The community mobilization unit is dedicated to motivating and assisting residents in taking an active role in identifying, prioritizing, and resolving the public issues of neighborhood life. Jim Ryan, Illinois Attorney General, talks about the journey to end gangs. It is a process by which neighborhood citizens take an active role in identifying and addressing issues in their own neighborhood and on their own terms. Residents decide what issues are most important and how best to deal with them. The process of mobilization strengthens the neighborhood.
Mobilized communities become more effective in addressing the needs and concerns of all residents.
Organizational capacity steadily increases as individual and collective skills grow and improve while new relationships develop among residents. Equally important is building the ability of mobilizing neighborhoods to establish solid working relationships between residents and organizations outside the neighborhood, like schools, police departments, local governments, and businesses. The liaison's job is to help residents learn how to make changes for the better in the neighborhood. That person helps residents figure out what areas of community life need improvement, how to make changes, and how to get the resources necessary to support the solutions. Early in the process, the liaison works with the GCPC's research and information services unit to help residents systematically identify local needs and resources by conducting a neighborhood survey .