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COVID-19 Impact on Michigan Communities: Risks, Interventions, Resources

There is no question. Michigan communities are encountering and will continue to feel the impacts of the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. As unemployment skyrockets, state and local revenue sources diminish, and public health costs soar, immediate action must be taken to preserve homes and businesses now and into…

Your Support Means [Community] Progress

#GivingTuesdayNow 6 Ways Your Support Helps Create Community Progress For more than 10 years, the Center for Community Progress has helped America’s highest-need communities respond to the challenges of vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties. From addressing the unjust policies and impacts of America’s past to raising our voice in response to community…

Why Investing in Communities Matters More than Ever in the Time of Coronavirus (Webinar)

Get answers! The COVID-19 pandemic is emerging as not just a health crisis but as a community crisis. What is the role of community development investment and cross-sector partnership with healthcare in strengthening resilience and equity in our post-COVID-19 world? Dr. Akilah Watkins-Butler, CEO and President for the Center for Community…

A Word From Our CEO

Dear Fellow Impact Makers, We are in a pivotal moment. Too often in our history, crises like the current COVID-19 pandemic have been followed by profound inaction and avoidable missteps that we only acknowledged and addressed in retrospect. Yet, we know better. We know that the collaborative spirit of communities,…

Community Development Is Crucial in This Moment

The pandemic is highlighting the crucial necessity of community developers’ work. Here’s what the field will need to play its part in the recovery. One month ago, when I began the first draft of this article, the world was drastically different. Well before we became part of this new reality,…

A Love Letter to the Next Decade of Community Development (from Shelterforce)

I’m in love. When you wake up every day knowing that what you do helps improve people’s lives and where they live, it’s one of the best feelings on earth. After witnessing years of hollow promises from political and business leaders who promised to “make communities better,” I get a…

Community Progress Joins 200+ Nonprofits in Supporting “Charitable Sector: COVID-19 Relief and Economic Stimulus Package”

The Center for Community Progress is proud to join more than 200 fellow nonprofits including Smart Growth America, Habitat for Humanity, United Way Worldwide, Meals on Wheels America, and Girl Scouts of the USA in requesting support for a $60 billion infusion of support to nonprofits to enable them…

Dorothy Mae Richardson: Honoring the Woman That Helped Shape Community Development

Women’s History Month, which began in 1987, is a month-long celebration of women’s contributions to society, whether in the arts, sports, politics, or music. This month offers us the opportunity to reflect and remember those, often overlooked and underacknowledged, trailblazers who created new paths for past, present, and future generations…

#LoveThatLot – Help Tell America’s Big Revitalization Story, Score National Exposure

#ValentinesDay six years ago was just the start. For six years, you’ve shared #LoveThatLot stories of your revitalization wins that have turned vacant lots and homes into beautiful additions to your community. We can’t say thank you enough and how excited we are about your work… so excited that one…

Problem to Purpose: Three Oakland Projects Fight Community Challenges through Art

Pop-up Library, Traffic-Injury Prevention, and Problem Properties Conversion with Creative Placemaking There’s an old adage, “money’s the answer, now what’s the question.” Sixty-five percent of neighborhood changemakers not only agree, but say funding is the largest hurdle to leveraging Creative Placemaking to fight vacancy and community challenges in their neighborhood….

2023 Roundup: Federal Policy Developments in Neighborhood Revitalization

Learn about FHA Improvements to the 203(k) Rehab Mortgage Program and other 2023 federal programs and policies in community revitalization you might have missed.

Read President/CEO Dr. Akilah Watkins’ US House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee Affordable Housing Testimony

On July 13, Community Progress CEO and President Dr. Akilah Watkins spoke before the The US House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee in a hearing called “Nowhere to Live: Profits, Disinvestment, and The American Housing Crisis.” The hearing discussed factors driving up housing costs, the effects of these costs on low-…

Bay City Allocates $3 Million to Home Repair and Strategic Code Enforcement

Cities across the United States are receiving an unprecedented infusion of resources from the American Rescue Plan Act State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (ARPA SLFRF). Thanks to direct advocacy from Community Progress and our partners, the U.S. Treasury explicitly said communities can use ARPA SLFRF funds to address vacancy,…

Michigan Initiatives Quarterly Update: April – June 2021

This quarterly update from Community Progress’ Michigan Initiatives team highlights important revitalization news and resources from across the state. For specific inquiries or to share how your community is addressing vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties in Michigan, email Payton Heins, Director of Michigan Initiatives at [email protected].

American Rescue Plan Act Update: Treasury Guidance and Fund Request Portal, and Our Updated ARPA Map Resource, Are Now Live!

Important Update: Since publication of this blog on May 18, 2021, Treasury has released additional guidance with specific details for how non-entitlement unit of government allocations should be processed by States. This additional NEU guidance can be found at this Treasury webpage, along with other helpful information. Center for Community Progress has been closely following…

An Unprecedented Opportunity for COVID Relief and Equitable Neighborhood Transformation

While the US is gaining ground in its fight against COVID-19, many communities are facing growing threats to neighborhood stability from its economic fallout. Unprecedented help is on the horizon for these communities, which could provide a momentous opportunity to spur equitable revitalization. Where we are today While the national unemployment rate has been dropping, [1] it…

Michigan Quarterly Update: January – March 2021

This quarterly update from Community Progress’ Michigan Initiatives team highlights important revitalization news and resources from across the state. For specific inquiries or to share how your community is addressing vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties, email Payton Heins, Director of Michigan Initiatives at [email protected]

Land Bank and Land Trust Leaders Express Support for Proposed $5 Billion to Revitalize Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 4, 2021 — Today, the Center for Community Progress (Community Progress) and Grounded Solutions Network (Grounded Solutions) expressed their support of new legislation that would invest $5 billion in flexible federal funding for distressed communities nationwide. The Restoring Communities Left Behind Act was introduced in the House of…

Download America’s Vacant Lot Landscape: Insights from the National Survey on Greening

How are vacant lots evolving in the United States? What strategies do professionals consider most effective at returning purpose to these properties? What have practitioners learned in the last several years that other municipalities and organizations can benefit from? And what do organizations still need to do this work effectively?

Community Development is Crucial in This Moment

Written by Dr. Akilah Watkins-Butler on April 6, 2020 The pandemic is highlighting the crucial necessity of community developers’ work. Here’s what the field will need to play its part in the recovery. One month ago, when I began the first draft of this article, the world was drastically different….