Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

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LIVABLE NEIGHBORHOODS/STRONG REGIONSarea. Even more, San Diego Neighborhood Fundersis investigating new ways to partner with bankinginstitutions for investment in emerging markets. Atthe same time, the International CommunityFoundation (ICF) has been leading cutting-edgework to understand and address cross-border issuesof regional planning, sprawl, and environmentaljustice between the United States and Mexico. 42 Allof these efforts speak to increasing sophistication onthe part of community development corporations(CDCs), organizers, and other advocates inconfronting the challenging realities of uncheckedgrowth and inequitable development.On the other hand, it is not just institutions that arecoming forward to create change and advance equityissues. In the“Philosophically, philanthropyneeds to determine its rolein answering the question:how do you fundamentallyimprove poor communities?”— Mariano DiazBronze Triangleneighborhood, localactivist GayleWalker has spawneda grassrootsmovement ofAfrican Americanparents committedto child care policyissues. Roger Cazares, former CEO of the MAACProject, has brought issues as diverse as housing codeviolations, social services provision, and charterschools into an emerging policy agenda for inner-cityLatino families. 43 Other foundations are starting torecognize the value of resident engagement forneighborhood transformation.“What we are beginning to see is significant datadriven public policy discourse and advocacy,”declares The San Diego Foundation’s Diaz.“Philosophically, philanthropy needs to determine itsrole in answering the question: how do youfundamentally improve poor communities?”Understanding the San Diego RegionAs a regional community foundation, The San DiegoFoundation plays a crucial role in addressingemerging issues in key subject areas. Its initiative,Understanding the San Diego Region, embodies thesimple premise: We must understand. Then we canact. Through focused research, working gatherings,site visits and relationships with diverse leadershipthroughout the region, the Foundation keeps abreastof the critical needs of the county and developssolution-based initiatives.A critical component of Understanding is thecommunity impact made possible by the grantmakingof the Foundation’s Community PartnershipsWorking Groups comprised of community leaderswho commit to the considerable tasks associated withparticipation. Each year, guided by the CommunityPartnerships Committee (a standing committee of theboard), six Working Groups study the criticalcommunity need, develop grantmaking priorities, setfunding guidelines, review applications, conduct sitevisits, and make recommendations to the board ofgovernors in the award of the discretionary funds tononprofit organizations. More than $2 millionannually flows directly to community organizationsservicing San Diego through this process. TheFoundation’s staff members perform thecommunications responsibilities associated with thegrants and work with the donor base to direct theirinterest to emerging opportunities identified by theWorking Groups.Building an Urban VillageAnother successful community development initiativeis the City Heights Initiative supported by PriceCharities. Price has committed to allocate asubstantial portion of its charitable dollars to revitalizeCity Heights, a low-income community. Since 1994,Price Charities has worked with the community ofCity Heights, public, and nonprofit agencies to buildan “Urban Village” in the core of the community.Believing that a strong urban core of facilities andservices is essential to a healthy community, PriceCharities leveraged funds from public sources to buildthe Village which spans eight-square-blocks coveringalmost 30-acres and includes a state-of-the-art library,swimming pool, tennis courts, performance annex,community service center, Head Start facility, policesubstation, elementary school, and ContinuingEducation Center.The City Heights Initiative consists of three majorcomponents: Educational Programs, CommunityDevelopment Programs, and Housing andCommunity Development. Thus, in addition toproviding seed money for the Urban Villageinfrastructure, Price Charities and its partners have42A more detailed profile of the International Community Foundation’scross-border work begins on page 48 of this report.43The MAAC Project, formerly known as the Metropolitan AreaAdvisory Council, is a multi-purpose social service agency with a 39-yearhistory of serving various communities throughout San Diego county.For more information, visit www.maacproject.org.83Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
funded community programs, including a jointventure educational project with San Diego StateUniversity (SDSU), a community policing program,an innovative low-interest home loan program, and acommunity service program.The Village Townhomes, completed in September 2003, are located in theheart of the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego. The townhomesrepresent the first major housing development by Price Charities in CityHeights. (Source: Price Charities).Developing Market Creek PlazaThe third project highlighted in this profile is SanDiego’s Market Creek Plaza project, which hasthoughtfully and deliberately involved residents asleaders and partners in neighborhoodtransformation. Market Creek Plaza is the first phaseof a larger 45-acre mixed-use “Village” that will bedeveloped through a partnership with localneighborhood planning groups and in coordinationwith the city of San Diego’s new redevelopmentprogram, the City of Villages. Market Creek Plaza islocated in the area sometimes referred to as theDiamond neighborhoods: ten contiguousneighborhoods named for the city-designatedDiamond Business Improvement District. Some88,000 residents live in the Diamond and speakmore than 15 languages. While the majority of thepopulation is African American and Latino, theDiamond is home to many groups: among them,Laotian, Samoan, Filipino, and Somali. The area hasa median family income lower than the citywideaverage. Nearly a quarter of the population surviveson less than $15,000 annually.Like many urban