Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development has announced its 2010 investments into city neighborhoods as more than $1.3 million.
Most of the grants will go toward operating support, which will give neighborhood organizations the capacity to implement specific projects, says PPND President Ellen Kight.
For 2010, PPND launched a new way of grant making. A significant portion of PPND funds will be directed to four multi-neighborhood target areas, which have been termed Pittsburgh "Champion Neighborhoods." The Champion Neighborhoods include: Allegheny City neighborhoods (Historic and East Deutschtown, Central Northside, Allegheny West, Allegheny Commons, Allegheny Center), which will receive $175,000; East End neighborhoods (Bloomfield, Garfield, East Liberty, Friendship, Lawrenceville), which will receive $500,000; Hilltop neighborhoods (Allentown, Arlington, Arlington Heights, Beltzhoover, Bon Air, Carrick, Knoxville, Mt. Oliver, Mt. Oliver Borough, St. Clair), which will receive $100,000; and Pittsburgh Central neighborhoods (Oakland, Uptown, Hill District), which will receive $275,000.
The remaining portion of PPND funds are being invested in a number of strategic revitalization efforts across the region, including McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation, Natrona Comes Together Association, South Side Local Development Company, West Pittsburgh Partnership and Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation.
In the past, individual neighborhoods might have had strategies for their own areas, but now, with the Champion Neighborhoods program, PPND is looking at the connections across neighborhood lines, says Kight.
"We're moving forward, taking a more comprehensive approach to community development. This is a big change. We're looking at market areas and organizing around those areas, as opposed to just supporting a particular organization," says Kight. "We found that issues and challenges don't stop at an individual neighborhood's borders. We worked the URA, City of Pittsburgh and other intermediaries like us to figure out what areas are in distress but have market opportunities or concerns where if we work collectively, we can help provide collaborative resources and move markets faster."
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Writer: Caralyn Green
Source: Ellen Kight, president, PPND
Photograph of family living in new Fairfield Housing Development in East Liberty courtesy of PPND.