PITTSBURGH, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- An initiative to help community
leaders plan for and carry out effective and comprehensive community
revitalization efforts is being launched by the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Pittsburgh (FHLBank), the Governor's Office and 14 other funding and program
partners.
Called Blueprint Communities, the initiative will involve 16 to 20 urban
and rural communities across Pennsylvania during 2005, with the prospect of
expanding the program to communities in Delaware and West Virginia going
forward. The initiative is designed to serve as a catalyst to revitalize older
communities and neighborhoods by fostering strong local leadership and
collaboration, focusing on planning and goal-setting strategies, and building
local program capacity to sustain community growth.
The FHLBank, aided by program partners and an advisory group, will select
communities to participate. To be eligible, communities must have a population
between 1,000-20,000, demonstrate local leadership, have basic development
capacity, and be able to assemble a leadership team committed to attending
training sessions. In addition, communities or neighborhoods with a strategic
plan that is less than two years old may be eligible to participate if the
plan is insufficient or limited in scope and does not represent a
comprehensive strategy.
Requests for proposals will be sent to interested and eligible communities
beginning March 28 and are due to the FHLBank by June 15. Communities will be
chosen June 30.
The Heartland Center for Leadership Development, a nationally recognized
authority on leadership and community development, will conduct four full days
of community revitalization training. An additional day of training will focus
on development capacity. Training for eastern Pennsylvania communities will be
held at the Willow Valley Resort in Lancaster, PA September 15-16, October 31
and December 13-14. Training for western Pennsylvania communities will be held
September 7-8, October 19 and December 7-8 at Hidden Valley Resort near
Donegal, PA.
Communities participating in Blueprint Communities will receive training
and expenses with a fair market value of $7,500. Benefits include:
- Four days of leadership and development training, materials, meals and
lodging
- A one-day capacity and technical training session
- A community profile highlighting key indicators and trends
- Potential for interim technical assistance after completion of the
first two-day session
- Opportunities for grant assistance upon graduation
- A complete action plan for improving a specific community or
neighborhood
- Ongoing technical assistance
- A chance to renew leadership skills and build a team for action
"By the completion of training, communities will have developed a vision,
a draft community plan and a clear action strategy, including a funding
strategy, a process to measure outcomes and a timeline to move their process
forward," said John Bendel, director of Community Investment at the FHLBank.
"Our hope is that Blueprint Communities will build capacity, momentum and
trust among community stakeholders, as well as provide the basis for the
development and implementation of practical, achievable strategies in
participating communities."
Representatives of eligible communities should assemble training teams
including a banker, a community developer and a community representative as
well as other key stakeholders and meet all required deadlines. Five
individuals from each neighborhood will comprise each team. In addition, a
$500 administrative fee will be required of successful applicants, to be
offset by the $7,500 value of the program.
Interested community or neighborhood representatives or those wishing to
refer a community for consideration may contact the FHLBank by April 28 in one
of three ways:
- Visit http://www.fhlb-pgh.com/blueprintcommunities.html and go to the
Community Referral/Sign-up form
- Contact the Bank's Community Investment Department at 1-800-288-3400 or
412-288-2826
- Or, e-mail blueprint@fhlb-pgh.com
Funding partners for the Blueprint Communities initiative include
Pennsylvania Rural LISC, Sovereign Bank, PNC Bank and the FHLBank of
Pittsburgh.
Program partners include the Governor's Office of Housing and Community
Revitalization, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development,
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, Philadelphia Neighborhood Development
Collaborative, Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, University
of Pittsburgh - Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, U.S.D.A.
Rural Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal
Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and The
Heartland Center for Leadership Development.
The FHLBank of Pittsburgh, with assets of $61 billion, serves nearly 350
financial institution members in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It
is one of twelve FHLBanks, all private cooperatively owned banks that provide
wholesale housing finance, community lending and correspondent banking
services to member banks, savings and loan institutions, credit unions and
insurance companies.
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