Aboni '10 Learns Community Building from Veal '92
Kodjovi Aboni '10 - Well, it has been six beautiful weeks since I started my summer internship at the United Northwest Area Development Corporation. For those of you unfamiliar with community development corporations (CDCs), they are community organizations funded by the city and federal governments to maintain and develop the physical infrastructure of a community.
The City of Indianapolis, in particular, is divided into twelve areas, each with its own development corporation. The United NorthWest Area Development Corporation (UNWADC) in turn along with its sister organization UNWA Inc. are umbrella organizations of six neighborhoods in the City.
The mission of this Corporation is to revitalize the area and make it desirable for residence and commerce. The tasks include funding critical repairs to the homes of area residents, cleaning brownfields sites, remodeling abandoned properties, building new houses for first-time home-buyers, and pursuing developments that will attract businesses to the area. With the rise of foreclosures, the role of the community development organizations has become more critical in keeping low income inner-city neighborhoods habitable.
Now, my role this summer under the leadership of Executive Director Keith Veal '92 has been to assist UNWADC in developing sustainable solutions for financial independence. This is a more daunting task for non-profit organizations. UNWADC has vacant properties that will not be developed for some time. These vacant properties will become urban gardens this fall. Community members have the opportunity to rent plots and cultivate their own produce. My tasks have been to collect information and develop a plan for the project. I met with interested parties and funders alike to discuss the viability of the project. I drafted proposals for the contractors that will be preparing the land for gardening and met with them. I have also talked to and met with civil engineers to test the soil and make it safe for produce. I wrote the grant proposal for the project and will be meeting with the City’s Brownfield Coordinator on Monday to discuss ways in which UNWADC can incorporate its project into the City’s.
I have also assisted the project manager in coordinating home repair projects and visited city government offices as needed. I have also created a marketing campaign (brochures and website updates) to inform the area residents about the details of the programs offered by the Corporation. Furthermore, I’ve had the privilege to attend the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Corporation and a two day board capacity training program.
What I have learned this summer is that any project that a corporation or institution wants to undertake must be self-sustainable and that making a non-profit organization a sustainable enterprise may be more challenging than for-profit organizations. But one thing I can say about this organization is that there is a tremendous commitment on the part of the staff and board to achieve self-sustenance and I would love to continue my involvement with this corporation.