Community Advocacy: Making
Welfare Reform Work
Youth Programs: The S.E.E.K. Program
Business District Strategy: Penn Avenue
Arts Initiative
Community Organizing: Lawrenceville
Shade Tree Project
Leveraging Resources: South Side
Green Neighborhood Initiative
Community Planning: The Hill District
Plan
Additional Case Studies
October 28, 2000
Dear Friends:
Welcome to CTAC's Community Development Conference 2000.
There are many stories of progress and innovation in our towns
and neighborhoods, stories that do not often make the front
page. Today we present six of the best community stories.
These stories will be told by the doers, by the volunteers
and staff of the community organizations that made them real.
This conference is their opportunity to tell their own story
in their own way.
We learn best when we learn from each other, and the lessons
of one community can be of great benefit to others. We trust
that today you will find information, ideas and inspiration
that you can use in your own community.
On behalf of our sponsors, Dollar Bank, Mellon Financial Corporation
Foundation and Three Rivers Bank, and on behalf of the Board
and staff of CTAC, we thank you for joining us today.
Sincerely,
Jim Matthews CTAC Board Chair
Mark T. Fatla, Esq. Executive Director
When Congress enacted Welfare Reform legislation in 1996,
it made sweeping changes in how we define, understand and respond
to poverty. It also provided states with wide latitude to define
community needs and design appropriate responses. This in turn
challenged communities to provide meaningful grassroots input
on a difficult and complex issue.
The Welfare Justice Project teamed with students of the H.J.
Heinz School to generate a community discussion model. This
approach used a variety of techniques to draw on the experiences
of welfare recipients, community activists, service providers
and other stakeholders. The model was grounded on the premise
that welfare to work participants are the true "experts."
This project illustrates practical methods for obtaining community
viewpoints on any complex issue.
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YOUTH PROGRAMS: The S.E.E.K. Program,
Elaine Harris-Fulton and Jan Williams, Wilkinsburg Family Support
Center
Wilkinsburg's children and parents have faced many challenges
in recent years. A school privatization effort has been highly
controversial and widely publicized. At the same time, Welfare
Reform was forcing many single parents to find employment, greatly
increasing the number of latch-key children. These changes in
education and families generated substantial pressures on children,
and particularly on older children who were underserved by existing
supportive programs.
The S.E.E.K. Program (in Search of Enrichment through Empowerment
and Knowledge) is a parent-generated effort to respond to these
challenges. The program built upon previous efforts of the Family
Support Center and includes mentoring, entrepreneurship, education,
structured recreation and parent involvement. It draws on collaborations
with a variety of for- profit and non-profit organizations from
the community and beyond.
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This story has made the front page, being featured
in the October 11-18, 2000 edition of "In Pittsburgh."
This is a common problem in our region - a blighted business
district 10 blocks in length. This is an uncommon strategy to
bring it back.
The PAAI is revitalizing a portion of Penn Avenue by using
the arts to enhance public perception of the district, instill
pride in the neighborhood, foster inter- and intra-community
ties, and establish an artists' niche in the market. PAAI is
attracting artists to live and work in the Penn Avenue corridor
through a variety of services including an Artist Loan Fund,
Marketing and Technical Assistance, a Youth program and an annual
Arts Festival. The program builds upon an existing base of local
residents involved in the arts, and is operated by a full-time
staff person with considerable volunteer support.
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When the Pittsburgh Shade Tree Commission invited Lawrenceville
to apply for 180 street trees, there was a catch - it needed
commitments from volunteers to maintain the trees for 3 years,
until the trees could survive on their own.
The Lawrenceville Corporation saw multiple opportunities in
this single project. It would beautify the community's main
street. It would enhance the appeal of the business district.
It would build community pride and unite residents of Lawrenceville's
three wards in one common project. It would be a source for
new volunteers and future community leaders.
The project required a variety of solid community organizing
techniques to generate this large group of long-term volunteers.
Led by its Beautification Committee, the Lawrenceville Corporation
planned the project and succeeded in meeting the challenge of
the Shade Tree Commission. Whatever your community project,
Lawrenceville provides an instructive look at effective grassroots
community organizing.
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Neighborhoods face a multitude of interlocking problems. Assembling
the resources to address those problems in a strategic and effective
way is difficult in the best of circumstances.
The Green Neighborhood Initiative is a combined effort of
several organizations, programs and funding sources that focus
on boosting the economy of Pittsburgh neighborhoods, reducing
a community's impact on the environment, and making improvements
on the overall physical appearance of localities. It is grounded
in the principles of "sustainable development", defined as development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
South Side's efforts are particularly instructive. They include
weatherization of homes, energy assessments for businesses,
environmental education efforts in local schools, beautification
projects, lead abatement programs and the restoration of historic
properties. The extensive network of Green Neighborhood partnerships
provides neighborhoods with a large menu of services, more than
any single organization could assemble alone. The result is
a multi- faceted approach to community needs.
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COMMUNITY PLANNING: The Hill District
Plan, Carl Redwood Jr. and Angela Howze, Hill District
Consensus Group
Community Planning is one of those things you know is good
for you, but you may dread doing. Perhaps this story will help
you feel more comfortable with the process and the rewards.
The Hill District has long faced severe challenges. Individually,
local organizations could only achieve so much. A coordinated
effort was needed, an effort that grew from community needs
and desires.
The Hill District Consensus Group was formed to provide a
forum for community input in the planning process for community
development projects proposed or needed in the Hill District.
Community residents and groups are invited to join the planning
process by attending open meetings. Committees have been established
to facilitate planning, culminating in a Community Planning
Document to guide implementation. The goal is to be inclusive,
and through inclusion identify opportunities for collaborative
projects amongst Hill development entities. The Hill has succeeded
in bringing people together to offer their voices and identify
common goals.
