Blueprint Communities In Depth

 

Benefits for Participating Communities

Blueprint Communities helps cities, towns and neighborhoods develop stronger leaders, a clear community vision and a detailed strategic plan for sustainable community growth. As part of the Delaware initiative, each community team will receive initial benefits including:

  • Six days of community revitalization training by the University of Delaware’s Center for Community Research and Service including materials, meals and lodging
  • A community profile including important key indicators and trends for planning
  • Access to a community development consultant for coaching and resources
  • A mini-grant for technical assistance, project implementation or predevelopment needs after successful involvement in training
  • Access to a network of funding sources upon successful completion of the program that may lead to more coordinated public and private investments.

Community Revitalization Training

Blueprint Communities training will be undertaken by the University of Delaware’s Center for Community Research and Service. Training will begin with a kickoff and orientation, to be held March 10, 2008, at the University of Delaware in Newark.

The University of Delaware Center for Community Research & Service (CCRS) provides usable knowledge, education, training and services that enhance the ability of organizations and communities to promote social and economic justice. Formally founded in 1972 as the Urban Agent Program, CCRS is the University of Delaware’s focal point for community engagement and action. For more information on CCRS: http://www.udel.edu/ccrs/index.html.

A series of one- and two-day training sessions will follow, with community teams involved in intensive workshops in the spring and fall of 2008. Sessions are designed for community results, with topics including:

  • Identifying & developing community resources
  • Growing local leadership
  • Team building & cohesiveness
  • Community asset mapping
  • Encouraging civic engagement
  • Understanding community development models
  • Creating housing capacity
  • Visioning & holistic planning
  • Marketing & communication
  • Promoting best practices

Teams that complete Blueprint Communities training will gain a thorough understanding of how to create sustainable communities and the elements necessary for success. Communities will have developed a:

  • Vision
  • Draft community plan
  • Clear action strategy (including a funding strategy)
  • Process to measure outcomes
  • List of next steps/timeline to move the process forward

Blueprint Communities Promotes Team Training

Each team will comprise eight community representatives, including at least one from an FHLBank member financial institution, a development organization, the local governing entity and a community-based organization, as well as other key stakeholders. Everyone involved in helping to make communities better should have a stake in the Blueprint Communities initiative:

  • community planners & developers
  • service providers
  • member bankers
  • leaders in local government
  • religious & civic leaders
  • community-based organizations
  • housing providers
  • community & economic development practitioners

These key individuals must collaborate in committed partnerships, taking into account all aspects of the community, for revitalization to be successful.

Community Eligibility

Selected communities are classified as “emerging” – those that have not completed a detailed community plan, but that do have a strong foundation of local leadership and possess some development capacity.

To be eligible, communities are required to:

  • Have a population between 500 – 15,000, which may be an entire municipality or unincorporated place, a neighborhood within a larger municipality, multiple municipalities or unincorporated places (contiguous).
  • Have not completed a neighborhood or community vision and a holistic plan within the last two years.
  • Demonstrate local leadership, have basic development capacity and possess opportunity for development and collaboration.
  • Be able to put together a diverse team of leaders committed to attending training sessions, broadening civic engagement, and advancing the welfare of the community.

Community Selection

Communities referred by partners or self-identified as potential participants were sent a Request for Proposal (RFP), which established eligibility and provided the foundation for fair selection. FHLBank Pittsburgh, aided by program partners and an advisory com mittee, selected communities to participate from RFPs received in January 2008.

Questions

For more information on Blueprint Communities, contact Laura Kemp-Rye at 304-291-5485 or via e-mail to blueprint@fhlb-pgh.com. You may also call FHLBank's Community Investment Department at 1-800-288-3400.

With assets of more than $95 billion as of September 30, 2007, FHLBank Pittsburgh, a government-sponsored enterprise created by Congress in 1932, has 332 members across its three-state district of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It is one of twelve FHLBanks, all cooperatively owned banks established to provide a steady stream of low-cost housing finance. More recently, the Bank’s mission has expanded to include financing for business startup and expansion as well as a variety of community and economic development needs.