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The Power of One: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America's Cities
By: Debra Schweiger Berg
Paperback: 388 pages
Publisher: Trafford Publishing; Second edition (June 30, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 1412032016
Book Description
The Power of One: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America's Cities
There's a new civic trend in America. The best estimates are that it began
in the early eighties, but it's been growing even stronger in the new
millennium. After a fifty-year stretch of less than effective,
government-supplied social programs, unsung citizen heroes are now
challenging the conventional wisdom, applying common sense to the country's
social problems and creating more effective solutions!
The Power of One uncovers the true stories behind some of the country's most
fascinating grassroots innovators. They range from businessmen to teenagers
and housewives to the clergy. Crime, welfare dependency, and housing
shortages are motivating these people to give up their high-paying jobs,
their personal lives, and even personal safety to pursue their passion for
coming to the rescue of their fellow human beings. Thanks in large part to
the Internet, the inventions of these grassroots organizers are being
replicated and "civic-franchised" across the country, even around the globe.
How effective are these new ideas and why haven't we heard more about them?
How are they financed? The Power of One explores these and other questions
about America's new civic culture. Those skeptical about the health of the
nation's cities might be surprised to learn that social change is possible,
even without a high price tag. The only challenges are ways to give these
successful civic solutions broader exposure, a financial boost, and a
speedier route to replication into more neighborhoods and cities.
Can an ordinary person pioneer a social cure? Absolutely! The 26 accounts in
this book are the proof. America owes a great deal to its unsung "civic
architects.' Their altruism, ingenuity, and compassion are restoring lives
and saving millions in taxpayer dollars as they revitalize neighborhoods,
support troubled youth, and liberate those going through life transitions.
These secular and faith-based solutions are soon to become the social
templates for restoring America's twenty-first century towns and cities from
sea to shining sea!
About the Author
Debra J. Schweiger has devoted herself to the subject of
civic entrepreneurs since 1994. Entrepreneurial experience combined with a
decade of public service formed her vision for the far-reaching potential of
their social innovations.
A native of east-central Illinois, she studied at the University of
Illinois, earning a B.A. with high distinction in political science and a
masters degree in public administration (M.P.A.). While at the university,
she was also recognized as a Charles E. Merriam Scholar for her research on
local government in Illinois. She next sought practical experience working
in Washington, D.C., as congressional staff to Representative Edward R.
Madigan (R-IL) during the 1974 Watergate hearings and in 1975 for the U.S.
Treasury Department.
From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, when few women were employed on
legislative staffs, she held positions in three states. She served as
finance analyst for the Illinois Senate Appropriations and Local Government
Committees and as budget and program analyst for the Kentucky Legislative
Research Commission and the Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission where she
co-authored studies on welfare, education, and chemical dependency.
Debra left the public policy arena when the largest HMO in Minnesota
recruited her as senior finance analyst. At the same time, she used her
financial skills to establish a successful marketing and training company
spanning the U.S., Mexico, and the Netherlands reaching into the top two
percent in sales volume for all U.S. micro-enterprise businesses. That
experience led to her eventual recruitment by the wireless and protocol
software industries.
Debra has reinvested her public policy and entrepreneurial experience in a
better civil society by launching a national research effort, writing this
book, and creating a web site to shine much needed light on civic
entrepreneurs and their highly effective and compassionate social solutions.
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