No institution is better positioned to address the problems facing today's communities than the community college. The colleges are community-based and, through community-based programming (CBP), can place themselves at the center of the organizations and institutions, and collaborate with formal or informal leaders devoted to resolving community issues. CBP envisions a cooperative process in which the community college serves as the leader and catalyst in effecting collaboration among the members of its community. This not only helps bring about community renewal, but brings benefits to the colleges as well. CBP allows for a rational process for making decisions and helps institutions deal with long term choices, instead of merely focusing on day-to-day problems. CBP also provides an ongoing process for evaluating the college mission, which can often be pulled in many directions and misunderstood by the college community or the community at large. By providing a means for building broad-based support, CBP ensures that there will be more people working to obtain resources for the college, and also allows the community to use its resources more effectively and efficiently. Also, CBP provides the means for individual and community renewal by placing the responsibility and authority for renewal with the individual, thereby placing the individual citizen in charge of his or her own fate. Finally, CBP assists communities in utilizing their resources more effectively through working with other organizations, helping the colleges ensure that the door remains open to virtually all segments of society. (MAB)