MACDC – For and With Our Members

 
 
MACDC continues to support the Massachusetts community development field by both developing resources and leading learning initiatives and capacity building programs for our members.  Two of our biggest efforts this past year have been to launch the Mel King Institute for Community Building and the Community Development Innovation Forum which are summarized elsewhere in this report. In addition to these important programs, we continued to facilitate peer to peer learning and collaboration among our members. 
 
Some of the highlights from FY 2009 include:
  • The Organizers’ Network met regularly to share information and strategies and to conduct more formal peer learning sessions on specific topics such as “Organizing in Buildings Owned by Your CDC” and “Issue Organizing.”
  • The Housing and Real Estate Development Peer Group met monthly to discuss such topics as how to work with green design professionals, how access grant funding for weatherization of multifamily properties, successful strategies for redeveloping foreclosed properties, and how to utilize the Tax Credit Exchange and Tax Credit Assistance Programs.
  • The Small Business Peer Group met bi-monthly to discuss challenges with obtaining credit for small businesses in this current climate and how CDCs can help their businesses survive the downturn.
  • The Western Massachusetts Community Development Collaborative launched a new program to place twelve Commonwealth Corps Members at CDCs throughout the region where they worked on community outreach, program delivery and other projects.  The Collaborative also met bi-monthly to share information and learn about each other’s programs.
  • The Boston Committee met monthly to discuss a range of topics from foreclosures, to rental housing development, homelessness, small business development and green job development. 
  • MACDC offered Legislative Learning Sessions throughout the state to provide CDC staff, board and civic leaders an opportunity to build their advocacy skills, complete with a mock hearing.

The Alliance: Advancing Community Development by Confronting Racism

 
The Alliance is a coalition of community development organizations and practitioners dedicated to increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of leadership of the community development field by address racism.  The Alliance holds quarterly gatherings and dialogues to address issues in the field. This past year the Alliance’s Recruitment and Retention Initiative continued to distribute copies of the Recruitment and Retention Manual to a broad spectrum of non-profit organizations. We also held workshops at MACDC’s Convention and for the New England Human Resource Association.  The Alliance’s mentoring program, designed to advance staff of color into leadership positions in the field, is now in its third year-long cycle. 
 
Every year, MACDC releases the Growing Opportunities, Assets, and Leaders (GOALs) Initiative report to highlight the achievements of the state’s nonprofit organizations. CDCs work within their communities to help create and support leaders, homes, jobs, entrepreneurs, families, and investment. This year, the GOALs results are especially remarkable because of the economics challenges communities faced in 2008. In 2008, MACDC’s members:
  • Engaged 1,789 community leaders who volunteered in CDC activities
  • Built or preserved 1,273 homes
  • Created or preserved 1,489 job opportunities
  • Assisted 1,024 entrepreneurs to start, grow, or stabilize their businesses by helping them to write business plans, identify new markets, improve operations and obtain financing
  • Supported 32,655 families with housing, jobs, foreclosure prevention counseling, homebuyer education and other services
  • Attracted more than $248 million in both private and public investments to support their community improvement efforts
MACDC is currently in the middle of the established 2007-2010 goals. Despite the economic crisis, CDCs have already achieved over 40% of their goals in creating homes, jobs, and entrepreneurs in two years. MACDC’s members have exceeded their goals in terms of the number of families supported and the amount of investment dollars attracted.