SUCCESS STORIES
Effective Use of Ads
Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut used a combination of advance news releases, brochures and posters to stimulate participation in upcoming NeighborWorks® Week activities in four separate New Haven-area communities.
Highlighted Activity: The MHA is active in New Haven, Guilford, Milford and Hamden. A steering committee in each community planned its own NeighborWorks® Week event, but each event also depended on active outside participation.
In New Haven, the event was a one-day conference for MHA residents, potential residents and the community at-large. In Guilford, it was a community spruce-up day.
In Milford, Yale School of Forestry students guided volunteers in beautifying the grounds of the Milford Red Cross. In Hamden, in conjunction with the Highwood Neighborhood Revitalization Zone Committee, the events included painting, beautification, a public forum, a housing fair and a micro-enterprise fair.
Starting in early May, news releases describing the town's upcoming events were sent to the local papers in each town. Town-specific brochures were distributed to service agencies, churches, community centers and schools. Neighborhood Reinvestment posters for NeighborWorks® Week were displayed in community centers.
The combination of outreach efforts produced both significant community participation and helpful media attention.
More than 100 persons each, for example, turned out for the New Haven and Hamden events; 20-30 persons each participated in the Guilford and Milford events.
II Objectives
In New Haven, the conference was to provide MHA residents and others with information and resources on maintaining the strength and stability of their neighborhoods.
In Guilford, which was observing its first NeighborWorks® Week, the community sprucing-up was to raise the visibility of the MHA and present it as part of a national movement.
In Milford, the beautification project was to reach out to the community for support of future MHA development and to recruit potential residents and volunteers.
In Hamden, the joint events with the Highwood Neighborhood Revitalization Zone Committee were to build bridges with the community for later involvement.
III Process
Steering committees in each town selected events they thought would best achieve their local goals. An MHA staff member assisted each committee. Planning began four months in advance.
IV Outreach
MHA local partners supported the events in each community.
In New Haven, for example, support came from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Enterprise Community, People's Bank, Bank of Boston, Interfaith Cooperative Ministries, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Fleet Bank, NHS of New Haven and the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund.
Yale School of Forestry students assisted the beautification in Milford.
Papers in each town picked up and ran the advance news releases. In addition, local papers in New Haven, Milford and Hamden reported on the town's local events. Local TV covered the community spruce-up activities in Guilford.
V Funding
In addition to a $2,000 Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grant, funding also was provided through a $5,000 grant from Citizens Bank in Guilford and a $1,000 grant from the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund.
VI Lessons Learned
It's important to find out what people want, so their interests can be addressed and they can be motivated to do the work.
Invite participation by local students in high school service clubs and in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts organizations. Outreach to youth is important.
Be sure to provide recreational activities for children.
Essay Contests
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury
- East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Cincinnati
Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County
Santa Ana, California
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Each year for the last four years, NHS of Orange County has held a street fair to highlight NeighborWorks® Week. In 2001, the fair culminated in the awarding of 20 computers to students in the Artesia-Pilar community who wrote essays called "Why Do We Need After- School Programs?"
Highlighted Activity: Students from the three elementary schools and two junior high schools in the community were invited to submit essays. The best were submitted by their teachers to the NHS, whose advisory board rated them and chose winners for each grade level. Winners were announced at the fair by City Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez, who represents this community. Awardees later received instruction on the care and use of the computer.
Computers were donated by the Orange County Community Development Council, a local nonprofit organization that runs a food bank and other programs, including one to refurbish and distribute used computers. The 20 computers donated by OCCDC were upgraded with CD ROMs thanks to a grant of $800 from SAFECO Insurance. Fremont Savings & Loan donated six computers to the after-school program in the Artesia-Pilar neighborhood.
Other partners of the street fair, which drew 1,100 residents, included the City of Santa Ana, Santa Ana Community College, insurance companies (including State Farm), several other businesses, Fremont Savings & Loan and the schools. The street fair was held in the block outside the NHS office in Santa Ana and featured entertainment, food and booths set up by the Red Cross, insurance companies, the NHS and others. A bookmobile and a stage donated by the city bracketed the half-block area, and the high school JROTC squad opened the day and demonstrated their presentation skills.
II Objectives
For nearly 25 years, NHS of La Habra and Santa Ana NHS — which merged in 1998 to create NHS of Orange County — have provided housing rehab, home-ownership promotion, rental rehab and management and other services to its target communities. Among its services are after-school programs for children at four sites. These are all called Rosie's Garage, named after Rose Espinosa, now a member of the NHS of Orange County's central board, who started the first after-school program in her own garage. These after-school programs are what the NHS wanted to highlight at its annual street fair.
The essay contest confirmed that the after-school programs do provide what students most need: a secure, safe and quiet place to do homework, with someone to help them if they need help. Previous research showed that most of the children in the communities served have parents whose median educational level is only between the third and sixth grades, with Spanish being their first (and sometimes only) language.
The NHS's after-school programs now serve nearly 200 children.
In addition to highlighting its after-school centers, NHS staff wanted to enhance and nurture its partnership base.
III Process
The NHS marketed the essay contest through the five local schools to students in grades three through six. About 150 students submitted essays, and classroom teachers sent the 50 best to the NHS for consideration. The NHS Santa Ana Chapter Advisory Board rated and chose the winners, who were announced at the street fair.
Partnership involvement in the street fair was solicited through letters, phone calls and personal visits to current partners as well as to new partners.
IV Outreach
A strong partnership with the schools enabled the essay contest to be promoted and administered. Among other promotional efforts was a unique partnership with the local Pizza Hut, which taped a flier announcing the event to every pizza box they delivered during the four days preceding the fair.
V Funding
Funding for the street fair came from a Neighborhood Reinvestment grant of $7,500. Computers used as prizes were donated, as were refreshments, entertainment and other activities at the fair.
VI Lessons Learned
Although the NHS tried to get media coverage by sending out press releases and making calls, little coverage was generated. For the 2002 street fair, the NHS will start on its publicity campaign earlier and with more vigor.
The street fair and especially the essay contest did raise the visibility of the NHS and its programs to residents of the community and to public- and private-sector partners. Having prizes as valuable as computers was a real draw.
It always helps to add a personal touch when building partnerships. Meeting people face-to-face, even just for five minutes, often results in stronger and wider connections being made with potential funders and other supporters.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury
Waterbury, Connecticut
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury, Connecticut, made a citywide essay contest for school children a principal activity of NeighborWorks® Week. The NHS's only other NeighborWorks® Week event was its annual meeting.
Highlighted Activity: More than 50 entries of 100 words or less were submitted on the theme "What My Home Means to Me." First- and second-place winners were selected by a three-person NHS committee in each of three age categories (up to 8, 9-12, 13-17); a special, third-place winner was selected among 9 to 12-year-olds.
Winners were presented with their awards (bikes for first place, $50 U.S. savings bonds for second) at a June 7 awards picnic at a neighborhood park.
In addition, the NHS also submitted the winning entries to Neighborhood Reinvestment's NeighborWorks® Week essay contest. Two Waterbury prize winners placed second in the national contest (in the up-to-8 and 9-13 categories).
II Object
By opening the contest to students citywide, the NHS sought to raise its own community visibility as well as to highlight the city's schools.
The NHS also wanted to encourage participating students to think seriously about their home and neighborhood.
III Process
The idea for the contest came from the Waterbury Neighborhood Council, representing residents in 18 city neighborhoods. The NHS sponsors the council. When Neighborhood Reinvestment announced a national essay competition, NHS of Waterbury decided to adopt the same theme.
The NHS publicized the local contest with fliers to schools and neighborhood organizations and also with local media outreach.
IV Outreach
Residents played a big role in distributing publicity fliers and encouraging student participation. Contest announcements also were carried by a local radio station, a biweekly paper and the daily Republican-American. The daily also announced the winners, covered the award picnic, and then printed the winning essays.
V Funding
Contest expenses, mainly the various prizes, were paid for from a Neighborhood Reinvestment $1,000 mini-grant.
