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PROGRAM PROPOSAL FOR EXPANDED, IN DEPTH, URBAN LEAGUE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION SERVICES IN AREAS OF ATLANTA SIMILAR TO THE ONES OF THE CURRENTLY MANIFESTED RACIAL UNREST (SUMMERHILL REGION) The Urban League movement, against a background of national experience and expert knowledge in connu.nity assessment and practical program planning is sensitive to the signs and symbols of community vulnerability to the kinds of outbreaks that Atlanta has witnessed in the Summerhill area during the past few days. Again the Urban League warns against the embarrassment of hurried and stop-gap measures. Such mistakes of countless urban communities facing these specific kinds of problems serve as a guide for the Atlanta Urban League to do effective planning for the prevention and r emoval of the known glaring problems persisti ng and untouched by programs of purely pa ssing and opiating impact in Metropolitan Atlanta. We continue to insist that the problems focused by the Summerhill out break ar e of a nature addressing themselve s with unquestioning clarion call for a total mobili zat i on of community resources to reach the basic problems to e ffe ctua te substantive soluti ons. Qui ck and momentarily soothing programs , however appr opriate to get s uch communities back t o a leve l of r ecept ivity f or part i cipation i n organi zed , di s c ipl ined and democratically based pr oc edures f or community l eadership involvement in self- help programs are, of necessity, limited t o just s uch yi e l d . The mistakes of Watts (Los Angele s , California) as f ollow-up s t udies have demonstrated, ar e i n t wo important categor ies : (1) That the effor ts of public - based ( gover nmental) agenc i es, limited as they ar e i n the per miss i ve br ea dth of invol veme nt and depth of pr ogramming and organi zation, cannot alone satisfy the hard-core needs of s uch a situa t i on. ( 2 ) That beca us e of the existence of the very network of publi c DGencies, de spi te the ir limitat i ons, the strengthening of the operational bases of private agencies of experience has been greatly neglected . �2 We, The Atlanta Urban League, Inc., therefore, are calling immediately upon the National Urban League, the City of Atlanta, the Metropolitan Atlanta Community Services, and other available resources, to join forces in veering away from the futile course of other cities of the nation in attacking the Summerhill problems by supplementing the currently evolving emergency programs with more basically problem-oriented programs, so characteristically lacking in the approaches of similarly situated cities of the nation. Admittedly, what the Ur ban League propose s in the f ollowing r ecommendation is not a program of over-night returns. Indeed, we warn that the basic problems of Summerhill and other known communities in Atlanta of similar vulnerability do not l end themselve s to over-night solutions . Human attitudes, changeable only by the skillful techniques of indoctrination in a faith and methodol ogy of griev0nce -pleadi ng within the f ramework of existing politica l and social we lfare channel s are developed t hrough the knowl edge of and guidance into effect ive pr ocessing of such ~rievnnces . However, t he rewards in the i nstilling of sel f-hel p possibilitie s , and the working experience of leadership of s uch communit ies with the compl ex of broad community agencie s of responsibilit ies fixes the lines of communica tion and faith in total community concern wi th the problems of t r oubled areas, and serves, througb inevitable achievements, to stabilize such pocket communities in the fac e of onslaught from exploitative purposed influences. PROJECTED PROGRAM The Atlanta Urban League, Inc., therefore, proposes the following demonstration program for consideration in the Summerhill area to later expand to all similar areas in Atlanta establishing field unit offices. The expansion of the services of The Atlanta Urban League, Inc., through the �3 establishment of a staffed Unit Field office(s) to: 1. Take immediate action in the formulation of Urban League - method oriented neighborhood organizations. A. Through these neighborhood units, serviced on a continuing basis by trained Urban League personnel, broader leadership can be trained to: (1) Serve as an on-going source of knowledge on both positive and negative developments in the community. (2) More importantly, to serve as the continuing channel for the implementing of programs geared to the needs of the people. 2. Engage in periodic research, both relating to changing census tract data and a ttitudinal information for effective programming, 3, To br i ng to the community practical knowledge of services ava i lable f or meet i ng persona l and group needs . 4. To develop on-going inter-agency communica tion on a ccompl i shment s a.nd emerge ncy needs . 5. To utilize the exper i ence s and br oad skills i n pr ogram planning and i nnovating gained by the National Urban Lea gue program development staff for consultative involvement in effectivene ss of experiment a l pr ograms of seventy- five (75) urban communiUe s throughout the nation, in stabi li zi ng eff or ts of such communities . All of these r ecommendat io~s , ar e , of course, ba sed upon the findings of re s earched needs, and the adaptabilit i es of selective programs to the community. �4 Needless, to point out, the program emphases will fall within the four basic program areas in which the Urban League operates: Housing, Economic Development & Employment, Health & Welfare, and Education & Youth Incentives - - on an intensive and on-going basis. A very special effort will be made to identify and counsel new residents of Atlanta in these areas. The services offered will be different than, but offered in cooperation with, other services available to the community. The services will be problem oriented and will include leadership development; employment opportunities in the Atlanta Urban League's "Skills Bank"; training opportunities through the Atlanta Urban League's Manpower Development and Training Act (On-The.:,Job Training Project); vocational and educational counseling through the Atlanta. Urban League 's "See Industry In Action' ' Program; improved living condition and relocation through the Atlanta Urban League's housing program, and parental health and welfare assistance through the Atlanta Urban League's ENABLE (Education and Neighborhood Action For A Better Living Environment) Program. Emphasis will be placed on the residents becoming knowledgeable and motivated to identify their needs and to take positive cooperative action, without anger and violence , to satisfy these needs. The Urban League 's motto "American Teamwork Works" will always be manifested . This will mean active and visible participation, at the "grass root" level by responsible white and Negro citizens • • • an important factor in developing faith between the races. An example. of this would be "top" employer representatives working in the communities through the Atlanta Urban League's field unit office as a part of our "Skills Bank" operation, and employers welcoming prospective employee s in their plants, as a part of our "See Industry In Action" Program. �