They usually depend on community volunteers. Students could become volunteer workers, developing skills for future employment in the service sector while building the community's capacity to meet local needs. Many nonprofit organizations involved in the community development process could use the capacities of students. They could work with the office support staff in connection with a curriculum in office management. They could assist in tracking housing in violation of codes and study the process of enforcement.
Every community has organizations involving senior citizens.
There are innumerable ways for students to cooperate with these groups and their members. All of the projects described earlier could be conducted in cooperation with individual senior citizens or groups. Intergenerational housing developments could be jointly studied and planned by students and seniors. Students could develop a matching service connecting students and seniors to provide mutual support, i.e., daily phone checks to see that seniors are all right, etc. In cooperation with local artists or an arts council, students could create outdoor murals to beautify the local environment.