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2026 Program Resources

Program participant can access resources and other materials from the 2026 Community Progress program and presentation.

Download Resources

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Download the Technical Assistance Brochure »

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Through classroom sessions and small group activities, our faculty of top national experts and local practitioners will guide participants through sessions on these and other topics:

Through a mix of classroom sessions and small working group activities, our team of national experts and local practitioners from around the country will guide participants through sessions on the following topics, and more:

Collaborative leadership: Strengthening leaders' ability to collectively shape and execute solutions
Data and neighborhood markets: Using data to understand and plan accordingly for the opportunities and constraints that shape revitalization
Strategic housing and building code enforcement: Developing programs that respond to the needs and priorities of different neighborhoods
Delinquent property tax systems: Reforming tax policies so that they contribute to neighborhood stabilization
Land banking: Examining how to use land banking to eliminate properties' liabilities so they can return to productive, community-aligned use
Vacant land stewardship: Demonstrating how to identify, fund, and implement realistic plans for repurposing vacant lots

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Key Dates

Cohort Solicitation Issued: January 22, 2026

Deadline to Submit Application: February 24, 2026

Cohort Members Selected: March 6, 2026

Cohort Educational Series: May–August 2026

Download Letter of Interest Solicitation

Application Instructions

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About the Application Process

Application Process

Applications are currently not being accepted. The information below is available for reference only. Make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter to find out first when the next VPLI cycle and learn about other opportunities from Community Progress.

All cities, towns, and villages in the United States are invited to apply.* Interested communities should download and review our VPLI application guide to learn more about the program and how to prepare a competitive application. We will use Swoogo to collect and review applications. The due date will be provided when It Is available. Community Progress will only review applications received though the Swoogo portal before the application deadline. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications submitted via email, Word document, PDF printout, etc. will not be considered.

*Communities and states who participated in the past program cycle of the Vacant Property Leadership Institute (2021-22 or 2023-24) are not eligible to apply for the upcoming program. Please review the application guide to see the full list of cities/states which are not eligible for this cycle of the program.

for more information download the application guide from 2023-24 >

Application Requirements and Selection Criteria

The application includes narrative response questions and requests letters of recommendation from various stakeholders including the Office of the Mayor/City Manager/senior-level administrator and a community-based organization embedded in the areas most impacted by VAD properties. While we encourage cities from the same state to apply and reference one another, each city must submit their own, unique application.

Community Progress will prioritize participation for communities that possess:

Demonstrated need: Competitive applications will show that there are significant challenges with VAD properties, especially in low-income communities and communities of color.

Demonstrated commitment, leadership, and capacity of stakeholders to implement reform: Competitive applications will include original letters of support from a diverse set of stakeholders, such as local and state policymakers, community leaders, private-sector partners, or philanthropic organizations. The letters should demonstrate that solving VAD property challenges is a priority for the highest level of local government leaders and decision-makers.

Interest in a diverse, multi-stakeholder format: VPLI catalyzes problem-solving across organizational, functional, and political lines. The strongest applicants will provide specific examples to show how engaging a multi-stakeholder team can help overcome the city’s challenges related to VAD properties.In addition to the required participants noted under Delegation Composition above, the most competitive applications will propose a diverse list of additional participants drawing from organizations working in the communities most affected by vacancy, private-sector partners, state-level champions, and others focused on revitalization.

Demonstrated commitment to equitable community development: Community Progress recognizes that because of a legacy of unjust policies and racist systems, low-income communities and communities of color bear an unfair share of the burden of VAD properties. Competitive applications will show a willingness for the applicants to be open and honest about ways in which these oppressive systems fuel vacancy and abandonment. Competitive applications will highlight efforts to address root causes of VAD properties in ways that tackle unjust systems head-on to foster equitable community development and opportunities.

Open minds: Effective change-makers need bold vision and courage to drive meaningful change in the face of obstacles. Doing so requires exploring new ideas and being willing to challenge how one’s city and state address VAD properties. Competitive applications will demonstrate this willingness to have candid conversations about your city’s successes and failures.

Instructions for Accessing Application Portal

Upon opening the Swoogo application portal, click “Create Account”. This will lead you to a form to create a profile in Swoogo. If you already have a Swoogo account, you can simply click on the application portal tab to be sent to a sign in screen. If you are unsure if you already have a Swoogo account, you can create an account with your email and the site will inform you whether an account has already been created.

Once you have created an account and/or logged in, you will be taken to the applicant portal page. From here, click on “+Add New Submission” to create and fill out your application.

Please note that you cannot save an unfinished application within the Swoogo portal. We highly recommend writing out question responses in a separate document while preparing your application. All application questions have been provided in the application guide and can be viewed within the Swoogo portal in a blank application.

FAQ's

Where and when will the in-person training portion be held?

The in-person gathering for the next VPLI has not yet been determined. Sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications about this and our other programs.

Will there be a virtual component?

While we plan to host a pre-event virtual gathering to help prepare the selected cities to participate the capstone training will not have a virtual component. One of the most impactful elements of this program is the ability to have strategic, face-to-face conversations away from the everyday demands of work.

Are communities or states that previously participated in VPLI eligible to apply for the upcoming program?

We welcome interest from communities that participated in the predecessor to VPLI, the Community Progress Leadership Institute (CPLI), prior to 2021. However, communities and states that have participated in past cycles of the Vacant Property Leadership Institute program (2021-22 & 2023-24) are not eligible to apply for the next program.

