When the Edna McConnell Foundation began the Program for Homeless Families in 1988, it sought to prevent repeated family homelessness in Central Harlem and the South Bronx. At that time, thousands of homeless families were moving out of shelters into permanent housing set aside by the city in these two areas. The program supported intensive case management services, family support, and housing advocacy efforts to ease the families’ transition and help them remain stably housed.

When empirical research confirmed that the Foundation could direct its resources more effectively to the specific distressed buildings and blocks homeless families were most likely to come from, the program shifted in 1995 from targeting families after they had experienced homelessness to addressing the underlying causes of their homelessness. This new strategy, signaled by changing the name of the program to New York Neighborhoods, incorporated issues such as lack of affordable housing, little economic opportunity, deteriorating housing, poor neighborhood conditions, and public safety.

This approach culminated in 2003 with the completion of the Neighborhood Partners Initiative, a seven-year project to make quantifiable, sustainable improvements in living conditions in five three-to-ten-block neighborhoods in the two communities. NPI supported five lead agencies to achieve locally defined outcomes and greater organizational effectiveness. The lead agencies were Abyssinian Development Corporation and Harlem Children’s Zone in Harlem, and Bronx ACORN, Mid-Bronx Council, and Highbridge Community Life Center in the South Bronx.

Results included renovating formerly distressed properties, refurbished parks and playgrounds, public safety improvements such as speed bumps near schools, and the creation of job placement programs, computer technology centers, and youth programs. In addition, residents helped rejuvenate their communities by strengthening block associations, advocating for better public services, and providing testimony about the effects of large-scale public works projects on their neighborhoods.

In the initiative’s final stages, the lead agencies continued to pursue neighborhood outcomes while bolstering their own institutional capacities. Organizational assessments conducted by external evaluators helped them to identify strengths and weaknesses, and to develop improvement plans. The Foundation supported their implementation. These capacity-building efforts assisted the lead agencies in developing organizational competencies that have helped them remain effective beyond the life of the program.

To learn more about the NPI lead agencies’ ongoing work in Harlem and the South Bronx:
Abyssinian Development Corporation website

Harlem Children’s Zone website

Highbridge Community Life Center website

Mid-Bronx Council website