Northeast Shores now part of 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. From 2011-2013, the SII will expand from six to nine neighborhoods and focus on targeted, comprehensive neighborhood investments, sustainability, stabilization and collaboration. This expansion includes Northeast Shores and their ongoing revitalization plans for Waterloo and the surrounding residential community.

“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 Directors and Vice Chair of KeyCorp.

Introduced by NPI in 2004, the SII is a market-driven approach that incorporates 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.

Six 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. Northeast Shores will join the Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. (Central), and Ohio City Near West as the three additional SII neighborhoods. The original six SII neighborhoods are served by Buckeye Area Development Corporation, Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation, Famicos Foundation (Glenville-Wade Park), Slavic Village Development and the Tremont West Development Corporation.

“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…we must invest in neighborhoods that can leverage other dollars and make the most impact.”

SII status will allow the nine SII neighborhoods, including Northeast Shores, to access critical programming and organizational funding necessary to complete the neighborhood stabilization work. In addition, SII neighborhoods have access to training and capacity building in the areas of neighborhood stabilization, model blocks, vacant land reuse and CDC collaboration and restructuring.

“Becoming an SII is a huge vote of confidence for Northeast Shores and everyone involved with both the Waterloo Arts District and the Waterloo Village Model Block,” said Brian A. Friedman, Executive Director of Northeast Shores. “Not only does SII status provide critical funding for our efforts, continued access to NPI staff is critical, thanks to their invaluable insight and advice.”

Founded in 1988, NPI is a Cleveland non-profit organization that invests in neighborhood development, with a focus 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. For more information about NPI, visit: www.neighborhoodprogress.org

Walter Wright is Senior Program Officer with Neighborhood Progress Inc.