RLP: Leslie Radcliffe

Needs and Assets

The Second Installment of Our Resident Leadership Program

In the second unit of this year’s Resident Leadership Program (RLP), Leslie Radcliffe took center stage. A longtime resident of the Hill neighborhood, Leslie is a tried and true community leader who never hesitates on taking the lead in her community. As an instructor in our RLP, her take-charge attitude fully engaged our participants.

Leslie started the class with an exercise in active listening. Participants interviewed each other for five minutes each and, without taking notes, had to summarize their partner’s traits to the rest of the class. This activity emphasized the importance of truly listening to another person, instead of focusing on wording your reply to their words.


Group participation was vital to this class, and no one shied away from addressing the group. Class attendees defined the word “assets” (“an advantageous resource”) before mentioning some general assets of their Connecticut communities.

The class then broke up into smaller groups to address questions of needs and strengths in their smaller communities. Leslie encouraged the groups to compare these lists, making connections between an identified need and a recognizable strength in the community. For example, if one list cited the need for safe gathering places, the class pointed to another list that celebrated churches and libraries and wonderful gathering places. It is important, Leslie pointed out, to take stock of all that your community has to offer and focus on its positive attributes, before dwelling on what your community lacks. You may be surprised to discover that your needs are not impossible to satisfy when you remember that your community has assets like alderpersons, local businesses, and a sense of connectivity.

Afterwards, the class watched a brief video: a case study of Savannah, Georgia. In the 1970s, Savannah was suffering due to deteriorating housing stock, a lack of safety, and a loss of culture. “We were losing our community,” one Savannah resident remarked in the video. When the city shifted gears and urged Savannah residents to take charge of their neighborhoods, however, residents became aware of just how many assets they had at their disposal. Long-standing connections among residents became the building blocks of neighborhoods eager to revitalize their communities by engaging City Hall and each other. In its current state, Savannah looks much different than it did in the 1970s, and the residents are still rallied around the power of community organizing.


Class participants then had a lively discussion of what a community should tackle first – its needs or its assets. This led to a chicken-and-egg discussion that eventually concluded on a note of balance and moderation. Needs must first be identified, true, but once the assets available to the community are laid out, the need may be further refined or expanded. Needs and assets are a continuous interplay essential to all community organizing. By staying positive, though, great things can happen.

Thank you to all of our RLP participants and to Leslie for making this class exciting and memorable!