Community Issue Paper Assignment Instructions
Community issues can be debilitating to individuals, families, and businesses that share a common geographic location. It is imperative for community leaders and members to work together to find ways to address issues that threaten the health and safety of the community. This assignment will provide you with an opportunity to examine a community issue and consider strategies that could be used to overcome the issue. 
For this assignment you will write a 2 page paper in current APA format that focuses on a major issue facing some urban communities (e.g. poverty, homelessness, lack of employment opportunities, lack of options for purchasing healthy/fresh foods, gang violence, public safety, gentrification, lagging economic development, police brutality, lack of affordable housing, etc.). 
The paper will include the following sections: 
1. An introductory paragraph that introduces the issue and the purpose of the paper. Advanced submissions will include interesting facts or statistics designed to pique the readers interest. 
2. A general description of the issue including the underlying causes of the issue and the historical impact of the issue on the urban communities that it impacts
3. A description of how the issue impacts schools in the community and educational outcomes experienced by children and families in the community
4. Your personal opinion regarding the steps that should be taken in order to begin to address the issue. In this section you will include Biblical support (at least one Scriptural reference) for your suggestions. 
5. A conclusion paragraph that provides a well-developed summary of the content of the paper and includes a quote, Scripture, statistic, or personal application that provides appropriate closure for the paper.
Research must be used for support throughout each section of the paper. The paper must include at least three references in addition to the Bible.