The most difficult and challenging thing for people to do is to try something new. But when they do try, they suddenly realize that they are deeply involved in that new thing, even more, that they are implementing and developing it, and the result is success. This is what we experienced with the Community Centers Program in South East Europe, when people involved in the project were afraid of once again having some new "western or American method" to implement in South East Europe.

The recipe is simple: find the right initiator (who will apply for funds), the right funders (who will finance your ideas and plans), the implementors (who will have enough courage to realize the project) and the clients (who will use your services and products, and get benefits from them). In the Community Centers Program, we had all the ingredients we needed for a successful start, and, after three years of strong commitment and hard work, I can say that all the efforts were not in vain. Now that we have the right team with much experience behind it, now that we have more than 30 centers establishing strong relationships with community members, funding agencies, and local and national authorities, I thought it would be useful to share with others how we faced and overcame the big challenge: the establishment of community centers in South East Europe.

In this Practical Guide you will find all the necessary information you will need when you want to open a community center—step-by-step instructions you should take into consideration when opening a new center, planning programs, fundraising, promoting your work, and involving partners and volunteers. These instructions will be presented using a practical approach that provides examples and methods of how we actually did it, or should have done it better.

I would like to thank Imola Fülöp, Finance Manager, Csaba Lõrinczi, Special Adviser, and all in-country coordinators (special thanks goes to Jasmina Markovic and Belma Ziga) and local coordinators for their work and contributions to this Practical Guide through their experiences, field trips, and reports.

Annamária Oláh, Project Director

The full text of the Practical Guide can be downloaded from the web-site of the Krasnoyarsk Centre for Community Partnerships.