VI Lessons Learned
The NHS did raise its visibility. Queries rose about its citywide loan program, and the father of one winner is the editor of "Connecticut" magazine (but no short-term magazine follow-up occurred).
Fundraising always falls to the executive director, even with an exceptional event committee.
An essay contest is a manageable activity with good visibility for the sponsoring organization.
East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services
Peoria, Illinois
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services included the NeighborWorks® Week essay contest sponsored by Neighborhood Reinvestment in its activities, which focused mainly on targeted neighborhood beautification.
Highlighted Activity: Around 40 entries from three neighborhood schools were submitted to Neighborhood Reinvestment for judging. The essay's topic was "What My Home Means to Me," and students who completed their essays as part of a school computer project competed in two age categories: up to 12 and 13-17.
In the national competition, East Bluff NHS essays won two first-place awards (up to 12 and 13-17) and one second place (13-17). First-place awards were a trophy or journal and $100; second place was a trophy and $75.
The winners then were honored at a June 14 award ceremony at the NHS's office. T-shirts were presented to every participant.
Other Activities: In the beautification effort, some 70 State Farm Insurance employee-volunteers joined NHS board members and neighborhood residents in landscaping nine properties, including the NHS office, and painting two properties. In addition, paint was provided to one homeowner to do his own house.
II Objectives
A key objective of the essay contest was to increase NHS participation with neighborhood schools.
Overall, the NHS's NeighborWorks® Week objectives were to improve the appearance of the neighborhood, build neighborhood pride and increase involvement of NHS partners.
III Process
Planning for NeighborWorks® Week began in February between the NHS's executive director and an NHS board member from State Farm.
For the essay contest, neighborhood schools were first solicited by letter, and then each principal was visited in person.
For the beautification, fliers were distributed to neighborhood residents, asking their ideas and suggestions.
IV Outreach
State Farm, as a corporate partner, and neighborhood residents participated through the planning and execution of events. Board members, as business partners, participated in the beautification work.
State Farm handled media outreach, which included local radio spots and local TV coverage. The essay winners were featured in the Journal-Star newspaper. Local TV covered the beautification work.
V Funding
Funding for the week's events included a $1,000 mini-grant from Neighborhood Reinvestment and an estimated $5,000 in in-kind donations from State Farm. In addition, State Farm also contributed $500 and donated library materials to a school selected for outstanding community service.
VI Lessons Learned
Insure that residents get involved early so they become owners and stakeholders in the planned project.
It is easier to focus on a single corporate partner, with whom you work intensely, rather than to try juggling a combination of partners.
Start the planning process early, reward volunteers and include an after-action event.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Neighborhood Housing Services of Cincinnati sponsored a NeighborWorks® Week essay contest for first-time homebuyers that promised a $1,000 award for the winner to put toward closing costs on a house in the city. The contest was offered as a main component of a June 10-14 NHS homeowner exposition.
Highlighted Activity: In Cincinnati, the mayor has sponsored an initiative to increase home ownership, and the NHS marketed the essay contest widely, with press releases, public-service announcements, direct mailings to target neighborhoods and fliers in community meetings. In addition, an NHS lending partner, Star Bank, contributed a full-page newspaper ad on the contest and expo.
In the end, 10 prospective homeowners submitted essays of up to 500 words on "What Owning a Home Means to Me." They were judged by an essay committee of business professionals, the NHS board president and the district director of Neighborhood Reinvestment, and a winner was announced at an expo award event.
The winner was a single parent who has been renting for eight years in the NHS's service area. Once notified, she began negotiations with her landlord and also began credit counseling with the NHS, which will hold the check until the closing.
The other entrants also were invited to the award presentation, and many attended expo workshops during the week.
II Objectives
The purpose of the expo as well as of the essay contest was to educate participants in all aspects of home ownership and community participation.
III Process
Planning overall began in February with the NHS's neighborhood community council, and the idea for the essay contest came from an Internet report on a Fannie Mae housing fair. Fannie Mae provided the rules for its contest, and the NHS modified them for NeighborWorks® Week and the expo.
IV Outreach
Besides Star Bank, other NHS partners included Evanston Community Council, the city's Department of Neighborhood Services, Huntington Bank, the Coalition of Neighborhoods and the International Brotherhood Union.
Moreover, Star Bank has expressed interest in sponsoring a day of NHS workshops every couple months, offering a $500 prize toward home ownership and discounting closing costs.
Even with widespread advance publicity for the essay contest, media response was weak.
V Funding
Funding included a $2,000 mini-grant from Neighborhood Reinvestment, $500 from Star Bank, $200 from the Evanston Community Council and a number of donated services. Aside from the essay prize, most other expenses were promotional.
VI Lessons Learned
Don't spare on community meetings. Bug the press and even elected officials early and often.
Try to get as many residents as possible involved in the planning process. For instance, encourage members of a self-selecting core group of residents to bring their friends to the next meeting.
The NHS didn't get the turnout it had hoped for but felt those who did come learned a lot.
Media Relations
Housing Partnership for Morris County
Dover, New Jersey
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
The staff at the Housing Partnership for Morris County, an organization fairly new to the Neighborworks® network, has established an excellent working relationship with their area's newspaper, "The Daily Record." The Partnership promoted its 9th annual Homeownership Expo during NeighborWorks® Week last year by working with the newspaper to create and distribute a tabloid insert about the expo, which appeared in the paper the Sunday before the event.
Highlighted Activity: Nearly 400 people responded to the tabloid insert in "The Daily Record" and participated in the Homeownership Expo. This event was held at the area community college (with space donated by the college) and featured homebuyer education seminars, breakout sessions on topics such as down-payment assistance, credit or foreclosure, and nearly 30 informational booths. About half of these exhibitors were banks that partner with the Housing Partnership, but also included businesses such as Home Depot, Realtors, federal agencies such as HUD and USDA, and nonprofits. Except for the nonprofits, exhibitors paid $500 to exhibit, which also got their names and logos on promotional materials, including in the tabloid. Larger contributors also had the chance to speak at the event.
The Housing Partnership used NeighborWorks® Week posters, banners and other materials throughout the expo, and added to the festive atmosphere by decorating with balloons, offering door prizes, selling hotdogs and engaging other groups, like the Boy Scouts, to run bake sales or other activities.
II Objectives
Reaching as many people as possible with the message of affordable home ownership was the primary purpose of both the expo and the tabloid. The expo lasted about four hours and attracted a significant number of people to the programs and services offered by the Housing Partnership. These include homebuyer education, down-payment assistance, renter education, its first Home Club and distribution of several periodicals (among them, an apartment guide and a seniors' guide). With the newspaper having a circulation of 50,000, the tabloid insert reached a large percentage of the families in Morris County.
III Process
The relationship between the Housing Partnership and "The Daily Record" began several years ago when the newspaper donated a free ad to the organization. Once contact was made and the newspaper grew to understand the organization's purpose, its publisher and advertising director were open to a pitch by the Housing Partnership for a tabloid-type insert advertising its homebuyers' expo, similar to one that had appeared in the paper for a bridal expo.
The Housing Partnership encouraged its seminar sponsors to purchase ads in the tabloid, which were given at a 25 percent discount. If a bank or other partner purchased a half-page ad, they were also featured in an article that promoted one of its services, such as a special lending program for persons with disabilities.
The Partnership contributed generic articles, such as a "homebuyer shopper checklist" and "tips on credit," which made the tabloid a useful long-term tool for the organization. The newspaper did a print over-run of about 1,000 copies of the tabloid, which the Partnership will use throughout the year in its homebuyer seminars — giving it a long shelf-life that adds value to both the newspaper and its advertisers.
IV Outreach
Establishing a personal relationship with the newspaper's staff played a large role in the decision to create the tabloid. It also resulted in the newspaper's giving free, six-month subscriptions and other merchandise for the organization to use as door prizes at the expo and other events. The Housing Partnership has acknowledged and nurtured this relationship by presenting framed certificates of appreciation to the publisher, advertising director and reporter at its annual meetings.