neighborhoods and communities ofcolor, the Diamond has experienced decades of underinvestment.A 1998 market study showed the area wasunderserved by over 400,000 square feet of retail spaceand was experiencing over $60 million in retail“leakage.” Nonetheless, the community possessessignificant assets. Community institutions include theMalcolm X Library and Performing Arts Center,Tubman-Chavez Multicultural Center, andElementary Institute of Science. The Diamondfeatures a strong faith community, a strategic regionallocation, a high percentage of homeownership, and atradition of resident involvement in community issues.The first phase in the development of Market CreekPlaza extends over ten-acres on a property that oncehoused an aerospace factory. Both a commercial andcultural center, this phase of the developmentincludes a large grocery store, ethnic restaurants, afitness center, and an open-air amphitheater. Anoutdoor public art collection comprised of mosaics,totems, and murals in combination with thearchitecture of the surrounding buildings reflects theartistic traditions of the neighborhood’s diverseethnic and cultural mix. This resident-led work hasbeen supported by the Jacobs Family Foundation andSan Diego Neighborhood Funders (SDNF).These before and after images show the development of Market CreekPlaza, a 20-acre commercial and cultural center in the DiamondNeighborhoods of San Diego (Source: Jacobs Family Foundation).Funder InterestEstablished in 1975, The San Diego Foundation wasintended to be a charitable resource for the entireregion. Currently, the Foundation awards more than$47 million in competitive and donor-advised grantsannually. In response to rapid demographic andeconomic changes in the region, the Foundation hassought to align its priorities for grantmaking withorganizations making substantive contributions toimprove communities for the long-term. The boardof governors undertook an extensive communityLIVABLE NEIGHBORHOODS/STRONG REGIONSPart III: Section 2: Making All Neighborhoods Stable, Healthy, and Livable as Building Blocks for a Strong Region 84
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Stories of Philanthropic Leadership
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Signs of Promise:Stories of Philant
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Funders’ Network for Smart Growth
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(II. B.)(II. C.)Turning Neighborhoo
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PART I:IntroductionThe Purpose of t
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social justice issues as they relat
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PART II:Perspectives on Advancing R
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peer work, we can reestablish a sig
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Annie E. Casey FoundationBaltimore,
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neighborhoods into healthy ones—g
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Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
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Section 1:Promoting Equitable Publi
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I. A. BUILDING POWER AND GIVINGVOIC
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policy advocates. In 2002, Milwauke
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in Los Angeles, Ford’s Anthony no
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I. B. PROMOTING COALITIONSTO ADVANC
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Yet the interpersonal dynamics of c
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guidelines. “Many of the member o
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Funder InterestThe EPA supported th
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Page 41 and 42: Richmond, Calif.The second regional
Page 43 and 44: through policy reform at the local
Page 45 and 46: I. E. BUILDING COALITIONTHROUGH KNO
Page 47 and 48: organizing project, the Connecticut
Page 49 and 50: and businesses are quantified in a
Page 51 and 52: I. G. REVITALIZING WHILEASSURING DI
Page 53 and 54: In the late 1990s, the city of Albu
Page 55 and 56: I. H. A TRAVEZ DE LA FRONTERA:LAND
Page 57 and 58: The International Community Foundat
Page 59 and 60: I. I. MOBILIZING ACTION FORREGIONAL
Page 61 and 62: To meet all of these objectives, th
Page 63 and 64: efforts. And with each public plann
Page 65 and 66: pattern of disproportionate transpo
Page 67 and 68: Clinica de la Raza identify this cr
Page 69 and 70: Contact PeopleCarl AnthonyActing Di
Page 71 and 72: Section 2:Making All Neighborhoods
Page 73 and 74: II. A. REACHING BEYONDHOUSING TO IM
Page 75 and 76: A local resident receives the keys
Page 77 and 78: East Baltimore community and the Jo
Page 79 and 80: example, adjacent to the EBDI area,
Page 81 and 82: II. C. YIELDING REGIONALBENEFITS TH
Page 83 and 84: is using transit-oriented developme
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Page 95 and 96: owned enterprises, totaling $8.5 mi
Page 97 and 98: LOAN GUARANTEESSection 3:Connecting
Page 99 and 100: III. A. MAKING HOUSING ANOPPORTUNIT
Page 101 and 102: A new report from the National Hous
Page 103 and 104: The Straphangers Campaign was found
Page 105 and 106: Funder InterestThe Straphangers Cam
Page 107 and 108: or increase poverty. Whether direct
Page 109 and 110: The Regional Plan Association then
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Page 113 and 114: director with LISC. No one set of s
Page 115 and 116: 12 western Louisville neighborhoods
Page 117 and 118: III. E. UNITING THREE STATESFOR ONE
Page 119 and 120: increased their personal wealth by
Page 121 and 122: summary evaluation of MSDI found th
Page 123 and 124: method alone was strong enough to m
Page 125 and 126: consistent body of work. The Counci
Page 127 and 128: 3) Issues Need to be ConnectedThe f
Page 129 and 130: PART V:Glossary of TermsThe terms d
Page 131 and 132: Regional and neighborhood equity. A
Page 133 and 134: Tijuana River Reserve, California:h
Page 135 and 136: Sargent Shriver National Center on
Page 137: 1500 San Remo Avenue • Suite 249
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