Technical Assistance Program to Advance New Solutions for Blighted Properties (Press Release)

FLINT, MICH. – The Center for Community Progress (Community Progress) has launched a national Technical Assistance Scholarship Program to help public or nonprofit organizations find new solutions to address large-scale blight, vacancy and abandonment in their communities. Up to three recipients will be chosen through the program’s first competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process, which has an application deadline of March 24, 2014.

The goal of the Technical Assistance Scholarship Program is to provide technical assistance at a significantly reduced rate, focused on key issue areas where new approaches are needed in the field of blighted property reclamation. The key issue areas are:

• Data and Information Systems
• Tax Collection and Enforcement Reform
• Strategic Code Enforcement
• Land Bank and Land Banking Program Evaluation
• Vacant Land Maintenance and Reuse Strategies

Technical Assistance Scholarship Program recipients will each receive up to 200 hours of technical assistance. A team of experts will provide assistance in the assessment, reformation, development, or implementation of systems to target the challenges identified in recipients’ applications.

Community Progress has provided technical assistance to more than 100 communities in 22 states around the country since the organization’s founding in 2010. More information about Community Progress’ technical assistance work, including both fee-for-service and the Technical Assistance Scholarship Program, is available on the organization’s website. The Technical Assistance Scholarship Program RFA is available to download here.

About Center for Community Progress

Founded in 2010, the Center for Community Progress is the only national 501(c)3 nonprofit organization solely dedicated to building a future in which entrenched, systemic blight no longer exists in American communities. The mission of Community Progress is to ensure that communities have the vision, knowledge, and systems to transform blighted, vacant, and other problem properties into assets supporting neighborhood vitality. As a national leader on solutions for blight and vacancy, Community Progress serves as the leading resource for local, state and federal policies and best practices that address the full cycle of property revitalization, from blight prevention, through the acquisition and maintenance of problem properties, to their productive reuse. Major support for Community Progress is generously provided by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Ford Foundation.