On the front page photo of the Chicago Sun-Times, a five-year-old girl sat cuddling a doll. She had been shot by a stray bullet outside her babysitter's home in a high-poverty area of Chicago.

It was a story that might make readers shake their heads—another senseless tragedy for a kid in from a poor neighborhood. But Cabrini Connections, a small Chicago nonprofit, wanted to add more context to the story.

They used a computerized mapping software to illustrate the services and ?assets? of the impoverished neighborhood where the shooting took place. While readers were still feeling sympathetic about the little girl, they could learn about the world she was from. Cabrini's map revealed a community in need where businesses, public schools and community groups were struggling. Where hundreds of thousands of commuters drove past every day but never stopped. Where tutors and mentors could strengthen resources and opportunity for a little girl, and thousands like her. Cabrini's computer-generated map showed readers how to assess the community's needs and get involved.

It's an example of what Daniel Bassill, CEO of Cabrini Connections calls, ?following public negativity with a positive message.? Says Bassill, ?Programs need volunteers, leaders, training, equipment, and operating dollars.? But people need to know where these programs live. Bassill distributed the maps to newspapers, businesses, organizations, and Chicago citizens. The message was clear: this neighborhood needs attention. While it helped Cabrini Connections' mission—to build and improve tutoring and mentoring programs—they were really contributing to one of the hot public service models today: building communities.

What is Community Building?
The concept of ?community building? has been emerging in the last few decades, perhaps in response to a widely-held belief that nation's social fabric is steadily fraying. Overwhelmed with social and economic challenges—like those facing today's children and families—people are doing their share of head-shaking. While research shows that they care about kids' issues, they don't know where to start or who's working for kids in their neighborhood.

Service groups understand the public's confusion and are trying to fight it with better service delivery that looks at the community as a whole. From the National PTA's Community Violence Prevention Kit to JoinTogether's handbook to help communities assess substance abuse problems, community-building resources are appearing.

Policymakers, too, are putting community-building on the agenda: The theme for the 18th annual Family Re-Union in Nashville, Tennessee, a series of annual conferences moderated by Vice President and Mrs. Gore, will focus on the needs and strengths of families and communities. The event is designed to engage citizens across the country by convening local conversations in conjunction with the conference.

Overall, people are putting more faith into community problem-solving. Says Bassill, ?If your goal is to improve the lives all kids in neighborhoods, at some point you start saying 'we' instead of 'me.'? Community mapping can be a powerful tool in more effectively delivering services to the areas in which they are needed. Like Bassill says, ?A child's support system shouldn't be only a school or a family or even social services—but businesses, church groups, organizations, and everyone in the community.?

Cabrini's mapping relies on geographic information system (GIS) technology, which captures information from a database and displays it visually in the form of a map. GIS is used in organizations, schools, governments, and businesses for problem-solving and decision-making. ESRI, the software company that donated close to $30,000 worth of software to Cabrini Connections, now offers a grant program that provides technical assistance and training to help communities get the most out of the technology.

Community Building in Action: Quality Mentoring
Translating data into services is a challenge that Cabrini Connections, through its research and resource-building arm —Tutor/Mentor Connections (T/MC)—is striving to meet. T/MC's database of 12,000 organizations and contacts helps prospective tutors and mentors link up with places where they can help kids keep busy and keep learning. The idea is to give them the skills they will need for future careers—a benefit to kids and to the community.

Bassill acknowledges that the process of building community takes time. Mapping, over a period of years, can show how the number of businesses and organizations—in addition to the poverty level—have changed. But that makes it difficult to evaluate success.

Steve Russos, an evaluator of community initiatives based out of the University of Kansas, commends the organization for their ?Total Quality Mentoring? technique, a blueprint for starting and building mentoring programs that is based on successful organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Quantum Opportunities Program. ?The product,? Russos says, ?is developing successful generations of youth.? Currently, Russos is adapting T/MC's work for YouthFriends, a Kansas City mentoring program.

The T/MC Web site offers guidelines for a comprehensive, long-term mentoring program, including steps for building a successful program and volunteer recruitment ideas. In addition, the site offers examples of programs in action, and links to resources on other Web sites. An online map with the detailed assets of Chicago communities will be available by July 1999.

?The template's been built,? Bassill says, ?and the cost of borrowing it is minimal compared to doing from scratch.? Currently, Peoria, Evanston, and Quincy are working on similar initiatives.

The computer-generated maps provide the context—and that's something that every success story needs.