V Funding
The tabloid cost nothing to the Housing Partnership and, although a break-even venture financially for the newspaper, did promote its interest in the community and its willingness to work with agents of positive change. The expo itself is a largely volunteer effort staffed by the Housing Partnership and, because of the free advertisements, became a fundraiser for the Partnership.
VI Lessons Learned
You never know unless you ask: Reach out to local media outlets with ideas that can be a win-win opportunity for all involved.
Publicly acknowledge and thank people who help you. It costs little and buys a lot of goodwill.
The Unity Council
Oakland, California
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
The Unity Council is a community development corporation that focuses on enhancing the economic, social and physical assets of the Fruitvale district. One of its strategies is to create Neighborhoods of Choice. To do this, the organization targets an area smaller than, but within, its service-delivery area, to paint, landscape and assist in the clean-up of the selected site. This Big Build project creates a relationship with the homeowners and other residents that continues to be nourished by the organization through its other services.
Highlighted Activity: For NeighborWorks® Week, The Unity Council selected a targeted block of 28 homes and pulled together residents and volunteers to clean yards, pull weeds and paint exteriors. Four of these homes were in severe need of paint and landscaping, which their elderly, disabled owners couldn't manage. These homes received more extensive work. After the work was completed, a festive block party was held. Garden benches with engraved nameplates were presented to the owners. Children were entertained and food (breakfast and lunch) was provided to all participants.
More than 100 Washington Mutual employees and other volunteers assisted in this beautifying effort. Dignitaries who attended included Mayor Jerry Brown, City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, David Matz, vice president of Clorox Corporation and a board member of the Council, Ron Silva of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Mary Lee Widener, president of Neighborhood Housing Services of America, regional vice presidents from Washington Mutual and several other local and regional corporations, and radio celebrities. The event received extensive media coverage by both English- and Spanish-language media outlets.
II Objectives
To implement a work project that would positively affect a Neighborhood of Choice;
To involve the whole neighborhood in the project by asking residents to participate in cleaning their yards and streets. The Council provided dumpsters for them to dispose of refuse.
To further promote The Unity Council by working closely with the media in disseminating information on the event and the organization, and by involving Spanish-language media to communicate with its audience.
III Process
Since this was the Council's first Big Build project, staff worked with Washington Mutual and Neighborhood Reinvestment staff for advice on how to proceed.
An agency team was created to coordinate the selection of homes and the Block Party site.
Letters were sent to all the residents on the block to create awareness of what would be happening on their street.
Everyone was invited to the community celebration.
Homeowners were contacted and became involved in the selection of paint, plants, etc.
Elected officials and guests were contacted.
Professional contractors were used to prep houses and finish them once volunteers painted them.
Local merchants and vendors were used to help stimulate local revenues.
Merchants were contacted to contribute donations for painting and landscaping supplies.
Thank you notes were sent to all donors and volunteers.
Expenses were tracked against the budget.
IV Outreach
In addition to the above, door hangers were distributed to homes in the area. Letters and phone calls were used to invite city officials and critical partners to participate in the event. Media advisories and press releases were sent out to an extensive media list, which included radio, television and print (and included Spanish media contacts). A local church was asked to arrange for parking for volunteers. Unity Council staff attended local networking events and mixers to invite people and create awareness around the event.
V Funding
Washington Mutual contributed $20,000 to the effort and there were in-kind donations from local businesses and city government.
VI Lessons Learned
It is important to have partnerships.
The improvement of four homes in great need created a domino effect that led to other homeowners improving their properties.
The event raised visibility for The Unity Council and helped meet its mission of reversing the downward spiral of a community. It also solidified a new partnership with Washington Mutual.
Proclamations
Pontiac Neighborhood Housing Services
Pontiac, Michigan
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Pontiac Neighborhood Housing Services, reflecting a strong partnership with the city through the mayor's office, secured a congratulatory proclamation from the mayor as part of its chartering ceremony during NeighborWorks® Week.
Highlighted Activity: Pontiac's mayor was working to increase volunteerism in the city, and the NHS's model-block cleanup for NeighborWorks® Week, which involved 30-40 neighborhood volunteers, was cited in the proclamation as a leading example.
In the works for about a month, the proclamation cited the NHS for, among other things, "bringing renewed health to the Perdue Square neighborhood through successful partnerships of residents, business leaders and government officials."
Mayor Moore himself was an NHS board member 10 years earlier and had recruited to the NHS its outgoing 10-year president, Steve Fladger.
The NHS's model-block effort drew 17 houses into a clean-up and beautification project that attracted strong community volunteer support and extended over a series of weekends.
II Objectives
With the model-block approach, the NHS was trying to create a resident-generated neighborhood revitalization standard that could be replicated throughout the city.
Most importantly, the project drew neighbors into talking with each other and working together as a team.
III Process
Planning for the June events started the previous October. Developing the model block was an ongoing process that had begun in 1995 with new sidewalks. Similarly, the NHS knew in advance it was eligible for chartering. The idea was to bring both processes to a point where they could be celebrated in a single event.
The planning process was led by the NHS's program committee, which brought increasing numbers of model-block residents into the monthly planning meetings.
IV Outreach
The tie-in for the proclamation was the chartering ceremony and celebration.
Local business partners donated the bulk of the materials used in the cleanup and beautification.
The NHS prepared press releases and called the local media about the events, but coverage was less than expected.
From the model-block effort, other resident committees have formed around competing for a city beautification award, establishing a crimewatch and monitoring the upkeep of the model block.
V Funding
Funding for the celebration included a $2,000 mini-grant from Neighborhood Reinvestment. The 17 yard lights were purchased from a Neighborhood Reinvestment expendable grant.
VI Lessons Learned
Residents really do want to know each other and to work together. Once the dialogue begins, it's amazing what they will do as a team. The model block was the mechanism that opened the dialogue.
Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services
Fairbanks, Alaska
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services welcomed first-time homeowners and showcased its community economic impact with an outdoor celebration downtown that featured a series of executive proclamations naming June 7-14 as NeighborWorks® Week throughout the area.
The homeowners' homecoming was part of a multi-event NeighborWorks® Week arranged by the NHS that also included a neighborhood street fair, clean-up, picnic barbeque and Project Paint.
Highlighted Activity: The NHS secured the proclamations from Gov. Tony Knowles, Mayor Jim Sampson of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Fairbanks Mayor James C. Hayes. The NHS maintains close ongoing relations with the offices of each official. The governor maintains a local office in Fairbanks. Public officials in the state are very accessible.
The proclamations, drafted by the NHS, cited its efforts in "positively transforming neighborhoods," and its achievements in home ownership, mutual housing, and leveraging outside investment.
At the homecoming, a member of Gov. Knowles' staff read his proclamation; the two mayors added supportive remarks. They were joined by NHS-assisted homeowners, who recounted their homebuying experiences and their appreciation for the NHS's counseling and financial assistance.
Among the 50 guests were many of the NHS's lender-partners and local business and government supporters. Refreshments included a large sheet cake decorated with the homeowners' T-shirt design.
The NHS contacted the executives' offices in early April to raise the possibility of the proclamations. If offered several events as possible venues for their presentation, but the location and timing of the homecoming were most appealing. It was at noontime during the middle of the week in a park next to the State Building and across the street from City Hall.
Other Activities: Other events focused on the South Side, and particularly on a single neighborhood street. The second annual street fair featured refreshments and booths from 25 organizations. The cleanup resulted in five tons of junk being hauled away from seven abandoned lots. Project Paint, in its fifth year, prepped and painted 11 homes and an area church.
II Objectives
The NHS wanted to showcase its overall resources and programs and concentrate is volunteer efforts for maximum effect. The NHS also wanted to schedule as many outdoor events as possible, to take advantage of the area's very short summer and to reach residents who had not responded in the past.
III Process
Initial planning began in February. The street fair and cleanup were planned and organized largely by the Southside Neighborhood Organization. An NHS committee manages Project Paint. The homeowners's homecoming was arranged by NHS staff.
