The Center for Community Progress helps people turn vacant spaces into vibrant places.
Since 2010, our team has supported communities with the policies, tools, and resources they need to address the full cycle of property revitalization.
We are the only national nonprofit dedicated to working with policymakers, local leaders, and community members to take a comprehensive approach to addressing vacant properties—one that uncovers and disrupts unjust systems, and creates opportunities for people to thrive.
Our Vision and Mission
We envision a future where all people live in strong, healthy, just communities where widespread vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties no longer exist. Our mission is to foster strong, equitable communities where vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties are transformed into assets for neighbors and neighborhoods.
Our Areas of Expertise
The community experience of widespread property vacancy caused by people, policies, and processes.
Resident-led work to improve neighborhoods through arts, culture, and intentional community development.
Public entities with unique governmental powers focused on putting vacant properties to productive use.
Equitable, efficient, and effective practices focused on fixing the problem, not punishing the property owner.
Reforming tax systems to prioritize equity and swiftly get abandoned properties back into responsible ownership.
Our Commitment to Communities
Communities aren’t just places on a map, they shape your access to schools, grocery stores, parks, and jobs, as well as the quality of those resources. Where you live matters.
However, decades of unjust policies and practices have left some communities with more than their fair share of boarded-up homes and vacant lots. Whether in historically segregated neighborhoods of major cities, or in small rural towns hollowed out by factory closures, the result is the same: The communities we serve have been routinely devalued by the public and private sector.
And yet, these are communities rich in culture and heritage, home to neighbors who look out for one another and show resilience in the face of extreme challenges. We are committed to working with decision-makers and local leaders to demonstrate that these are vibrant communities—and people—worth investing in. Together, we envision a bright future where every neighborhood, no matter its history, can access its full potential.
Get Help For Your Community
The Center for Community Progress provides customized, expert guidance to state and local governments to assess the state of vacancy in your community and recommend policy and practice solutions for neighborhood revitalization.