What do you get when you put together communityresidents with vision;
faith and community based organizations; City, State and LocalGovernment; churches; local nonprofits; and local corporate and employee philanthropy in the highest mortgage fraud and blighted community in Atlanta?
A collaboration of human, social and financial capital that can impact people, places, a community and the world. Sustainable Lakewood, a community-based organization, has a vision for the neighborhood and
went to ACoRA (a city, state and federal managed program left over
from the Clinton empowerment zone funding) and Home Depot Employees (200 of them), Heery International employees,
Hands on Atlanta, City of Atlanta, Fulton County Court community service workers, the Atlanta Tool Bank, the YMCA, The City of
Atlanta Parks and Recreation Department, Clark Atlanta University's
Environmental Justice Center, Charitable Connections, Inc.,
Sustainable Lakewood, The Fuller Center for Housing of Greater
Atlanta, Inc., an artist, and two designers, Kim Lacey of HGTV's curb
appeal and Tina Arnold, President of Sustainable Lakewood took adopt-a-block to a whole new level. How did it start? Susainable Lakewoodrequested a grant. Unbeknownst to Sustainable Lakewood,
The Fuller Center, a faith based organization, also applied for the same
funds. The Fuller Center won the grant but Sustainable Lakewood did not give up. Using a community benefits framework, The Fuller Center and
Sustainable Lakewood brought together their visions and decided to bring their human, financial and social capital together to develop a five year
partnership. Their joint vision in Lakewood Heights is to re-createcommunity through sustainable practices.
The results to date: four church congregations (Central CongregationalChurch of Christ, Atlanta Foursquare Church, The
Atlanta Church of Christ, and Richmond First Baptist Church), the
Urban Land Institute, Atlanta Development Authority Employees, With a seed grant of $250,000, of which only $70,995 was spent: half
for acquisition, and half for administration. How long did it take to impact
four (4) streets and a City Park? Less than a year. How much human capital? About 3000 person hours. What is the result to date? Seventeen (17) vacant and abandoned houses cleaned up, boarded up and beautified
with murals; one (1) revitalized home with a new homeowner; five (5)
repaired houses with colorful new paint and landscaping; a community
garden; painted benches; new beautiful trash containers throughout the neighborhood; hundreds of tires removed, trash cleaned up on entire streets, several new renters and homeowners, new community classes on recycling and sustainability, a new Lifecycle Building Center business with repurposed building materials for sale, and a new interest in beingneighbors, holding each other accountable and taking care of each other and the community.
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