Community Development: Services, Importance, and Australian Impact

This essay examines community development, defining it as non-paying work benefiting communities, distinguishing it from volunteering, and highlighting its various motivations and advantages. It provides examples such as working with school children, assisting senior citizens, improving the environment, and aiding low-income individuals. The essay emphasizes the importance of community services in providing opportunities to help others, gaining hands-on experience, learning about different careers, fostering personal growth, and assisting those in need. It also discusses the role of community development in Australia, particularly in supporting older Aboriginal people through culturally sensitive programs that promote health, well-being, and social interaction. The essay concludes that community development plays a crucial role in enhancing and supporting individuals and communities by providing the right services at the right time.

Running head: Community development
Community development

Community development
“Community services”
The community service is the non-paying job which is performed by an individual or a
group of individuals for the benefit of the community or the institution. It is different from
volunteering and also it is not always conducted on a voluntary basis. There are many advantages
that can be considered but it can be conducted for many reasons consisting of citizenship needs,
a substitution of the justice related to criminal and also the need for a school. The community
service is the activities which are done by an individual so that advantages can be achieved by
the other people (Gilchrist & Taylor, 2016). These types of activities are done near the area
where individuals live so that the community can achieve the benefits of the work done. If a
person conducts the activity he or she is not paid for this type of community service but many
times food or small gifts like mugs or t-shirts are given to the individuals who are conducting the
work (Rakodi, 2014).
The community services can assist any group of individuals who are in need of children,
senior citizens and also the people who are disabled. Community service is also organized by
the people of the local group as a place of worship and also a nonprofit organization. The
community service was founded by Christians who seek to put their beliefs on the practice
(Green & Haines, 2015).
There are various examples which are related to community services like there are many
ways to participate in the community service and also it focuses on the skills and interests. The
examples which are related to the community service are working with the school children. In
this tutoring the children after school and it collects school supplies so that donation can be made
and also planting in the school garden can take place. Next is related to the working with the
senior citizens. In this volunteers visit the retirement center and also the delivery of meals to the
senior citizens is given (Meekosha, Wannan & Shuttleworth, 2016). Next example is related to
the bringing improvisation in the environment. It has been seen that in this the recycling contest
and also tress plantation is done by the volunteers so that proper environment can be created for
the people. The last example is related to the giving assistance to the low-income people. It has
been seen that food is given to the people and clothes are also distributed that helps to secure
1

Community development
their lives. The people who are from the low background are assisted by the volunteers of the
community services (Kovner & Lerner, 2015).
The importance of community services is many. First is related to the opportunity that is
given to the people to help others. This is often considered as one of the advantages of the
community service. To participate in this gives an opportunity to enhance or bring improvisation
in the life of an individual. It also makes the community better and gives a positive impact on
the overall work. The next advantage is related to the gain hands-on experience. In this, an
individual can acquire a lot of skills at the time of performing the activities of the community.
Like activities related to construction, painting and also medical skills. The work done by an
individual can also be mentioned on the resume.
Next importance is related to the learning power about various careers. Many times the
focus is given to the field that is not the field of an individual. The individual conduct the
activities of every field and gain knowledge of each and every sector. The experience which is
achieved by conducting the activities can help in the jobs in the future and also it offers an
opportunity to analyze that how much a person can enjoy a particular field.
Next is related to the personal growth. At the time of conducting the community service,
it has been analyzed that it makes an individual more organized, responsible and also
compassionate towards the activities and enhances the overall quality of an individual.
Community service is also important as it helps the individual in making new friends and
through this, the activities are also conducted which are beneficial for the individual growth. It is
important as through community service the assistance can be given to the people who are not
able to their own activities (Paton, Johnston, Mamula-Seadon & Kenney, 2014). For instance:
help is given to the disabled person by the volunteers. So, it helps to conduct their activities in an
effective manner.
It has been seen that in Australia community development has also an important role.
There are programs related to the older aboriginal people that are conducted. In this program, the
assistance is given by the volunteers to the old aboriginal people. The main motive of the
Aboriginal day activity program is to offer a holistic approach that is according to the culture. It
helps to encourage the good health and well-being and also brings improvisation in nutrition. It
2

Community development
has been seen that supportive networks are created that help to maintain the culture of the society
(Lee, Kim & Phillips, 2015). The assistance which is given by the volunteers has brought a
drastic change in the society of Australia. It has given knowledge of budgeting and also diabetic
meal preparation to the people. Through this, the individuals of Australia has started focusing on
their health so that they can live a happy life. Community development in Australia also offers a
vehicle for the social interaction and also it helps to conduct the activities in an effective manner
(Arensberg, 2017).
So, by evaluating the paper it has been concluded that community development has
brought drastic change and also enhanced and supported the individual in many areas. The
major role played by the community development is to offer right service at the right time. It has
maintained the lifestyle of the individuals and also helped to achieve growth in an effective
manner.
3

Community development
References
Arensberg, C. M. (2017). Introducing social change: A manual for community development.
Routledge.
Gilchrist, A., & Taylor, M. (2016). The Short Guide to Community Development 2e. Policy
Press.
Green, G. P., & Haines, A. (2015). Asset building & community development. Sage publications.
Kovner, A., & Lerner, J. (2015). Doing well by doing good? Community development venture
capital. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 24(3), 643-663.
Lee, S. J., Kim, Y., & Phillips, R. (2015). Exploring the intersection of community well-being
and community development. In Community well-being and community development (pp.
1-7). Springer, Cham.
Meekosha, H., Wannan, A., & Shuttleworth, R. (2016). The politics of diversity in Australia:
extending the role of community practice. Politics, Power and Community Development,
139.
Paton, D., Johnston, D., Mamula-Seadon, L., & Kenney, C. M. (2014). Recovery and
development: perspectives from New Zealand and Australia. In Disaster and
development (pp. 255-272). Springer, Cham.
Rakodi, C. (2014). A livelihoods approach–conceptual issues and definitions. In Urban
livelihoods (pp. 26-45). Routledge.
4