NACEDA Launches New Neighborhood Initiative with 3 Pilot Sites in PA, CA, MA Aimed at Revitalizing Neighborhoods Nationwide:
Collaboration with Local Government, Equitable Development Key Goals

Washington, DC May 26, 2009 - The National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA), has selected 3 pilot locations to launch its new Initiative "Managing Neighborhood Change," funded through a grant from the Surdna Foundation of New York and with supporting grants from NeighborWorks America,  LISC, Enterprise Community Partners, Bank of America, and Washington Mutual (now  Chase Bank).  The three pilot sites are located in Pennsylvania, California and Massachusetts, and have been awarded to the following groups: 

• Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations representing a consortium of 4 CDCs in Philadelphia, PA; Rick Sauer, Executive Director
• Thai Community Development Center of Los Angeles, CA; Chanchanit Martorell, Executive Director
• Somerville Community Corporation of Somerville, MA in partnership with Asian Community Development Corporation of Boston MA; Danny LeBlanc, CEO SCC and Jeremy Liu, Executive Director ACDC

The Managing Neighborhood Change (MNC) initiative is a program to help Community Development Corporations take the lead in bringing about positive change in their neighborhoods by both building stronger, sustainable communities and ensuring that neighborhood residents benefit from the change. A market-oriented approach to change, MNC leads local organizations to analyze neighborhood conditions, collaborate with local government and other community partners, and develop data-driven, flexible, strategies for neighborhood change and for addressing the needs of lower-income residents in those neighborhoods. 

NACEDA Chair, Diane Sterner, who is also Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, said, "I am excited about the potential of the MNC program, and about seeing us launch this pilot testing phase. As neighborhoods around the country are being undermined by foreclosures and abandonment, the nation's community development corporations need new tools that will bring a more strategic approach to their neighborhood work."

NACEDA's Executive Director, Jane DeMarines added, "We are enthused by the great response and looking forward to working with these groups of organizations as pilot testing sites before we proceed with the full-out launch next year. Neighborhoods, particularly low-income neighborhoods, where NACEDA's members work, have been devastated by the foreclosure crisis and its aftermath. Our initiative couldn't be more timely in developing partnerships with government and creating strategies to restore communities struggling with the aftermath of past foreclosures and the onslaught of continuing defaults on residents of their communities."
 
The Managing Neighborhood Change program was devised by Alan Mallach, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the  Brookings Institution, and a resident of Roosevelt, New Jersey.  Mallach's 2008 paper, "Managing Neighborhood Change: A Framework for Sustainable and Equitable Revitalization",  provides the foundation for the implementation materials that will be developed during this pilot testing phase. "I hope that these tools will not only help neighborhoods fight the destabilization that is currently going on," Mallach said, "but allow them to move forward, even in these difficult times."

The three selected site locations will field test the implementation materials and proposed technical assistance approach being developed around  the MNC framework before formally launching it nationwide to the country's network of roughly 4,600 CDCs.  Over the next eighteen months, project teams made up of individuals from both outside and within the community will work with the three pilot sites to assess their neighborhood housing market conditions, undertake a planning process leading to their implementing responsible market-building and revitalization strategies, and monitor change in the neighborhood over time.
 
Danny LeBlanc of Somerville Community Corporation says "As we anticipate the largest new development of rapid transit service in Greater Boston over the next several years - the MBTA's Green Line extension - we're excited that the Managing Neighborhood Change framework will give us the tools we need to both track the impact of the Green Line and help us to develop and implement strategies to address that impact."
 
NACEDA will begin site testing the MNC framework in June.  While the pilot testing is taking place, a wider implementation strategy will be developed, building on the interest and information generated by our outreach and testing activities.  Based on what we learn during the pilot phase, we will revise the implementation materials, and roll out a full-scale implementation effort, anticipated to take place in 2010.    
 
Rick Sauer, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Association of CDCs says: "PACDC is excited to participate in this pilot initiative.  We look forward to working with NACEDA and local CDCs to strengthen housing markets in Philadelphia in an equitable way to benefit our neighborhoods, city and region."
 
Alexander Holsheimer, Community Planner for Thai CDC in Los Angeles, says: "Through the MNC framework, we ask the East Hollywood community to become leaders advocating for better change; forge relationships between community stakeholders to promote grassroots change; empower East Hollywood residents to find opportunities in a 'shifting sands' community."

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About NACEDA and the CDC Industry
Through its member network state/city/regional associations, NACEDA represents more than 3,000 community development corporations. In 2005, as an industry total (aggregate) CDCs produced: 1.3 million homes (since 1988), 774,000 new jobs and 126 million sq feet of commercial/industrial space, housing for special needs populations and nearly 2/3 of CDCs offer homeownership counseling.

For more information on Managing Neighborhood Change:  Contact: Sarah McKinley, (703) 741-0144, smckinley@naceda.org