Community intervention has principles from the Progressive Era. One principle is planning in collaboration between experts and citizens. Another principle is citizen or resident participation. For communities to grow and develop, residential involvement is required because the residents are the ones who know the communities best, not the experts. However, there aren’t any collaborations. Experts go to the citizens for approval or promotion of their plans rather than for advice on the plans (15).

This can be seen in the South Bronx and Fresh Direct. The South Bronx community had no say in the matter; they were not consulted. As a matter of fact, they didn’t even know about the Fresh Direct plan until two days after it was approved. There isn’t a collaboration because the South Bronx community isn’t being heard. They want green space, a park, something that would benefit their community, not Fresh Direct, which would add to the area’s already existing poor air quality. The South Bronx community is working together in other to bring change for themselves.

“Communities are the realm in which current workers maintain their health and well-being, and future workers are born, breed, and educated” (3).
How can that be, if a community is suffering because their voices are not being heard? How can people live healthy, happy lives and raise their children in an environment where they have no input?