08.30.10 Neighborhood Progress seeks VISTA - deadline Sept. 6

06.18.10 Neighborhood Progress announces search for new President

06.10.10 Eric Hoddersen retires after leading Neighborhood Progress, Inc. - Plain Dealer

06.07.10 Habitat for Humanity ReStore program thrives!

Condos!

The Fries & Schuele Building in Ohio City

Neighborhood Progress is the developer of this historic building, and is pleased to offer unique luxury condos with very desirable terms. Walk to the West Side Market, Great Lakes Brewery, the Bier Markt, parks - minutes to downtown, Tremont etc.

Click here for full details!

For other Items of Interest:

Click Here to Download and Install Adobe Reader to Open PDF documents, and find out more about our current initiatives, below.

MODEL BLOCKS 2010

Click here to download PDFs of Model Block programs in Cudell, Detroit Shoreway, Fairfax, Slavic Village, and Tremont, and NPI's overview of the program as a whole.

NPI EXPANDS THE SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC INVESTMENT INITIATIVE

Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI) is pleased to announce the expansion of the successful Strategic Investment Initiative (SII), a targeted approach to neighborhood redevelopment that has become a national model. In the 2011-2013 Program Cycle, the SII will expand from six to nine neighborhoods and focus on targeted, comprehensive neighborhood investments, sustainability, stabilization and collaboration. “We are raising the bar for our grantees and renewing our commitment to our funders to maximize the impact of grant dollars in a world of shrinking resources,” said Beth E. Mooney, chair of NPI’s Board of Trustees and vice chair of Key Corp.

Introduced by NPI in 2004, the SII is a market-driven approach which incorporated a deeper investment in neighborhood planning, a concentration of resources on larger-scale project investments and the introduction of more comprehensive strategies to improving quality of life through green spaces, public art, and neighborhood stabilization strategies. In the six SII target areas, CDCs have implemented strategies aimed at strengthening markets, addressing the negative effects of foreclosure and vacancy, and ultimately creating neighborhoods of choice.

Five years later, NPI recognized the substantive, positive and visible change in those six neighborhoods and made the expansion of the SII the cornerstone of its strategic plan. As a result, the SII will expand from six to nine neighborhoods, which are served by the following CDCs:

Buckeye Area Development Corporation

Burten, Bell, Carr Development Corporation

Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization

Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation

Famicos Foundation, Inc.

Northeast Shores Development Corporation

Ohio City Near West Development Corp.

Slavic Village Development

Tremont West Development Corporation

The SII CDCs and grant amounts were determined after thorough evaluation of the 19 proposals NPI received in response to the SII Request for Proposals distributed in March 2010. The proposals requested a total of $3.4 million in a year when NPI has approximately $2 million to invest in SII CDCs.

The evaluation process included an assessment of the quality and feasibility of a CDC’s proposed SII agenda, data analysis of past performance and capacity, the scale of the proposed outputs and outcomes, and the extent to which a CDC is involved in collaboration or strategic restructuring. Other factors considered were NPI’s intention to align closely with the strategies and resources of the City of Cleveland’s community development efforts, especially the Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 target area.

“Ideally, we would have enough funding to invest in every Cleveland neighborhood,” said Linda Warren, NPI’s interim president. “But in a resource-depleted environment in which NPI’s available funds decreased by 20 percent, we must invest in neighborhoods that can leverage other dollars and make the most impact.”

In addition to its commitment to the Strategic Investment Initiative, NPI provides a number of resources to CDCs throughout Cleveland, including:

· Training and capacity building in the areas of neighborhood stabilization, foreclosure prevention, model blocks, vacant land reuse and CDC collaboration and restructuring

· Access to a pool of funding to facilitate collaborations and CDC restructuring

· Expertise of the NPI neighborhood stabilization team in identifying and mapping properties for NSP2-funded stabilization and linking available resources Founded in 1988, Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI) is a Cleveland non-profit organization that invests in neighborhood development. Its work is focused on restoring and maintaining the health and vitality of Cleveland’s neighborhoods through private investment and support for community initiatives. NPI’s goal is to be a catalyst for change. To this end, NPI strategically invests in community development organizations, their projects and their vision for the future.

Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland

Neighborhood Progress, the City of Cleveland and many other partners worked collaboratively for a year with the KSU Urban Design Center to research and explore the opportunities that can be created from the productive and strategic re-use of vacant land. This report highlights new visions and strategies that can re-create Cleveland as a more sustainable city. A How-to Pattern Book has also been published. To receive a printed copy of either or both, please contact Neighborhood Progress at 830-2770 or by email to www@neighborhoodprogress.org

Or you can download the PDF documents by clicking on the links below:

Click on the link for a list of Pilot Projects selected for Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland

The Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland Study

A Pattern Book of Vacant Land Re-Use Strategies

A Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland one-page summary

A Sustainable Recovery flyer, that outlines primary approaches NPI is taking to eliminate blight and support sustainable neighborhoods

A Deconstruction flyer, which outlines the current best practices in Cleveland for demolishing vacant properties sustainably and re-using materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill

Neighborhood Progress will be documenting the Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland Pilot Projects on a Re-Imagining Cleveland website developed by Cleveland State University, with links to projects, photos, blogs and resources. Training sessions for Re-Imagining Grantees will be held April 8th and 10th at the Cleveland State University Library.

Questions about the Re-imagining pilot program can be directed to Lilah Zautner at 216-830-2770 ext. 224.

Opportunity Homes

www.opphomes.com/

Opportunity Homes are renovated, energy-efficient homes in six Cleveland neighborhoods – Detroit Shoreway, Buckeye/Shaker, Tremont, Fairfax, Glenville-Wade Park, and Broadway-Slavic Village. See the link above for the sales site!

Opportunity Homes is partnership between the City of Cleveland, Neighborhood Progress, Inc., the Cleveland Housing Network, and the community development corporation representing each of the six neighborhoods. Each of these partners brings a special skill to the table – the Cleveland Housing Network has deep experience in home rehabilitation; Neighborhood Progress has a long track record of supporting community development; and each of the community development corporations has strong ties to the neighborhood and its residents. Together, with support from the City of Cleveland, they are making a difference.

Foreclosure Prevention

Opportunity Homes, which will rehabilitate and sell homes in six neighborhoods, is one part of a comprehensive strategy to address the foreclosure issue which is devastating Cleveland neighborhoods. Opportunity Homes is partnering with organization like Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), the Cleveland Housing Network, Neighborhood Housing Services, Community Housing Solutions, and others, to prevent families from losing their homes to foreclosure in the first place – through counseling, organizing and advocating for families in distress. However, Neighborhood Progress is working on other strategies as well, which will reduce vacancy, abandonment and foreclosure, including a land assembly team, assisting with the county land bank efforts, and a pilot receivership program.

Neighborhood Progress celebrates two decades of making a difference in our community - click on the link here:

Neighborhood Progress 20th Anniversary Report to the Community

To restore and maintain the health and vitality of Cleveland’s neighborhoods through private investment and support for community initiatives. Our goal is to be a catalyst for change. To this end, we strategically invest in community development organizations, their projects and their vision for the future.

“Reinvigorating the Urban Marketplace: Cleveland’s Strategic Investment Initiative”

In the face of a transitioning economy, Cleveland’s neighborhoods need to compete for residents, business and investment. Neighborhood Progress, along with its community partners, is in the forefront of efforts to respond to this challenge. We have embarked on a unique effort that builds upon our nationally recognized work in rebuilding Cleveland’s neighborhoods. Our Strategic Investment Initiative focuses initially on six neighborhoods that have developed plans for stimulating market recovery and improving the quality of life to create neighborhoods of choice.

The brochure below describes the approach we are using to bring together community stakeholders around a comprehensive rebuilding agenda – resident engagement, new and renovated housing, improved services, parks and green space, small business development and safety. Our work builds on neighborhood assets and connects communities to areas of strength like Greater University Circle and the Lakefront.

The public-private partnership that led to the formation of Neighborhood Progress in 1989 is more important than ever as Cleveland works to redefine itself in this new global economy while ensuring greater opportunity for all of its citizens. The approach described here shows the power of partnership and demonstrates the vital role that Cleveland’s neighborhoods can play in the long-term health and vitality of the region. We invite you to join us in this important work.

Eric Hoddersen
President
Neighborhood Progress

Reinvigorating the Urban Marketplace: Cleveland's Strategic Investment Initiative

Strategic Investment Initiative CSU Levin College Forum (Video)

10.13 - Reclaiming Vacant Properties: the Intersection of Sustainability, Revitaliztion, and Policy Reform