Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

REGIONAL OPPORTUNITYoldest regional advocacy groups. This provided anopportunity to support the building of a moreproactive regional agenda regarding social andeconomic justice. In the RPA, Ford saw an experiencedgroup well-suited to conceive and implement a modelproject for advancing equitable developmentthroughout a metropolitan region, with a particularfocus on jobs, housing, and a just transportationnetwork. Through this model, the RPA could provideexperiences and lessons learned for replication by lessexperienced regional advocacy groups.Meanwhile in the Bay Area, the Local InitiativesSupport Corporation’s (LISC) interest in The UnityCouncil predates the Main Street Program to the timewhen the organization was known as The SpanishSpeaking UnityThe Unity Council has been anonprofit communitydevelopment organizationcommitted to enriching thequality of life of familiesprimarily in the FruitvaleDistrict of Oakland. Itsprimary focus has been tocreate a healthier and safercommunity for families andresidents.Council, explainsStephanie Forbes,Bay Area directorwith LISC. In theCouncil, LISC sawan organizationcommitted tohelping low-incomepeople, initiallyfocusing onFruitvale’s Latinocommunity, andlater taking a moreholistic approach tothe increasinglydiverse Fruitvale neighborhood. Much of The UnityCouncil’s appeal came from its understanding of howphysical revitalization helps improve the quality of life(social, economic, environmental) for existingresidents. As a result, the Council pursued acomprehensive strategy that combined services withneighborhood improvements.According to LISC’s Forbes, The Unity Council sawcommercial revitalization as a way to promote notsimply economic opportunity, but to foster astronger sense of community pride for communityresidents. Quality of life and how the Bay Area wasgrowing were concerns for LISC. Big box stores wereincreasing in number, making their economicpresence felt. Concerned about impacts on smaller,local merchants, LISC saw The Unity Council’sMain Street Program as way to supportneighborhood economic vitality and support aneighborhood economy where businesses servinglow-income residents could survive and grow. TheMain Street Program was a key way to ensure thatlocal businesses would benefit from the FruitvaleStation and the Fruitvale Transit Village. Forbes addsthat this early funding “would set the stage for agood relationship between the Business District, theBART Station, and the Transit Village.”Finally, the Council was a known presence, anexperienced organization that already operatedmultiple and integrated programs to meet theFruitvale community varied needs. Informed by thesemultiple experiences, the Council well understoodthe Main Street pilot’s potential value to complementthe Council’s existing program and future plans.Regional/Neighborhood Equity ImpactsEast HarlemIn 2001, the RPA approached many differentcommunity-based organizations to identify an on theground partner for the East Harlem CommunityLink Initiative. After discussions with communitydevelopment corporations (CDCs), healthorganizations, service organizations, tenantassociations, and many other groups, the RPA optedto work with a local government entity, CommunityBoard 11, because doing so would give acommunity-based planning process clear access tothe city’s political structure (New York City is dividedinto boroughs, which are further divided intocommunity boards). The East Harlem CommunityLink Initiative (the Initiative) became a partnershipbetween the Ford Foundation (the funder), RPA (thetechnical assistance provider), and CommunityBoard 11 (the client).On May 18, 2002, 50 Harlem community residentsled a team of urban design consultants and RPA staffin a visioning session on the future of the communitywith a subway line along Second Avenue. The goals ofthe workshop were to envision East Harlem with theSecond Avenue Subway by identifying potentialimprovements near proposed subway stations, creatingvisual images, and presenting ideas to each other,public officials, and city agencies. The outcomesincluded ideas, proposals, and maps and drawings thatrepresented concepts developed by the participants.Based on the workshop’s outcomes, the RPA began todevelop an implementation structure. It convened agroup that came to be called the East Harlem SecondAvenue Corridor Working Group (Working Group), a103Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities