Letter from Board Chair and President/CEO

 
The past year has been one of the most tumultuous, frustrating, exciting, rewarding and important years in MACDC’s history. The Global Economic Crisis has had a profound impact on the communities, organizations and families that we serve and has highlighted the important role that MACDC plays in helping all of these constituents. In this, our second, electronic annual report we are proud to share with you the many ways that MACDC stepped up to that role with creative leadership, new programming, aggressive advocacy and tangible results.
 
We have once again decided to create an electronic annual report in order to save money and trees and because of the positive feedback we received last year, including recognition from the Boston Globe for publishing a web based annual report. We welcome your feedback on this format as we hope to continue improving our report each year.
 
During FY 2009, MACDC worked to not only support the field during these difficult times but also to position it for greater success and impact over the next several years. All of this as we rebuild our neighborhoods and help families recover from this economic disaster. We are pleased to report on many critical accomplishments:
  • Our Local Initiatives For Tomorrow (LIFT) state policy campaign secured $1 million for the state’s Small Business Technical Assistance Program and helped secure over $200 million in state capital funds for housing and community development in FY 2009.
  • We launched a new Campaign for Our Neighborhoods which seeks to win a comprehensive state policy to help rebuild our neighborhoods, setting the stage for winning passage of the Expiring Use bill in November 2009 after nearly 15 years of effort.
  • We celebrated the inauguration of the Mel King Institute for Community Building, a new collaborative program that will advance the skills, knowledge and leadership capacity of community developers across the state.
  • We completed phase one of the Community Development Innovation Forum which is developing and promoting innovative strategies for strengthening the community development field.
  • We stepped up our Federal policy advocacy and played a critical role in passing legislation to redevelop foreclosed properties and jump-start stalled affordable housing developments.
  • We hosted our 4th biennial convention with more than 700 community leaders coming together for a day of celebration, learning and action. 
You can learn more about all of these efforts and others in this annual report. Please take a few moments to review these pages, follow the links and offer your comments so this report can serve not only as our report to you, but your opportunity to give us feedback on our work.
 
Today’s economic crisis is making it harder than ever for community development corporations  to achieve their goals and remain financial sustainable. Yet MACDC and its members remain absolutely committed to doing our part to help families, neighborhoods, communities and the Commonwealth recover from this economic decline. We are prepared to innovate, collaborate and advocate in order to create neighborhoods and communities where all of our citizens can find economic security,  happiness, dignity and meaning.
 
We thank all of our supporters who are helping us to achieve this vision.
 
Sincerely,
 
Charles H Rucks, Esq                  Joseph Kriesberg                     
Chair                                           President & CEO