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Program Summary:
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Neighborhood Progress (NP) grew out of a
partnership initially involving the Ford
Foundation and Cleveland Tomorrow, a group of 30 chief
executives from Northeast
Ohio’s largest
corporations.
Three Cleveland-based foundations, the Cleveland Foundation, the
George Gund Foundation, and the Mandel
Foundation were also involved in NPI’s
development and continue to provide funding. NP works to
restore the health and prosperity of Cleveland's neighborhoods through an
array of catalytic programs and services, including: (1) the Cleveland Neighborhood
Partnership Program providing general operating support along with
research and development assistance for community development corporations (CDCs) to implement
neighborhood revitalization agendas based on identified
priorities; (2) capacity-building training and organizational development
activities to strengthen
and empower community-based organizations; (3) financing for residential,
retail, commercial, and industrial development; and (4) planning,
designing, and developing larger scale housing, retail and
commercial projects. Its programs are developed
currently in partnership with community development corporations, the
City of Cleveland, the
philanthropic and corporate
community, private developers and financial institutions.
Village
Capital Corporation, a nonprofit subsidiary of NP, is the financing arm
that provides dollars for real estate to CDCs
and for-profits doing community development work in the city of Cleveland. New Village Corporation, also a
nonprofit subsidiary under NP, is the real estate development arm, taking
on projects and assisting CDCs that don’t have
the capacity to operate large scale housing or commercial projects on
their own. It provides
predevelopment and construction loans.
NP
also provides an Executive Leadership Institute for executive directors
and associate executive directors, working collaboratively with
LISC. This involves three sessions
with consultants, followed by work on personal professional development
with individual coaches over the next year. In addition, NP staff members serve as
resource providers to CDCs, and are integrated
into some CDC activities. For
example, they staff some CDC activities such as community meetings and
planning processes. Both
consultants and internal staff are used at NP trainings, which may be
sponsored through the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition.
The
core operating support NP offers involves a competitive process and a
three-year grant cycle. Sixteen CDCs in Cleveland are funded currently; six of
them are part of a pilot Strategic Investment Initiative. $1.7 million is given annually to the
16 CDCs for core operating support - the top
six groups each get $150,000 annually; $100,000 is given to the four
mid-tier groups, and $60,000 each goes to the rest. An additional $2.8
million goes to the six in the pilot initiative; they also receive
specialized training, and each group can use $5,000 to purchase
additional training they want for capacity-building purposes.
The
Strategic Investment Initiative is a market recovery approach that has
the six CDCs each target a small focus area,
leveraging resources to do comprehensive community development. They work
to retain current residents, attract new ones, and create neighborhoods
of choice. NP assists the CDCs with planning processes in the six
neighborhoods. 40+ units of
housing serve as an anchor within each neighborhood. One element of this is a model block
strategy, training CDC staff to teach people how to look at a
neighborhood in a positive light, and get residents involved in making
positive change. Groups identify
priority needs and actionable items, then
receive help finding resources to implement the actions. As one example, NP is working with a
library and school to build new facilities in an empty site within one of
the neighborhoods.
Research
and development for the Initiative includes creation of land assembly
plans in each of the six areas to acquire vacant properties around the
anchor projects, and work with Cleveland Public Art and Parks Works – two
nonprofits – to use the vacant lots in creative ways until permanent uses
of them are developed. Each group has a menu of possible work, and as it
is ready and sees a particularly important need, NP can provide
additional money for staff support with community organizing, staff
training, etc. Development of marketing plans for the neighborhoods is
next. They have done market niche
analysis regarding competition and other elements, now are developing
individual marketing plans for the neighborhoods.
Partnerships
are built with surrounding areas, institutions, and the private sector as
part of the Initiative. For
example, Charter One Bank committed $150 million for economic and
community development in the Greater University Circle area via housing loans,
grants, and small business loans.
It is collaborating with CDCs, cultural
organizations, neighborhood groups, foundations and others in this
effort.
In
its work NP measures baselines and then tracks its impact over time. Evaluation includes quarterly reports,
site visits, production reports, and other elements. Every three years
the major funders bring in external reviewers
who make recommendations about the level of funding NP should receive,
the number of groups NP should fund, and whether the system is working,
having an impact, and should
continue.
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