Maintaining product-process balance in community antipoverty initiatives

Antipoverty initiatives strive to improve distressed communities by producing outputs, such as housing, new businesses, and enhanced social services, and by building the capacity of communities to address their own problems. Although crucial for addressing the social and cultural factors contributing to community problems and for the sustainability of initiatives, capacity building is frequently set aside once implementation of initiatives begins. This article explores the funding realities, implementation demands, and power dynamics between stakeholders that result in output production being favored over capacity building. Examples from past and ongoing initiatives illustrate points and drive recommendations to help future initiatives maintain a balance between producing outputs and building capacity.