In order to create an action plan to tackle the issues at hand it’s important to take into

consideration that in order to work as a community, every single member has to be willing to be
a part of the solution, regarding themselves and others. This means that the first step to be taken
is to know what role each one plays into the community and how they relate to others, knowing
what we are capable of doing and how to do it more efficiently will help recognize and control
what we are feeling as it creates an environment where we feel that the solution is possible.

Negative emotions such as anger, fear and impotence are normal in a situation like this one and
being able to pin point where they come from can help prioritize the problems and the course of
action that needs to be taken. Again, this must be done as a community, what is a priority to
some people might not be the same to others, and as a member of one it means that some issues
will be preceding others. Not everyone is capable of recognizing the emotions of others outside
of their families and are mainly focused on themselves, and as a part of the community it’s
important to be aware not only of what you can do to better your situation, but what you can do
to better to others.

In order to make decisions once the priorities have been stablished it’s important for the
neighborhood leader to act as a moderator, listening to everyone who has a solution and making
sure that the solutions being proposed are grounded on reality and are thus actually capable of
being done (this requires transparency with the members as to what are the resources and tools at
hand). With the problems prioritized and a clear view of the resources, the leader might be able
to appoint either himself or others as the ones in charge of the management and overseer of a
specific problem, as well as reporting the results as they are available so that people can see, for
example, where their money is going to or if something is being built or installed, how is that
work going.

The most important part to a positive relationship in this situation is showing the results of the
hard work everyone will be putting into being part of the solution. Once everyone starts seeing
their hard work payoff, this will encourage them into keeping up the good work. In order to do
this, it’s important for the leader to be transparent with every member (even when the results are
not the ones expected) as honesty will build trust in the community, as a group of people where
one can find the solutions and have their problems or concerns listened to.

The results can be shown in three different ways, first of all regarding the concerns (in this case,
security, lightning and cleanliness of the common areas) what has been done and how has it
benefited everyone in the community. Second, how being an active member has helped each
person individually to be a better version of themselves, as they can appear to rely on others as
well as letting others rely on them. Last but not least, the neighborhood leader wanting to remain
in that position and having the initiative to keep working for the betterment of everyone can also
be a testament of the results once a community’s work is completely stablished and recognized
as working and worth being part of.