On the Road with Chuck: Part II

Chuck Wehrwein
NeighborWorks America COO

When I arrive in DC, I know I’ll be getting lots of questions about why I left the beautiful Rocky Mountains for the city life, so I want to explain my reasons here. The truth is that it was no easy decision. I’ve been living in Colorado for over 11 years and my children have grown up there, so I would not be headed east if I weren’t strongly motivated to join the NeighborWorks team.

In fact, my enthusiasm is already high enough for others to take notice. The day before I left Denver, my wife and I were meeting with LeeAnne, our realtor. When LeeAnne asked me to explain what NeighborWorks is about and why I was leaving, I spent several minutes describing the organization, its members and the great work that takes place in communities across the nation. LeeAnne was immediately struck by the passion in my voice, and commented that she, too, felt inspired by our vision of building strong, vibrant communities.

Pagedale Senior Housing was built across from
a Save-a-Lot grocery as part of the 24:1 initiative

I found a great example of this work in St. Louis last Friday. I met with Beyond Housing’s leader, Chris Krehmeyer. We talked a little bit about his experiences as a NeighborWorks organization and he showed me a small sample of the economic development projects and housing they’ve been building in the inner ring suburbs of St. Louis as part of a program called 24:1. This initiative has three main goals: strong communities, engaged families and successful children and it is addresses each goal by really integrating the various elements of community – from district schools to housing for the elderly to a new grocery store making fresh produce more available to residents.

Great work like this is inspiring and is indicative of why I am so pleased to be taking on my new role as COO. I’m looking forward to meeting with and hearing from more of our members in the coming weeks as we begin to formulate, together, how we can better develop responses to the myriad needs and opportunities in our communities across the country.

On the Road with Chuck: Part I

Chuck Wehrwein
NeighborWorks America COO

My name is Chuck Werhwein and I’m looking forward to being the next Chief Operating Officer for NeighborWorks America. In my new position, I will be overseeing activities in communities all over the US, so I’ve decided to make my journey to DC reflect that; I’m making a road trip from Denver, Colorado to Washington, D.C., and stopping to meet NeighborWorks staff and network members along the way.

Denver Convention Center’s
Blue Bear (Creative Commons)

Although I’ve been in the community development field for over 20 years (bio here), there is always more to learn. My goal is to make my first few months a time for listening. Right now, I’m most interested in answering one big question: “How can we accelerate community change in times of constrained resources?”

I jump-started my trip in Denver at the Rocky Mountain District office, followed by a visit many miles later with Midwest Regional Director John Santner and his team in Kansas City over delicious local BBQ.

Kansas City BBQ (Creative Commons)

In both places, I was struck by the breadth of our staff’s experience and their deep commitment to residents and members. Their diverse backgrounds and extensive knowledge are extremely valuable resources, critical to our corporation’s ability to deliver much-needed community services with limited staff and budgets. I left Kansas City with a real sense of optimism about our ability to work as partners while tackling the challenges that lie ahead.

My next stop is St. Louis, Missouri, where I’ll meet with Beyond Housing’s Executive Director Chris Krehemyer and gain the perspective of a network member. In the meantime, I’ll be reflecting on what I’ve learned and brainstorming ideas for the future.

Homeownership Video Contest Winners

Last month $5,000 in prizes were awarded at the Reclaiming the Vision of Homeownership Symposium in Los Angeles to video contest winners.Three videos were selected out of the many submissions sent in to NeighborWorks America. The winners are all so different and were chosen because of their originality and creativity showing the meaning of homeownership.

The video contest was designed to provide an opportunity for nonprofit housing counseling agencies to creatively portray, through the use of video, what homeownership has meant to the customers they have served in the past, or the dream it represents to customers they are currently serving.

Congratulations to the Winners
First Place: Summit Combined Housing Authority in  Breckenridge,CO
Hope for a Home in the High Country.

 
Second Place: Native American Youth and Family Center in Portland,OR
Sharing Our Stories of Home. 



Third Place: Tabor Community Services in Lancaster, PA
Homeownership 2012.