IV Outreach
The homecoming attracted many of the NHS's lender-partners. Project Paint volunteer teams came from nearby military installations, the NHS board and others.
The officials' presence attracted TV and press coverage of the homecoming, and the Fairbanks Daily News — Miner profiled NHS-assisted first-time homeowners and reported the NeighborWorks® Week event schedule.
V Funding
Combined cash and in-kind contributions totaled $7,500, and included a $2,000 Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grant, donated paint and tools, and Project Paint house and block sponsorships.
VI Lessons Learned
Start early and be realistic about what you can accomplish with your financial and human resources. Everything costs more and takes longer than you think. Double check everything.
Don't try to do it all yourself; enlist the support and enthusiasm of other local social service organizations, if available.
Educate people constantly about what you're trying to accomplish. Thank everybody all the time.
Educate Project Paint homeowners on their responsibilities toward volunteers. They should be home, and help, if possible. They should provide a glass of water, if asked, and allow volunteers use of the bathroom.
Public Official Involvement
- Allentown Neighborhood Housing Services
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland County
- Twin Cities Neighborhood Housing Services
Allentown Neighborhood Housing Services
Allentown, Pennsylvania
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Allentown Neighborhood Housing Services hosted a range of elected officials, including the city's mayor and congressional representative, at NeighborWorks® Week events that included a downtown revitalization kickoff and a home-ownership tour.
Highlighted Activity: The revitalization kickoff, called Operation Facelift, drew the most officials. It focused on three blocks of the city's principal downtown artery, North Seventh Street, and featured the NHS's exterior housing-rehab program, Operation Facelift. Other kickoff events included a neighborhood cleanup, homeowner maintenance classes and a block party, each sponsored by other area organizations.
More than 100 volunteers, including teams from some NHS partners, worked on the Operation Facelift houses. They replaced windows, doors, wood trim, downspouts and gutters, flower boxes and handrails; painted; made wall and chimney repairs; and did foundation and stucco work. Professional contractors supervised the volunteers and followed up on jobs left unfinished at day's end.
The elected-official volunteers gravitated to the rehab work. Among them were Mayor William Heydt, who worked throughout the day, U.S. Rep. Paul McHale, state Rep. Charlie Dent and numerous city-council members.
Mayor Heydt, later in the week, also joined a home-ownership bus tour of NHS neighborhoods for NHS partners and prospects. The tour featured homes bought in Pennsylvania Power and Light's community partnership program.
In attracting the officials, the NHS relied on a high-visibility event, the revitalization kickoff, and its carefully nurtured relationship with local officials. Early media reports, for example, featured preparations for the kickoff, and Rep. McHale's office followed up by asking a first-term mayor, and the NHS has worked hard on building a relationship with him. This event also took place in a local election year.
II Objectives
The NHS's main objective was to help enhance the downtown revitalization kickoff. North Seventh Street, despite its prominent location in the city, showed signs of inattention, had become overpopulated, and suffered from rising absentee ownership.
Participation in the kickoff provided increased visibility for the NHS also.
III Process
Planning started in January, with the NHS coordinating Operation Facelift with city plans for kicking off the downtown revitalization. An early agreement was reached to include the NHS rehab program in the kickoff.
For the kickoff, the NHS loosened the rules for Operation Facelift, which normally is limited to owner-occupied buildings. On North Seventh Street, rental owners were also able to qualify if their city taxes and water payments were current, and they participated in the work. The NHS also expanded its target area to include North Seventh Street.
The planning group then brought in other organizations as sponsors of the cleanup, maintenance classes and block party.
Some 1997 planning participants, including the NHS, have continued to meet monthly, developing additional downtown revitalization strategies.
IV Outreach
NHS partners, such as Allstate Insurance and Pennsylvania Power and Light, contributed volunteer work teams or financial support. Other nonprofits also contributed teams of volunteers.
Advance media coverage of the revitalization kickoff was extensive and enthusiastic. Besides Rep. McHale's office, at least a dozen other individuals called to volunteer in response.
For the event itself, TV reporting, while including Operation Facelift and Mayor Heydt, focused on the home-maintenance classes. The next day's paper carried two pictures.
The home-ownership tour also attracted good press and TV coverage.
V Funding
Principal funding for Operation Facelift came from Pennsylvania Power and Light, which provided $40,000 for supplies, materials and professional contractors. Other local supporters also contributed.
The NHS was awarded a $2,000 Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grant.
VI Lessons Learned
Try to keep your activity focused on a small compact area; it helps to concentrate people's attention.
Sometimes, events you spend less time on seem to go better than larger, more elaborate ones.
Planning complex, high-profile events can be very time-consuming, especially when participants come from both the public and private sectors.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland County
Richland Center, Wisconsin
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland County hosted a pair of elected officials at a NeighborWorks® Week groundbreaking on four new homes in a rural part of Richland Center. The groundbreaking was part of a series of NeighborWorks® Week events, including an open house, arranged by NHS of Richland County.
Highlighted Activity: The groundbreaking celebrated the East Haseltine Community Development Subdivision, which will include four handicap-accessible homes. The participating elected officials included Mayor Thomas McCarthy of Richland Center and state Sen. Dale Schultz, who both spoke at the event.
McCarthy is an NHS board member and former member of the NHS loan committee. He has led the way in securing major CDBG grants for Richland Center, which the NHS has administered.
Schultz has been strong supporter of the NHS's activities, and, in turn, serves as a key link between the NHS and supportive state programs.
Other Activities: The open house marked a successful new-construction and human services partnership among the NHS and other state and local actors that resulted in first-time home ownership for a local family which had two members affected by developmental disabilities.
Other NHS events included an announcement on a local billboard marking NeighborWorks® Week and flag-decorated NHS yard signs throughout the community, combining celebrations of NeighborWorks® Week and Flag Day.
II Objectives
The week's events were planned to raise the community visibility of the NHS, to honor its community partners and, with the open house, to demonstrate the feasibility of home ownership for some persons with disabilities.
III Process
Planning for NeighborWorks® Week began as early as February, working with area lenders, Realtors, potential homeowners and NHS board members.
For the first-time homebuying family with developmentally disabled members, the NHS had established an ongoing relationship with the state Department of Health and Family Services. Other state and local officials came together to make the process work.
IV Outreach
NHS local partners in government, business and lending institutions provide strong ongoing support throughout the year.
The NHS uses local radio, TV and newspapers to provide a steady flow of reports to the community on its activities. Nearly all the NHS's NeighborWorks® Week events were covered by local media.
V Funding
In addition to a $1,000 Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grant, funding came largely through in-kind donations from the NHS's local partners.
VI Lessons Learned
Market your program. When you plan, bring everyone to the table. Be creative with your funding sources.
Really involve your local corporate sector. Educate them on how home ownership stabilizes their workforce and keeps it local, and gives their employees a greater stake in the community.
Involve Realtors and bankers heavily in every aspect of your program.
Develop a knowledgeable and committed staff and then provide ongoing training and follow-through.
Twin Cities Neighborhood Housing Services
St. Paul, Minnesota
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Twin Cities Neighborhood Housing Services saluted its expanded corps of volunteers and corporate sponsors with a series of high-profile appearances by long-time NHS friend and ally, U.S. Rep. Bruce F. Vento, whose Congressional district includes St. Paul.
The NHS organized more than 400 volunteers into four juried beautification projects around Minneapolis-St. Paul (compared to a traditional turnout of around 100 volunteers for a single annual project), and then feted them as guests of the Minnesota Twins at a Metrodome barbeque and Twins-Angels game.
Highlighted Activity: Vento, who originally helped write the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act of 1978, spoke in the morning at two of the four beautification projects, where he also stopped to work briefly with the volunteers and pose for photographs. Later, he joined the citywide volunteer picnic at the Metrodome, praising the volunteers' dedication and community spirit.
Vento's NeighborWorks® Week appearance came as part of his ongoing availability over the years for NHS events. He has appeared also, for example, at NHS annual meetings and at other years' NeighborWorks® Week events.
