Building Neighborhood Capacity Program Resource Center Launched!

CSSP is pleased to announce the new Building Neighborhood Capacity Program Resource Center!

The Building Neighborhood Capacity Program (BNCP) was launched last week and is the most recent program to be included in the Obama Administration’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI). BNCP is designed to help persistently distressed neighborhood that have historically faced barriers to revitalization build the capacity needed to ignite positive change throughout the community.  Eight neighborhoods throughout the nation have been selected to participate in BNCP.

CSSP was selected as the technical assistance and training provider for BNCP and will work directly with the eight neighborhoods to begin building the capacity needed to move forward in revitalization efforts.  In addition to direct technical assistance, the Building Neighborhood Capacity Program Resource Center was designed to provide communities with access to tools, resources and best practices that can spark positive and sustainable community change.   Though the Resource Center will help the first eight BNCP neighborhoods, it is intended to be a resource for ANY and ALL communities interested in revitalization efforts. 

What do we mean by community capacity?   

CSSP believes that community capacity is the combination of knowledge, skills, relationships, interactions and organizational resources that enable residents, civic leaders, the public and private sectors and local organizations to transform neighborhoods into places of opportunity.

Drawing on the experiences of NRI and CSSP's 30 years of work in communities, as well as research and literature from the field, BNCP will be guided by a framework of capacities that are essential to creating neighborhoods where families have access to affordable housing, jobs, safe neighborhoods, good schools and other critical opportunities.  Click on the image below to see see the nine capacities that are essential to the successful transformation and sustainability of strong neighborhoods.

To learn more about these capacities and they work together to build strong communities, please visit the Building Neighborhood Capacity Program Resource Center.

Stay tuned to our blog for updates about the Building Neighborhood Capacity Program!