Board Chair Thomas Curry Visits Foundation Communities Apartments, Learning Center

By Celine Thomasson
NeighborWorks America
Rocky Mountain District

NeighborWorks America Chairman of the Board Thomas Curry took time out of his demanding schedule as Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation director to visit Peter's Colony, a 160 unit apartment community in Carrollton, Texas.  Peter's Colony is owned by Foundation Communities, a member of the NeighborWorks Network.

Director Curry visited the apartment of resident Angela Carter and stopped by one of the children’s programs offered at their on-site Learning Center.  Foundation Communities Executive Director Walter Moreau gave the history of the community which was purchased in 1995 by Foundation Communities from the Resolution Trust Corporation.

The 30- year-old apartments are well kept through renovation and weatherization work. NeighborWorks America grants helped with construction of the on-site Learning Center. Rosa Rios Valdez, CEO of Business & Community Lenders of Texas, also participated in the tour and was able to share many of her experiences as a member of the NeighborWorks Network with Director Curry. Valdez talked about the importance of community banks and BCL of Texas’s work in rural communities.

Although time did not permit a visit to the BCL of Texas NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center in Dallas, Jan McNerney, director of Homeownership at BCL, spoke about their important work in homeownership and foreclosure prevention throughout the Dallas and Ft.Worth areas.

"It was a privilege to have the gift of Director Curry’s time to visit with residents, children and the NeighborWorks organizations executive directors," said Gary Wolfe, Rocky Mountain district director. "It speaks volumes to his dedication to NeighborWorks America."  

 From left to right: FDIC, Deputy Director Kenyon Kilber; Foundation Communities, Executive Director Walter Moreau; BCL of Texas, Director of Homeownership Jan McNerney; NeighborWorks America, Rocky Mountain District Director Gary Wolfe; Foundation Communities, Director of Programs Julian Huerta; BCL of Texas, CEORosa Rios Valdez; FDIC, Director Thomas Curry;  Peter’s Colony Resident Services Coordinator Tamyra Belo and Lori Lozano.

Opportunity Finance Network and Starbucks Collaborate to Create Jobs

Many people must have their cup of Joe to make it through the morning. Now they can contribute to a much needed cause while they are at it.

On November 1, almost 7,000 Starbucks stores across the country and the Opportunity Finance Network, a national coalition of more than 180 community development financial institutions (CDFIs), launched a fundraising initiative to kick start job creation in the U.S.

Through the initiative, Create Jobs for USA, Starbucks customers can make tax-deductible contributions to a fund to help local companies hire and retain workers.

One hundred percent of donations will go to the CDFIs to finance underserved community businesses—small businesses, microenterprises, nonprofit organizations, commercial real estate developers, and affordable housing developers. All of these community businesses help to create and sustain local jobs.

More than 90 members of the NeighborWorks network are CDFIs. Related NeighborWorks capital corporations NeighborWorks Capital and Community Housing Capital are also CDFIs.

One organization that is making a difference both in housing and business lending is Community Ventures Corp (CVC), a Lexington-based member of the NeighborWorks network for ten years. CVC is the largest micro-enterprise business lender in the Small Business Administration system, making business loans as small as $500.

Kevin Smith, president and CEO of CVC said, “As a CDFI serving entrepreneurs throughout Kentucky, Community Ventures Corporation applauds the Opportunity Finance Network and Starbucks for creating space where small actions can pay great returns.”

Jennifer Vasiloff, executive vice president for policy at the Opportunity Finance Network is excited about the potential.

“Create Jobs for USA has the potential to raise tens of millions of dollars and make more credit available all across the U.S,” Vasiloff said. “I never thought I would see a major corporation like Starbucks using its scale, the power of its brand, and its vast consumer marketing expertise to help people understand the concept of a CDFI. Millions will learn about these profit-making (but not profit-maximizing) nonprofit financial institutions that lend in underserved communities.”

The Starbucks Foundation is putting up $5 million to kick start the Create Jobs for USA campaign and is encouraging others to chip in. Customers who donate $5 or more will get a red, white and blue wristband with the message “Indivisible.”