The NHS keeps Vento's St. Paul office routinely informed of ongoing NHS plans and programs. Then a month or two before a hoped-for appearance, the NHS contacts his office, outlines the forthcoming event, and, if it fits into the Congressman's schedule, prepares a detailed briefing paper, describing the event, explaining who will attend and highlighting invited special guests.
Other Activity: In the beautification projects, Dayton's Bluff NHS planted ivy to beautify a noise-abatement wall, Community NHS cleaned up and refurbished a park, Northside NHS reconditioned and landscaped traffic diverters, and Southside NHS landscaped an exit ramp-gateway to the Southside area. The four outside judges selected Northside NHS's project as the winner; their award was presented by Bert Blyleven, a former Twins pitcher and now sports commentator.
At the Metrodome picnic, Lt. Gov. Joanne Benson presented the keynote address on the importance of volunteerism. At the baseball game, selected volunteers from a Boy Scout troop served as honorary "batkids," Bill Kitchen, then of Neighborhood Reinvestment's North Central district, threw out the first pitch. Even so, the game was won by the Angels.
II Objectives
The NHS used the events as part of a continuous NHS marketing process to the Minneapolis-St. Paul community, and also to encourage greater community involvement by its neighborhood residents and corporate sponsors.
The expanded NeighborWorks® Week agenda also was an NHS kickoff for a three-year,
$2.1-million 21st Century Campaign for Neighborhoods, designed to raise operating support for Minneapolis-St. Paul NHSs.
III Process
With its expanded NeighborWorks® Week agenda, the NHS begins initial planning as much as 10 months in advance, coordinating with local NHSs on a work strategy and selecting specific projects.
Corporate volunteer coordinators are brought into the process in February or March, to begin reviewing the projects, estimating volunteer and financial requirements, and determining outside fundraising goals.
By April, the planning turns toward overall logistics, such as transportation for volunteers and invitations for dignitaries. Local NHSs carry out detailed project planning.
IV Outreach
In addition to the Minnesota Twins, corporate volunteers came from Allstate Insurance Company, Firstar Banks, Northern States Power, Piper Jaffrey Inc., State Farm Insurance Company, TCF Bank and The St. Paul Companies.
Also participating were the Riverview Development Alliance, parents and students from the University of St. Thomas Hispanic Pre-College Project, St. Paul Boy Scott Troop 228 from our Lady of Guadalupe Church, the North Community Project Committee, the Mounds Park Business Association and the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
For media outreach, an NHS board-level public outreach committee prepared a comprehensive metro-area media list, which was used to fax an advance news release. Then committee members followed up with personal contacts. Media coverage was diverted by the murder of a state trooper, which dominated the area's news.
V Funding
Local NHSs received $3,500 in Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grants. Corporate sponsors provided an array of in-kind contributions.
VI Lessons Learned
Begin planning as early as possible to make the events as successful as possible.
Make sure community residents and corporate sponsors really understand and appreciate the agenda. Get buy-in from everybody.
Help visiting officials with as much advance information on an event as possible — what the project is, why it's important, where the volunteers are from, and whether other special guests will be present.
Keep celebrity sponsors fully informed as your plans unfold. Make them feel a part of the process from the beginning. Always be looking for ways they can benefit from participating.
Rural Organization Participation
- Rural Opportunities Inc., Ohio Division
- Rural Opportunities Inc., Michigan Office of Housing and Economic Development
Rural Opportunities Inc., Ohio Division
Alliance, Ohio
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Rural Opportunities of Ohio, though a 12-year-old veteran organization, celebrated its first NeighborWorks® Week in 1997 with an afternoon picnic, drawing together three of the area's other housing-development organizations and their farmworker clients. In addition, Rural Opportunities' Alliance Housing Resource Center held a week-long open house, highlighting its accomplishments and services.
Highlighted Activity: Rural Opportunities regularly partners on housing and home-ownership issues with Development Alliance, Habitat for Humanity and Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority.
Development Alliance, for example, is the ownership entity of a year-round farmworker-housing complex that Rural Opportunities developed. Rural Opportunities provides home-ownership training and counseling to Habitat clients. When Start Metropolitan Housing Authority took on a HOPE-III project, the developer was Rural Opportunities.
Board memberships also overlap among the organizations. "It only make sense to partner," according to Phyllis Beyers, executive director of Rural Opportunities.
More than 150 persons, including staff and clients from Rural Opportunities and the other housing organizations, and local government and business representatives, turned out for the city-park picnic. Most bought $10 family tickets that admitted six. The events began with games for the children, and then moved on to a featured drawing for some 50 donated door prizes. Prizes included free hotel stays and restaurant dinners, among other items. Matching tickets stubs marked the winners.
Finally, with children running everywhere, the eating began in a balloon-decorated park pavilion, with prepared dishes donated by area restaurants. A Rural Opportunities staffer with telemarketing experience arranged for most of the donations. Volunteers helped with cleanup and also took home leftovers.
Other Activities: At the open house, guests could browse through Rural Opportunities' literature, videotapes and computer programs. Its down-payment assistance program, for instance, was featured on the Web site of the state's Department of Development.
II Objectives
For Rural Opportunities, NeighborWorks® Week was a celebration of housing activities of all kind, including the partnerships among area organizations, participants in home-ownership classes, and tenants who may one day become homeowners.
III Process
Planning for the picnic began as early as February. While Rural Opportunities had sponsored picnics before, the proposed size and diversity of the NeighborWorks® Week affair were new.
A planning committee of Rural Opportunities staff, volunteers and a local business partner began tackling the issues of food, tickets, door prizes, and so forth. The planners estimated attendance at 100, but ordered food for 150-200. They settled on a family ticket, then had to decide who was "family."
IV Outreach
Community spirit — and a talented ex-telemarketer — prompted widespread support from Rural Opportunities' local business and government partners. The picnic venue, for example, was donated by the city.
The local media was responsive, running an advance article on NeighborWorks® Week. However, pictures of the event did not appear in the paper.
V Funding
In addition to donated or discounted goods and services, other funding included some $700 from ticket sales and a $2,000 Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grant.
VI Lessons Learned
Focus early on event details, make decisions, and follow through.
Have plenty of physical activities for the children. The next picnic, for example, will be moved to a park pavilion with an attached playground.
A public-address system is essential for an outdoor crowd of 150 that includes children.
Arrange for a staff or volunteer photographer for all events, to record them for promotional purposes as well as to service the media.
Rural Opportunities Inc. Michigan Office of Housing and Economic Development
Grand Haven, Michigan
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Rural Opportunities Inc. of Michigan, still settling into Grand Haven after moving from Kalamazoo, joined with Grand Haven Community Education in creating a community garden in the Olde Towne neighborhood.
Although Rural Opportunities provides technical assistance in housing development to nonprofits statewide, its office sits at the edge of the Olde Towne neighborhood.
Highlighted Activity: Some 30 volunteers, most of them residents of the Olde Towne neighborhood, helped plant the 450-square-foot vegetable and flower garden on the grounds of a former neighborhood elementary school, now used as the Community Education Center. The building houses an alternative education program and hosts neighborhood meetings.
Grand Haven Community Education and the Olde Towne Neighborhood Improvement Association had been talking about upgrading the school's grounds and making them more inviting to the neighborhood. When the America the Beautiful Fund of Washington, D.C., awarded Community Education an assortment of flower and vegetable seeds, using them to create a neighborhood garden seemed like a promising idea.
In preparation, Rural Opportunities sent press releases on the community garden to local press and radio outlets and leafleted each house in the neighborhood. A neighborhood association member who runs a landscaping service rototilled an area for the garden and added topsoil. A neighborhood deli agreed to cater a picnic for the working volunteers.
In the garden, volunteers planted tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and other vegetables,
and planted a border of marigolds. Rural Opportunities donated benches for the area.
The picnic and gardening went on simultaneously, amid displays from Rural Opportunities, State Farm Insurance, and the city's community policing unit.
A group of residents cared for the garden during the summer, and the neighbors were free to pick the produce as it ripened. As the school year started, an English class from the alternative education program began adding a Shakespearean garden.
Plans are to replant the garden each spring.