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ADDITIONAL CASE STUDIES
The following additional case studies offer valuable ideas
and experiences for our communities. We acknowledge their efforts
and encourage you to seek out those of greatest interest to
you.
Filling the Gaps in Downtown York, Pennsylvania, Kim
Walsh, Main Street York, Inc.
While downtown York was experiencing a strong market for office
space, it still had major gaps to fill in storefront retail
and second and third floor walk-up space. Main Street York,
Inc. conducted a market study to identify the needs, spending
habits and attitudes of downtown York's current users and to
identify the types of businesses that would have a high likelihood
of success in downtown.
Strategic Early Warning Network (SEWN), Tom Croft,
Steel Valley Authority
As the Save Nabisco Campaign illustrated, communities can
have an impact when companies plan to close plants and eliminate
jobs. But preventing plant closures and job loss requires increased
awareness. Steel Valley Authority has developed strategies to
monitor companies and respond to possible layoffs in a pro-active
effort to preserve family-wage jobs.
Riverside Commons Innovation Center, Emily Buka, North
Side Civic Development Corp.
Incubators can be a viable tool to develop businesses and
create jobs. North Side Civic Development Corp. has seen its
small business incubator evolve, providing lessons on facilities
planning, business services, infrastructure for technology firms,
tenant selection, business success rates, and funding strategies.
Vacant Property Working Group / City of Pittsburgh Land
Reserve, Aggie Brose and Grant Ervin, Pittsburgh Community
Reinvestment Group
Property acquisition for community development projects is
often a difficult, expensive and time-consuming process. The
Vacant Property Working Group established partnerships with
the City's Finance and Law Departments and the Urban Redevelopment
Authority to produce legislation enabling community development
corporations to purchase tax delinquent property more efficiently
and place it in a Land Reserve until needed for development.
Sustainability Indicators: A Tool for Neighborhood Development,
Wendy S. Powers and Stefani Ledewitz, Conservation
Consultants, Inc.
Based on the experience of the Friendship Community Plan,
this primer introduces neighborhood groups to neighborhood planning
and concepts of sustainability. The primer explains how indicators
work and the complex process of selecting indicators that will
measure progress toward neighborhood goals.
Science In Your Neighborhood (SIYN), Kenya Boswell
and Aleina Smith, Carnegie Science Center
SIYN addresses the need for meaningful employment, professional
development and science exploration for at-risk youth in the
Pittsburgh community. Science Center staff train at- risk high
school students and employ them to bring hands-on science activities
into after-school programs in disadvantaged Pittsburgh communities.
Leading Educators in Accessibility Development, Rosemary
Losser and Diane McIntyre, LEAD
LEAD is a collaborative of students, educators businesses
and community organizations developing increased post-secondary
education opportunities for students with disabilities. LEAD
seeks to increase awareness of the benefits of becoming accessible
to the disabled student. Strategies include a Disability Awareness
Program, a Self-Determination Series for students with disabilities,
and a Leadership Curriculum.
Engaging Citizens in Decentralizing Poverty Housing Plan,
Shakura A. Sabur and Cheryl Coleman, East End Neighborhood Forum
Changing housing markets have created an opportunity to actively
engage grassroots residents in a community change process to
restructure publicly supported/assisted housing and begin to
reshape and rebuild distressed communities. The process includes
an asset analysis, mapping process and visioning sessions. The
goal is to engage residents in a new way for both planning and
implementation of strategies to decentralize poverty in the
East End.
Educating for a Lead Safe Region, Melissa A. Taylor
and Moira Singer, Pb X, Inc., a partnership of CLEARCorps and
Lead Safe Pittsburgh
This partnership of two organizations with complementary missions
has produced a broad-ranging community education program aimed
at lead poisoning prevention in local communities. Strategies
include child-oriented education through puppet shows, hands-on
activities at community festivals, and interactive adult education
efforts.
Business Advisory Committee, Deborah Brown and Stephanie
Schoenberg, Mon Valley Providers Council
Job training is most effective when it is targeted to the
skills employers need. The Business Advisory Committee provides
a vehicle for local employers to have direct input into the
employment and training projects of the Mon Valley CareerLink.
All Roads Lead to Carlisle, Marsha Lucidi and William
Druschel, The Downtown Carlisle Association
As a means to recruit businesses to downtown Carlisle, community
volunteers created a promotional video highlighting the town's
assets and advantages. It is actively used by real estate agents,
government offices and the college to recruit newcomers. Fueled
by volunteer effort, the most unique thing about the video may
be its cost - $1,256.96 for 200 copies.
After School Tutorial and Enrichment Program, Alethia
W. George and Johnnie Monroe, Schenley Heights Community Development
Program of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church
Spurred by the challenges of chemical abuse, teen pregnancies,
homicides and other crimes, community leaders surveyed residents
to assess needs and develop strategies to empower parents and
children to find meaning in their lives. The resulting program
emphasizes academic achievement, problem-solving and communication
skills, spiritual insights, leadership, entrepreneurship, violence
prevention and team building.
Adaptive Re-use in Housing Development, Eve Picker,
no wall productions inc.
Old buildings can have new uses while adding to the vitality
of Pittsburgh. New and different spaces often attract artists
and successful kids in the "new economy." Such projects require
much work and ingenuity, but offer another strategy for neighborhoods
struggling with vacant buildings and the need to attract new
residents.
Acute Care Redirect / Work Stabilization Program, Paul
J. Freyder, The Salvation Army
Through a collaboration of private and non-profit community
partners, the Salvation Army developed an intervention and diversionary
program for chronic homeless abusers of drugs and alcohol. The
program combines intensive case management, health care, behavioral
health services, and supportive services including housing,
employment and financial assistance.
