Brewerytown CDC - $450,000 Grant

[JakeL]

Was trolling the Fairmount CDC facebook page and saw that the Brewerytown CDC received a (literally) big check for $450,000 from Wells Fargo. This is great! Any idea what it's going to be used for? I imagine it will significantly help the CDC with their computer classes, master plan and other initiatives.

[McAdams]

Was trolling the Fairmount CDC facebook page and saw that the Brewerytown CDC received a (literally) big check for $450,000 from Wells Fargo. This is great! Any idea what it's going to be used for? I imagine it will significantly help the CDC with their computer classes, master plan and other initiatives.

It's spread out over three years, and primarily pays for staffing.

[schuylkillian]

That's great they recieved a grant. But, is there an excess of Community Development Corporations with overlapping target areas? For example, there is the Fairmount CDC, Girad Ave. Coalition and also the Brewerytown CDC. All of these organizations share a similar terrirtory and probably compete for the same pool of funding. In my opnion, the excessive number of CDC's with the same goals means less of the grant money goes towards community projects and more of it goes to pay staff and overhead costs at the excessive number of organizations.

Just my opinion...

[MM Partners]

That's great they recieved a grant. But, is there an excess of Community Development Corporations with overlapping target areas? For example, there is the Fairmount CDC, Girad Ave. Coalition and also the Brewerytown CDC. All of these organizations share a similar terrirtory and probably compete for the same pool of funding. In my opnion, the excessive number of CDC's with the same goals means less of the grant money goes towards community projects and more of it goes to pay staff and overhead costs at the excessive number of organizations.

Just my opinion...

The Orgs you mention, (FCDC, GBCDC, Girard Coaltion) are actually perefctly coordinated among both themselves and the City. Girard Coalition focuses on Girard east of Broad. The FCDC was designated Corridor Manager of West Girard by the city's Commerce Dept. The FCDC also assisted the GBCDC in obtaing that grant, so those two CDC's are definitely on the same page. In fact, the two CDC's cooperated in finalizing the Brewerytown Mater plan.

Regarding the grant itself, the GBCDC's biggest impediment to growth was that it did not have professional staff - it was all volunteers. Being able to add staff with the assistance of this grant will go a long way towards increasing their capacity and ability to obtain future funding. All of this is very good news for the realization of the Brewerytown Maste Plan.

[eldondre]

The Orgs you mention, (FCDC, GBCDC, Girard Coaltion) are actually perefctly coordinated among both themselves and the City. Girard Coalition focuses on Girard east of Broad. The FCDC was designated Corridor Manager of West Girard by the city's Commerce Dept. The FCDC also assisted the GBCDC in obtaing that grant, so those two CDC's are definitely on the same page. In fact, the two CDC's cooperated in finalizing the Brewerytown Mater plan.

Regarding the grant itself, the GBCDC's biggest impediment to growth was that it did not have professional staff - it was all volunteers. Being able to add staff with the assistance of this grant will go a long way towards increasing their capacity and ability to obtain future funding. All of this is very good news for the realization of the Brewerytown Maste Plan.

I think this actually supports the claim that there are too many organizations rather than refutes it. is the girard coalition a separate group? and why shoudl it only focus on east of broad? seems like coalition might mean it's a coalition of existing entities...to that extent it would make sense as a working group of fishtown, nlna, fndc, dcdc, and brewerytown.

[MM Partners]

I think this actually supports the claim that there are too many organizations rather than refutes it. is the girard coalition a separate group? and why shoudl it only focus on east of broad? seems like coalition might mean it's a coalition of existing entities...to that extent it would make sense as a working group of fishtown, nlna, fndc, dcdc, and brewerytown.

In theory perhaps, but in practice these three orgs are coordinated, and are not stepping on each other's toes.

[eldondre]

In theory perhaps, but in practice these three orgs are coordinated, and are not stepping on each other's toes.

I guess..the op was correct that there's only so much money to go around so the alphabet soup of groups certainly is fighting for the same scraps at some level even if it isn't simply the chaotic arrangement you'd think it is.

[hammersklavier]

...So when are the staff positions going to be announced?

[McAdams]

That's great they recieved a grant. But, is there an excess of Community Development Corporations with overlapping target areas? For example, there is the Fairmount CDC, Girad Ave. Coalition and also the Brewerytown CDC. All of these organizations share a similar terrirtory and probably compete for the same pool of funding. In my opnion, the excessive number of CDC's with the same goals means less of the grant money goes towards community projects and more of it goes to pay staff and overhead costs at the excessive number of organizations.

Just my opinion...

The Girard Coaliton no longer exists. The two most active/visible CDCs in this area are the Fairmount CDC and the Greater Brewerytown CDC. Their relationship is one of cooperation and partnership, not competition. They work very well together, and this Wachovia Grant is a direct outcome of their partnering to continue to improve both neighborhoods, albeit in different ways. BTW, one of the funded staff positions is a grant writing position.

[hammersklavier]

Well as long as they make the staff positions reasonably public, I'll be showing up at their door with my résumé in hand.

[Fecteau03]

The Girard Coalition actually does still exist. They recently had some staff turnover.

[love to travel]

Well as long as they make the staff positions reasonably public, I'll be showing up at their door with my résumé in hand.

you wish

[DCheriT]

Has anyone followed up on this grant? What programming has come out of it? Who was hired? Are they making progress? Quantitative reports of residential access and resource utilization?

[DCheriT]

Has anyone followed up on this grant?

[Moonraker]

You would be shocked to know the acccountability requirements of grant money, and it is not to John Q Public.

[McAdams]

Has anyone followed up on this grant?

Keep in mind, the $450,000 grant is spread over three years. It is not a lump sum of $450,000 provided. The grant has allowed the Greater Brewerytown CDC (working with the Fairmoun CDC) to hire an Executive Director and another position that helps with programming and implementation of the grant outcomes. Stop by the Greater Brewerytown CDC at 31st and Master Streets, introduce yourself and see if there are any opportunities (volunteer, of course) for you to get involved.

To Moonraker, the $450,000 grant is from a private bank foundation to a private non-profit foundation...there are no public reporting requirements. However, all parties are in constant commuication, to ensure that final outcomes, under the plan, are being achieved, and the checks can keep being written.

Again, I would enourage anyone who is interested, to reach out to the Greater Brewerytown CDC and/or the Fairmount CDC, and see how they can get more involved in either community (or both). There IS a lot going on...one of the biggest challenges for any CDC is communicating this to the public...with very limite funds, it's hard to market/promote all the good works that most CDCs do...