II Objectives
Rural Opportunities wanted to increase the sense of community in the lower-income, predominantly rental neighborhood. It also wanted to create an opportunity for greater resident involvement.
The community garden served as a way to celebrate life in Olde Towne, in which the whole neighborhood could participate all summer long.
III Process
Initial planning began in February on selecting a project (organizing church volunteers to paint selected neighborhood houses), identifying tasks and following through. But neighborhood association members, while interested, were slow on committee assignments.
Finally, with the calendar slipping toward NeighborWorks® Week, Rural Opportunities began talking with Community Education on possible alternatives. The grant of vegetable and flower seeds pointed toward a community garden, and Rural Opportunities saw it as both an effective and practical project.
Arrangements for the soil preparation, publicity and picnic went easily, and, suddenly, Rural Opportunities moved from backing a nonstarter to shaping a promising, ready-to-go event.
IV Outreach
Key contacts at the senior staff level among Rural Opportunities, Community Education and the neighborhood association made a timely collaboration possible.
Rural Opportunities' local partners, State Farm Insurance and the city's community policing unit, contributed displays at the picnic. Local businesses provided reduced-price services.
The Grand Haven Tribune ran pictures and a story on the community garden.
V Funding
Funding for the event came from a Neighborhood Reinvestment $2,000 mini-grant, which paid for the benches, printing, catering and other services.
VI Lessons Learned
Having been in the community only a few months, smaller goals might have made more sense for a first NeighborWorks® Week project. Time was needed to build stronger local relationships and rouse resident enthusiasm.
Groups that meet infrequently work slowly. Next time, Rural Opportunities will work with the neighborhood association and other participants as early as January, to gain sufficient lead time.
Key people in community organizations have the ability to make things happen. The secret is in identifying who they are and gaining their collaboration well in advance.
Volunteer Participation
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago
- Columbus Neighborhood Housing Services
- Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise
- Anchorage Neighborhood Housing Services
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Boise
Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, in its 10th year of celebrating NeighborWorks® Week, marshalled more than 1,500 volunteers from corporate and local government partners, college alumni associations, churches and youth groups. They joined with residents from 10 NHS neighborhoods in planting gardens, gutting buildings for rehab, and cleaning lots.
Highlighted Activity: Projects varied from neighborhood to neighborhood, each with a single or combination of corporate sponsors and other volunteers. In Back of the Yards, for instance, a horse-shoe pitch area was built. In Little Village, a shelter was painted and landscaped. With so many volunteers, most projects wound up by midday or early afternoon. Selected neighborhoods and their projects are highlighted below.
In the NHS's newest neighborhood, Chicago Lawn/Gage Park, volunteers partnered with neighbors and a local youth group to work on the homes of seniors. They cleaned up yards, painted fences and porches and trimmed hedges and shrubs. Then, stymied by rain from painting outside, volunteers worked on cleaning and washing the vacant second-floor unit so the first-floor owner could rent it for additional income.
In West Englewood, the neighborhood board focused a volunteer landscaping blitz on a single block. They thought rejuvenating the block would help support homeowners fixing up their houses and help motivate neighbors on adjoining streets. The work included turning over and seeding the parkways (tree boxes) on each side of the street, planting shrubs and flowers in front of participating houses and also boarding up the block's only vacant bungalow. On a vacant corner lot, neighborhood volunteers put up a tent filled with NHS materials and marketed NHS services and products to passers-by.
Most media attention was drawn to Roseland, where State Farm Insurance volunteers and neighbors helped restore a memorial garden to children who were victims of shootings, painted a mural and rededicated the garden. A State Farm hometown-hero award was presented to the NHS neighborhood director, and a local radio station broadcast from the scene.
In West Humboldt, Bank of America Chairman and CEO Bill Goodyear and other Bank of America volunteers wrestled railroad ties into place to help residents build a community garden. The railroad ties were used to mark off garden areas.
One project, in the Boulevard area, turned into so much work that completing it took well into the fall. This involved scraping and painting a 100-year-old wrought iron fence that runs for a block in front of a school. In NeighborWorks® Week, one group of CNA volunteers scraped the fence. Then in August, more CNA volunteers came back to put on rust converter and begin painting. The balance of the fence was painted in October.
II Objectives
Despite its history (founded in 1975) and record (more than 100,000 clients served and $900 million in reinvestment leveraged), the NHS still uses NeighborWorks® Week to enhance its name recognition and visibility in the Chicago metropolitan area.
It also uses the various events to market its programs and launch the summer seasons of housing rehab, fixup and maintenance. Many NHS loan products, for instance, are available citywide, not just in NHS target neighborhoods.
Projects are selected that fit best into each neighborhood's overall strategic plan. Then the projects are used to help build relationships among volunteers, NHS board members and residents.
Participating volunteers are encouraged to become NHS individual contributors through a special NHS thank you and newsletter. The newsletter contains a return envelope for contributions.
III Process
NHS of Chicago's annual planning process begins with invitations to all past funders and corporate sponsors for a kickoff and an introductory meeting in January with neighborhood NHSs. Small-group sessions are organized by neighborhoods, with the NHSs highlighting projects that might appeal to a range of volunteer skills. Follow-up meetings shift to the neighborhoods, so corporate sponsors can be oriented onsite. As sponsors select specific projects, further planning proceeds at the neighborhood level.
An exception among corporate sponsors is State Farm Insurance. It has made five-year NeighborWorks® Week commitments to the Roseland and Little Village neighborhoods, and it works directly with them in selecting and planning projects. State Farm's work preparations, volunteer support and project follow-up are all done in-house, as a further corporate contribution.
Two people handle NeighborWorks® Week staffing at NHS of Chicago. One is a full-time staffer for whom NeighborWorks® Week is ongoing, along with other events and public relations; the other is a part-timer who concentrates on the final three months.
Alternate plans for bad weather are held to a minimum. Even light rain doesn't stop most projects.
IV Outreach
Citywide, some 30 corporations, government agencies, community and religious institutions and colleges contribute volunteers. NHS handles all volunteer and corporate thank-you letters, with personalized letters, certificates and a corporate award program.
Chicago aldermen and state legislators in NHS targeted neighborhoods are always invited to NeighborWorks® Week activities. Turnout usually is good. On occasion, even the mayor has appeared with neighborhood volunteers.
Radio coverage led media attention, with a combination of direct neighborhood broadcasts and NHS interviews.
In the press, the Chicago Sun Times carried a weekend letter to the editor from Jerry D. Choate, chairman and chief executive officer of Allstate Insurance Company, celebrating NeighborWorks® Week and urging broader support for volunteerism.
In 1997, the NHS hired three photographers to cover all the neighborhoods and work sites, in addition to providing extensive video coverage as well. The pictures and footage are used both for marketing to possible future sponsors and also for servicing existing sponsors' in-house publications and local neighborhood publications.
V Funding
Funding for the projects' $30,000-$35,000 in supplies and materials included a $2,000 mini-grant from Neighborhood Reinvestment and corporate fees of $1,500 a team.
VI Lessons Learned
Even with its extensive NeighborWorks® Week experience, the NHS painstakingly checks and double-checks arrangements and details for each work site. It makes a world of difference toward having a successful day.
Expect surprises, despite all the advance planning, and stay flexible to respond appropriately.
In heavy rain, neighborhoods with rain-sensitive projects have to set backup dates directly with their corporate volunteers or be prepared for defer the project to another year.
For media interviews, select in advance an articulate board member or neighborhood residents as a spokesperson and brief him or her thoroughly. Designate a media-contact person at each work site to meet and greet visiting reporters, photographers and film crews.
Columbus Neighborhood Housing Services
Columbus, Ohio
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Columbus Neighborhood Housing Services drew on staff, board members and clients in raising a cadre of 50 NeighborWorks® Week volunteers for an open house, information blitz, partnership luncheon, homebuyers workshop and picnic.
Highlighted Activity: The highest-profile event was the information blitz, which involved some 20 volunteers who blanketed the NHS's service area.
