MACDC & Three CDCs to Participate in Community Progress Leadership Institute

MACDC will join three Massachusetts CDCs (Lawrence CommunityWorks, Twin Cities CDC, and NeighborWorks Southern Mass) at the Community Progress Leadership Institute (CPLI), to be held on the campus of Harvard Law School March 17-20.  Sponsored by the Center for Community Progress; this is the fourth year of the Institute. The Massachusetts participant cities (Lawrence, Fitchburg, and Brockton) will be joined by delegations from Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, and from Greensboro and High Point, North Carolina.

CPLI brings together delegations from multiple cities for intense leadership and technical assistance training under the guidance of national experts. These delegations return home better equipped to address large inventories of blighted and vacant properties for the benefit of their communities.

The selected cities range in population from just over 40,000 to nearly half a million and have citywide housing vacancy rates of 6-19% and high rates of abandonment. They also face challenges, such as mortgage foreclosure, poverty, tax delinquency, and other property issues. These cities were selected for CPLI because they demonstrate strong leadership and a commitment to developing new solutions for vacant, abandoned, and other problem properties.

Each participating City will send a delegation that includes a CDC representative, local public officials ranging from Housing and Community Development Directors to City Solicitors to staff from Inspectional Services and Health Departments, and another person from the private or nonprofit sectors. Don Bianchi will be representing MACDC, and the MA Attorney General’s office will also be participating.

For additional information, contact Don Bianchi at MACDC at donb@macdc.org.