Community Gardens, Food Co-ops, and Farmers Markets Provide an Oasis in ‘Food Deserts’

by Erica Hall, MA, Community Economic Development, Assistant Corporate Secretary/Senior Paralegal, NeighborWorks America

As part of her Let’s Move initiative to end childhood obesity, Michelle Obama said we must eliminate “food deserts” in this country. I couldn’t agree more.

Food deserts are low-income areas where full-service grocery stores are scarce and fast food chains are often plentiful. Access to healthy, affordable foods and beverages is limited, resulting in higher rates of obesity and diet-related diseases in residents.

As a community economic development (CED) practitioner, I am particularly passionate about the role community gardens, community supported agriculture, produce co-operatives, and farmers markets can play, not only in promoting a healthy lifestyle, and lifting community spirit and pride, but also creating opportunities for community economic development. Community food growing is also a source of satisfying labor, neighborhood improvement and allows for interaction with nature and the productive use of land.

I also understand that while supermarkets are anchors which bring economic development, supermarket development can take years. In the meantime, alternatives must be created to traditional supermarket development. I believe that if you can grow your own food while owning a stake in the business of food, it provides opportunities to promote entrepreneurship, ownership and microenterprise development.

In the NeighborWorks network, we see community gardens and farmers markets sprouting up all over the country. Take for example the Brooklyn Centre Community Orchard being planned in Cleveland, Ohio. This summer, residents hope to turn their Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, labeled a food desert, into a food oasis. A vacant expanse of land, which had fallen into disrepair and a magnet for crime and drugs, will be the site of the neighborhood’s first large-scale, resident-run community orchard.

Darren Hamm, sustainable housing specialist with Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland is leading this effort. Hamm, who is also president of the Brooklyn Centre Community Association, said that a course on neighborhood stabilization he took at the NeighborWorks Training Institute was his inspiration to develop the orchard.

In California, the NeighborWorks Homeownership Center of Sacramento was recently awarded a $20,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente to help create a farmer’s market in the Oak Park neighborhood they serve. The new Oak Park Farmer’s Market, which opened on May 15, improves access to affordable, high-quality fruits and vegetables in an area where just one supermarket exists. It is also a source of income for a diverse group of farmers, including smaller, local and immigrant farmers from the Sacramento area. The homeownership center worked in partnership with community residents, community garden advocates, backyard growers, and fresh produce sellers to launch the farmer’s market, and the group intends to make Oak Park the sustainable food center of the Sacramento Region.

Youth get excited about growing their own food too. In Worcester, Massachusetts, Oak Hill Community Development Corporation’s Charlie Buffone Community Garden is run entirely by neighborhood youth. The vegetable and fruit garden is cultivated with all organic materials and toxic chemicals are strictly prohibited. They give away the produce to neighborhood residents, including making fruit and vegetable baskets for senior citizen homes. Check out the website, which is also maintained entirely by the young volunteers. If you’re on Facebook, see photos of their garden.

I recently had the opportunity to complete my graduate work which involved obesity prevention among African Americans, while increasing access to fresh foods, green spaces and safe places for low income communities in Washington, D.C . I became involved in a novel approach to increase access to fresh produce and other healthy foods to two of the district’s poorest areas: Wards 7 and 8. Wards 7 and 8 (east of the Anacostia River) have the District's highest poverty and obesity rates and are home to large food deserts.

The project, called the DC Healthy Corner Store Program, sought to increase access to fresh produce and other healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods, and to increase small grocers’ capacity to sell healthy foods successfully. It is led by D.C. Hunger Solutions, with support and funding from the D.C. Department of Health, and in partnership with KAGRO (Korean American Grocers Association), community-based organizations, and small retailers in the city.

Please go to nw.org to learn more about this wonderful program, as well as the funding opportunities available for similar efforts through the Obama administration's $400 million Healthy Food Financing Initiative.

For more information about farmer’s markets, including funding, how to start one and where to locate them in your state, visit the USDA’s website.

More information about community gardens, including funding, locations, best practices and tips can be found at the American Community Garden Association’s website.