Toplum Temelli Sosyal Hizmetin Örneği: Türk Kızılay Toplum Merkezleri
An Example of Community-Based Social Services: Turkish Red Cross Community Centers

Summary/Abstract: The community-based social service approach is gaining importance as a model that prioritizes responding to the social, economic, and cultural needs of individuals and communities at the local level, ensuring active participation in service processes, and effectively utilizing local resources. This approach is at the heart of contemporary social service understanding, particularly in terms of ensuring the social integration of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, empowering them, and supporting their social cohesion. One of the most comprehensive examples of this understanding in Turkey is provided by the Turkish Red Crescent Community Centers. These centers are noteworthy not only for guiding social service practices on a national scale but also for providing a widespread service network to the community through the experience they have gained in the field. The aim of the study is to examine the social support models developed by these centers for disadvantaged individuals and groups and to evaluate the effectiveness of these models. The study highlights the contributions of Turkish Red Crescent Community Centers by focusing on dimensions of community-based social services such as social integration, empowerment, and social participation. The research findings show that community-based social services have positive effects not only at the individual level but also at the societal level. In this context, Turkish Red Crescent Community Centers stand out as a good practice model in the field of social services.

• Details
• Contents