See "Past VPLI Delegations", above for a list of past participants.

Is the focus still on three communities from one state?

Yes, we have found that this program is most successful when delegations consist of three cities from one state since it allows representatives to collaborate on city and state-level policy needs. However, exceptions have been made to this rule in the past. (As part of the 2021-22 cycle, we accepted states with just two city delegations.)

What costs related to participation in VPLI will Community Progress cover? What about a per diem?

Community Progress covers tuition fees, lodging, any travel between the hotel and event sites, and food and beverage for the duration of this event. Delegation members will be solely responsible for travel costs from their city to the event site and vice versa at the end of the week. We will not provide delegation members a per diem as part of participation.

How many state delegations will be selected?

We will admit up to three state delegations. Selected city delegation team leads will identify up to two representatives from each state (six total) to admit as statewide delegation members.

Who should be part of the city teams?

We will allow four to six representatives from each city and want to see directors and leaders of the departments crucial in the everyday work of addressing vacant properties. We will also look for representation from a community-based organization which works in the places most impacted by VAD properties. More details about the roles we look to see in a delegation can be found in the application packet.

The application indicates a letter of support must be included from City executive leadership.

Does that also mean that someone from the mayor or city manager’s office must be part of the delegation or lead the delegation?

Municipal Department/Agency Directors are eligible to represent city delegations as the team lead. While it is not necessary that the mayor or city manager’s office lead the delegation, competitive applications will include representation from their offices.

I work very closely with my city/town/village’s government departments and agencies but I represent an outside organization. Can I still apply for VPLI?

Unfortunately, non-governmental organizations (e.g., nonprofits, community foundations, land banks, etc.) are not eligible to submit letters of interest for VPLI. However, non-governmental organizations are eligible to participate as a delegation representative should their city be selected to participate. We invite non-governmental organizations to reach out to their contacts in local government to encourage them to apply.

Can communities apply for the VPLI Technical Assistance Award even if they are not selected to participate in the full program?

No, the technical assistance award is only made available to the communities selected to participated in VPLI program overall.

Is the Technical Assistance award automatically provided to cities selected to participate in the VPLI program or is it separate?

The technical assistance award is not automatic. Community Progress will host a competitive process immediately following the in-person event in which the selected VPLI cities can apply to receive technical assistance hours.

Who do I contact with questions?

Additional questions about the Vacant Property Leadership Institute (VPLI) can be sent to:

Justin Godard, Associate Director, National Leadership & Education
[email protected].

The Need for Code Enforcement Reform

Housing and building code enforcement’s primary function is to protect and strengthen public health and safety. It is also one of a government’s most important tools to stabilize and strengthen neighborhoods. Our experience working with hundreds of diverse communities across the country, however, has shown that the traditional approach to code enforcement is due for urgent review and reevaluation, particularly in neighborhoods with weak housing markets, high levels of poverty, and widespread vacancy.

Traditionally, most local governments rely on complaints to identify violations, and civil and criminal penalties to enforce local property maintenance ordinances. This reactive and punitive-centric approach may be effective in stable or strong real estate markets and when owners have the resources to make repairs. However, in weak real estate markets, this approach is often inequitable, inefficient, and ineffective. Many low-income homeowners lack the resources to make repairs, and most corporate landlords, knowing they can avoid prosecution, reject investments in routine maintenance to protect and maximize profit margins. And the metrics used by most code enforcement departments to track success—how many tickets were issued and how much in fines were levied—don’t align with the goals of compliance, public health and safety, and neighborhood vitality.

There is an urgent need, especially for those communities that struggle with VAD properties, to shift from traditional code enforcement to strategic code compliance—an approach that is far more equitable, effective, and efficient. Our first round of technical assistance scholarships in 2024 will help communities make this shift.

Past Scholarship Recipients

In February 2024, Community Progress launched the first round of our code enforcement technical assistance scholarships and competitively selected three communities. Scholarship recipients, and a brief description of their projects, are listed below:

Birmingham, Alabama: Newly passed state law gives the City of Birmingham the ability to add code enforcement fines and nuisance abatement costs as priority liens on vacant properties—a key policy tool of a strategic code compliance approach. Community Progress is helping Birmingham develop the internal systems and processes to strategically identify which code liens to efficiently and equitably foreclose on using a judicially supervised process that will protect property interests and produce insurable title.

Cleveland, Ohio: The City of Cleveland’s code enforcement department is embarking on a period of growth and hiring new officers to support the City’s implementation of its newly passed Residents First legislation. Community Progress is helping Cleveland develop a training curriculum that centers many of the principles of a strategic code compliance approach. The curriculum will support the onboarding of these new code enforcement officers and ensure the entire code team has a baseline knowledge of codes, processes, partners, and critical skills that are necessary to work with community members and property owners to reach compliance.

Lima, Ohio: The City of Lima has been actively working towards many of the strategies that align with a strategic code compliance approach. Still, Lima has a large inventory of vacant privately-owned properties that remain stuck. Community Progress is assessing their code enforcement approach across three types of VAD properties (vacant, owner-occupied, renter-occupied) to improve effectiveness, strengthen partnerships, and achieve equitable outcomes.

Resources developed in support of these communities will be posted here and to our publication page.

Questions?

For questions about Vacant Property Leadership Institute, please contact Justin Godard Associate Director, National Leadership and Education [email protected]

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