COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

growth and “beautification” of the environment. Social change is thus perceived as an
aesthetic improvement of the environment.
Varying definitions of social change include an example published by the San
Gabriel Valley Tribune in an article titled “Celebrating 40 years of Social Change.” This
article documents forty years of the Center for Social Action’s non-profit work to
empower the low-income Latino community through after-school programs (Ertll 2008).
Another article published in the Sacramento News and Review states, “Improving the
image of Oak Park requires not only the revitalization of the community, but also the
physical improvement to increase development” (Shirey 2005). In other words, there are
different perspectives as to how community improvement should be accomplished.
Observations in Oak Park reveal the community groups studied in this thesis differ in
their definition of what a social problem is and in their strategies needed to alleviate and
improve the perceptions of the social problem. Their agendas for change overlap in the
community and produce social conflict between middle-class residents and the poor in
Oak Park.
Many community groups and non-profit organizations are dedicated to social
change initiatives because they believe they can help the poor attain social mobility and
higher standards of living through their programs. Helping the poor attain social mobility
is a key component for those helping to create social change, and community groups
believe their work will help create social change for lower-income residents. But
perceptions of social change and how to facilitate social mobility influence the creation
of these initiatives, which take many different forms in low-income communities.
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