For the blitz, the NHS set up and decorated information booths at two area grocery stores, hosted an open house at a newly renovated single-family home for sale and organized a neighborhood canvass in which information packets were left on area doorknobs. Several NHS partners donated plastic bags for the loan products as well as memo cubes, key chains, pens, fans and other small items. Additionally, signs were placed in the windows of loan clients around the NHS's service areas, indicating support for the NHS and the theme of NeighborWorks® Week.
Volunteers handed out more than 400 packets in one two-hour period.
Other activities: At the partnership luncheon for present and potential partners, Nationwide Insurance, already an NHS partner, prepared a video on the NHS's successes.
The homebuyers workshops drew about 15 potential purchasers for sessions on the homebuying process. At the follow-up picnic, NHS staff and board members voluntarily prepared their favorite desserts, with prizes awarded for the best.
Each of the other events involved NHS volunteers as well. Each volunteer was presented with an NHS T-shirt and certificate. One of the NHS's rules is "Always give thank-yous to your volunteers."
II Objectives
The twin objectives of the activities held were to raise visibility and to introduce the ideas of home ownership to as many potential purchasers as possible. The NHS's theme for the week was "Home ownership is possible!"
III Process
Planning for the week's activities began in February. Initially, a neighborhood clean-up project was included for consideration, but its demand for volunteers outstripped the NHS's supply. After learning that numerous other organizations also had clean-ups planned for the weeks surrounding NeighborWorks® Week, the idea was dropped.
IV Outreach
NHS partners provided much of the funding for the week's activities as well as the plastic bags, information materials and gift items for the information packets. Federal, state and local public officials were contacted and informed of the plans for the celebration, which resulted in their providing proclamations for the luncheon.
The NHS sent public service announcements about the week's events to radio and TV stations and newspapers, but media coverage fell short of NHS expectations.
In the aftermath of NeighborWorks® Week, NHS phone queries increased, attendance nearly doubled at NHS homebuyer workshops and several new potential partners were identified.
V Funding
Funding for the NHS's activities came from a $2,000 Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grant, $1,800 from selected NHS banking partners and $1,000 from Nationwide.
VI Lessons Learned
Make decisions early about which activities you want to develop, narrow the focus as soon as possible, and then start immediately on the details needed to accomplish the activities.
Media contacts have to be pursued and followed up with. It's important to identify appropriate contacts at each outlet and pursue them for a commitment.
Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise
Chattanooga, Tennessee
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise drew largely on neighborhood-stakeholder volunteers in separate cleanup and paint-a-thon projects in the city's Ridgedale neighborhood that marked both NeighborWorks® Week and CNE's 10th anniversary year.
Highlighted Activity: In the cleanup, neighborhood volunteers from the Chattanooga Community Development Organization and the McCallie School, a private boys' school, joined CNE staff and members of the Ridgedale Neighborhood Association in focusing on a former railroad right of way the neighborhood hoped to convert into a park. Creating the park was to be an initial step in revitalizing the inner-city neighborhood.
The 45-foot by 550-foot area was wildly overgrown and filled with debris. Working most of a day, 25 volunteers filled a large industrial dumpster with all the refuse they collected. What remained was an uncurbed grassy area.
Later, Chattanooga's Public Works Department installed curbs, and CNE planned to add plantings and benches to provide a greenway park for residents.
In the paint-a-thon, three groups of volunteers painted three homes adjacent to the park. Staff and board members from CNE and employees of SCT Yarns Inc., an area business, comprised one group; youth from the Boys and Girls Club Inc., helped by staff from the Chattanooga Community Development Department, made up another; and Habitat of Greater Chattanooga and a sprinkling of area homeowners comprised the third. In all, about 85 volunteers took part. Lunch was provided by Dixie Yarns Inc., a textile manufacturer whose international corporate offices are located in the neighborhood.
The neighborhood-stakeholder volunteers were recruited through a canvass and follow-up of area businesses.
II Objectives
The purpose of the projects was to encourage the continued planning of the Ridgedale Neighborhood Association, which had had difficulty choosing among alternate revitalization strategies. They ultimately identified the park as their focus.
By focusing the projects in a single area, it was hoped they would form a core around which further efforts could be developed.
III Process
Planning started in January-February, but then lost its focus and stalled. Finally, additional CNE staff were assigned to jump-start the planning and complete detail arrangements.
The Ridgedale Neighborhood Association helped select the cleanup site and the paint-a-thon houses.
IV Outreach
CNE emphasized neighborhood business, commercial, and resident stakeholders as
part of developing a model for marshalling all the resources of a neighborhood for revitalization, in contrast with traditional public-private partnerships.
Local government partners participated in both projects. No CNE lender-partner had a branch in the target area.
Press releases were sent out and advance calls made, but no media coverage resulted.
V Funding
The principal funding came from a $2,500 Neighborhood Reinvestment mini-grant and from CNE-budgeted neighborhood-activity funds. Local contractors worked for reduced rates. Further support came through in-kind contributions.
VI Lessons Learned
Start planning early, and triple-check the organizational skills of the people in charge.
Develop a clear scope of work and guard against enthusiastic over-commitments by staff.
Anchorage Neighborhood Housing Services
Anchorage, Alaska
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
Anchorage Neighborhood Housing Services (ANHS) sought partners from near and far to undertake a large housing rehab effort in two communities over a two-week period. Among the local partners who made this possible were HUD, whose Community Development Block Grant funds were used by the Municipality of Anchorage to purchase materials for the project; ANHS, which coordinated the project; the Fairview and Mountain View Community Councils, which helped with outreach and hosted community picnics to celebrate the project, build community pride and thank volunteers; and a host of sponsors that included Neighborhood Reinvestment, several banks, grocery chains, utility companies and 17 local churches, among others.
Highlighted Activity: "Nailing it Down in Fairview and Mountain View" resulted in substantial rehabbing of 37 homes by 500 young people brought to Anchorage from all over the country by World Changers. Sponsored by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, World Changers organizes youths and adults into crews of 10-15 people to do exterior work on the homes of lower-income families. ANHS worked with World Changers to understand their procedures and what assistance they would need locally. ANHS then planned this ambitious event, secured funding from numerous sources, and involved residents and other volunteers in making the project work.
II Objectives
ANHS had several objectives in mind in partnering with World Changers:
To inform the public, especially local government officials, about the national organizations that could benefit Anchorage.
To use partnerships to increase awareness of what neighborhood revitalization is and what was happening nationally in this arena.
To create a volunteer effort that would get to the heart of Anchorage's most distressed neighborhoods and have the greatest impact.
To return to the roots of neighborhood revitalizing by involving residents in making their neighborhood a better place.
III Process
After contacting World Changers and determining the dates they could send volunteers, ANHS created a steering committee of more than 30 people — residents, ANHS staff and representatives of partner organizations. These volunteers divided into six subcommittees: building and design; eligibility review; public relations/marketing; neighborhood events; equipment, services and logistics; and partnerships. Each subcommittee developed a scope of work, designated a chairperson, and identified specific tasks that needed to be done. The chairs of each committee met at the same time every week to report on progress, so that by event time, every detail was nailed down.
One week was devoted to each of the neighborhoods, with World Changers bringing 250 different young people in for each week. The Friday before work was to begin, ANHS and its volunteers delivered materials to the site so that work could begin promptly on Monday.
World Changers volunteers stayed at a neighborhood school. Local churches adopted a house and served lunches every day to workers at that house.
At the conclusion of each week, the neighborhood Community Council staged a block party/picnic, where volunteers and all of the sponsors were recognized. Funding for these closing ceremonies came from a Neighborhood Reinvestment grant.
IV Outreach
The public relations/marketing and partnership subcommittees promoted the program area-wide to residents, community organizations, churches and businesses. They used NeighborWorks® Week posters and merchandising items (NeighborWorks® Week tee-shirts, with names of sponsors printed on the back, were worn every day by volunteers), newspaper ads, appearances on television and radio programs, presentations in the community and as much direct contact as possible to achieve their goal of increasing public awareness of the event and of the NHS and its work. The events received good coverage in the local media.
