhood, town, county, organization, school, or any large institution here and use the CCF to dig deeper.)

Rathbun Lake limited-edition, signed, and numbered prints by Jennifer Drinkwater.

Rathbun Lake, one of the largest man-made lakes in Iowa, was dedicated in 1971 with none other than President Richard Nixon as the keynote speaker. Located in Appanoose County, a historically a coal-mining region of the state, Rathbun Lake provides drinking water for 80,000 people in south central Iowa and northern Missouri.

 The Seven Community Capitals, In No Particular Order

1. Built Capital. Includes things like water systems, sewers, roads, buildings, any infrastructure.

2. Financial Capital. Money! Like local banks and community foundations, income levels, access to wealth, community investments.

3. Political Capital. Refers to community inclusion, access to local and regional representation, voting access and participation, grassroots activity.

4. Human Capital. How is “health” of your community, in terms of job skills, literacy and education levels, health care?

5. Cultural Capital. The languages, rituals, dress, heritage, foods, values, histories, art and music of a place. The good stuff.

6. Natural Capital. Community access to clean water and air, wildlife, parks, soil quality, landscape characteristics (like lakes, mountains, oceans).

7. Social Capital.– The hardest to describe and measure, and arguably the most important. Social capital refers to the overall sense of belonging and trust that exists within and among communities. This one is so important, in fact, that it deserves its own post. Hint hint.

Jennifer Drinkwater. New Farm, acrylic on wood panel, 11.5” x 24”, 2020.

In 2019, Australian-based NuFarm began transforming an older manufacturing facility in Greenville, Mississippi into a new crop protection facility. This building has been empty since 2015 - its last tenants being 13 Matcor employees who made dashboards for Nissan Armadas. This newly renovated plant is the first manufacturing company to set up in Washington County since 2004, bringing with it 69 jobs with benefits, all but one of which will be local hires.

3 Things I Love about CCF:

1. Each capital is equally important. Money is not the end-all, be-all for community health.  When I first heard this, my mind exploded for a couple of reasons. First, growing up in Mississippi, all I remember hearing about was how poor the state was and how more jobs were crucial to pretty much anything good. (Taxes = bad! Jobs = good! You know.) CCF blew that apart.

2.  CCF focuses on what communities already have – not what they lack. It looks at the potential of people, places, and things, and for possibilities that already exist.

3. Possibility? Potential? Hello, artists. 👋👋👋

   Art can function within all of these capitals because our approach as artists coincides with looking for possibility and promise. THAT’S WHAT WE DO.

For anybody who is interested in and committed to ethical and inclusive community betterment, I invite you to read up about the Community Capitals and consider these seven areas where you live.

Any superstar capitals where you live or work? Comment below!

Dive into social capital and learn Why Belonging Is Crucial.

Jennifer Drinkwater. Between the Ditches, acrylic on wood panel, 36” x 36”, 2021. Between the Ditches depicts the office of the North Mississippi Herald, the Yalobusha County newspaper, in Water Valley, which is a terrific cultural capital for the community.