V Funding
The Municipality of Anchorage allocated $300,000 of its CDBG funding to purchase construction materials for the project. Grants included $2,500 each from Washington Mutual Bank, Wells Fargo and First National Bank of Anchorage; $2,000 from Neighborhood Reinvestment; $1,000 from the Key Foundation; and $100-750 from GMAC Mortgage Company, Tesoro Alaska, Northrim Bank, AT&T Wireless Services, Carrs/Safeway, Municipal Light and Power, Ranna/Prudential representative Jack White, and Chubby Chicken Cheep Cheep Carpet. In-kind contributions and donations of services and food came from local businesses, members of the Alaska state legislature, utility companies, title companies, churches and residents.
VI Lessons Learned
Working with World Changers was an excellent way to galvanize large numbers of people around the issue of neighborhood revitalization. Planning takes a long time, and a dedicated steering committee willing to meet every week without fail is crucial to success.
At first, there was a lot of skepticism about what the young World Changers could do, as the planned work was heavy duty. Since this was the first event with World Changers, ANHS brought in its own experts to oversee the process. But when everybody saw what a good job the young people did repairing roofs, taking out big trees, repairing fences, putting in new doors and painting, it was determined that this could be a yearly event.
ANHS staff wishes it had done a better job inviting residents to do more things for the young volunteers — e.g., bake cookies and have lunch with them. For this coming year, ANHS will make this a priority, including engaging Alaska Native Americans by partnering with Cook Inlet Housing, another local nonprofit.
It's important to document everything, so that you can meet afterwards and look at what went well and what could be done better.
Having 250 young people, plus dozens of adults, piles of materials, and dumpsters appear in a neighborhood can be intimidating. Thus it's important to engage the residents whose houses are being repaired and get them to meet their neighbors and communicate what will be happening.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Boise
Boise Idaho
I Celebrating National NeighborWorks® Week
In 2001, Neighborhood Housing Services of Boise planned and executed its 19th annual Paint The Town™ event — a housing preservation and community building effort that harnesses more than 3,000 volunteers annually and impacts an average of 100 projects in 10 communities in southwest Idaho.
Highlighted Activity: Paint The Town™ began after a demographic study, a physical conditions survey, and a needs assessment of the Vista neighborhood was conducted by the NHS in 1983. The results showed a strong correlation between housing in need of repairs and the ability of seniors on fixed incomes to remain independent and safe in their homes. In response to this need — which NHS has found exists for all seniors living on limited incomes — the organization and Ponderosa Paint Company started with a modest program to utilize volunteer labor and materials to renovate the homes of seniors.
To date, Paint The Town™ has utilized 59,527 volunteers who donated nearly 276,000 hours to complete 2,086 projects. It used nearly 26,000 gallons of paint, more than 41,000 brushes and 11,000 tubes of caulk.
II Objectives
NHS established Paint The Town™ to accomplish two primary goals:
To enable senior and disabled citizens to maintain their independent living status; and
To revitalize neighborhoods by painting and repairing homes, thus restoring confidence and pride not only for the seniors and disabled homeowners served, but also for the entire community.
Seniors (60 or older) and disabled residents on limited incomes, who own and live in their homes, which are in need of painting, are eligible to receive services through Paint The Town™. Residents throughout all of the Treasure Valley communities can participate, provided there is team participation from their community. In addition to the sprucing up done by the program, other community projects have been undertaken by Paint The Town™ volunteer teams. These include installing benches in downtown Boise, creating a Junior League
Thrift Shop and Senior Citizens Center, and building various park amenities, such as picnic tables and shelters.
III Process
Planning, implementing and concluding Paint The Town™ is a year-round effort that involves an extensive range of people, resources and time. It is the organization's premier event during NeighborWorks® Week. The NHS's resource development staff and committee are responsible for all fiscal and operational aspects of Paint The Town™. This includes the following:
- Infrastructure development and execution.
- Financial and budget development and oversight.
- Procurement of all cash and in-kind sponsors and donors.
- Development, implementation and administration of all marketing, promotions and public relations.
- Maintenance of a client and volunteer/team database.
- Candidate/client solicitation, assessment, selection and assignment.
- Conducting volunteer/team paint workshops and instruction.
- Logistical operations, including procurement, storage, transport, distribution and inventory of all paint products, supplies and team signage.
- Management of out-of-town coordinators and projects.
At the conclusion of each Paint The Town™ program, an annual program report is prepared, summarizing all components. The financial data compiled from this report is used to establish a budget for the next year. All criteria and needs are addressed and factored into the budgeting process to determine revenues and expenses. All Paint The Town™ staff labor (timesheet generated) and appropriated agency overhead costs are included in the budget. The budget objective is not just to fund the program but also to integrate fundraising for the organization.
Donor requests are mailed to previously participating service and product donors. NHS is privileged to have city, county and private businesses that provide necessary services and materials that enhance the scope of work. Landfill service fees are waived; solid waste containers are donated and free collection services provided; fire prevention services provide smoke detector inspections and installation; security-upgrade services provide deadbolt lock and peephole installation; and fertilizer and weed control lawn applications are offered for Paint The Town™ projects.
Other donations including printing services, signage, special products such as log and shingle oil and stains, onsite storage containers, business and parking lot usage for product distribution and return, trucks for transporting materials, soda and pizza coupons for teams, workshop facility use and refreshments. These donors also recruit teams and volunteers from within their businesses and agencies. These teams must include at least 10 (and preferably 20) volunteers and have a team captain and co-captain who provide leadership for their project's implementation. Clients and teams are matched, work orders and assignments are generated, and both client and team are notified.
Each year, NHS also coordinates several roofing projects for qualifying seniors whose roofs are in extremely deteriorating and unsafe condition. Again, NHS works with several roofing and material-supply businesses whose donations make these roof replacements and repairs possible.
A paint-pro is hired seasonally for three months to service clients and the volunteer teams. This person is responsible for volunteer recruitment, onsite assessments, selection and assignments. He or she is directly responsible for the Boise projects, in addition to recruiting and coordinating the out-of-town coordinators and assisting with the management of their projects. This position requires a good working knowledge of paint products and usage, organization, leadership, inventory controls, excellent people skills and a huge passion for community, seniors and the disabled.
IV Outreach
Potential candidates are invited to apply for the program through many areas of outreach: word of mouth, referrals, sponsor promotions, the media, flyers, a Web site, service organizations, churches and any other opportunity available to get the word out. Neighbors, families and friends are encouraged to reach out to people they know who might be eligible, strongly emphasizing that this program is free to recipients.
NHS is very fortunate to have three media sponsors — newspaper, TV and radio — that have sponsored Paint The Town™ for many consecutive years. The publicity they provide is valued at nearly $50,000 annually and is a major hook in the solicitation of past and future sponsors and major donors. Media supporters provide professional experience in the production of marketing materials; announce, recruit and provide live coverage of events; serve on the Paint The Town™ planning committee; and recruit and support teams from within their own businesses.
V Funding
Paint The Town's annual economic impact conservatively ranges between $400,000 and $500,000, combining documented and donated hard costs and unassigned values.
VI Lessons Learned
A volunteer effort of this magnitude requires year-round planning and proven methods of organizing and implementing the program.
There is no need to put age or resource limits on volunteer participation.
It's important to have a scope of work prepared for each home selected. Homes needing rehabilitation work or landscaping are assigned to corporate teams with funds available to purchase needed materials.
Volunteers need to be approached early, organized early and trained early (through workshops).
Evaluations performed after every Paint The Town™ are crucial to planning and improving the event in succeeding years.
Testimonials
"Through this large scale, extremely successful week of events we were able to demonstrate to new and existing partners exactly how our organization is tied into the NR effort. This lead to a greater understanding of our mission and work."
"Our success helped to increase our prestige and enhanced our reputation for competence among local partners."
"Our event made our program more visible to realtors and attorneys, etc. They refer a lot of business to our program. The banks that donated are impressed with the number of families we have served and the success of our picnics in bringing people together."