Center for Community Progress Receives $1.5 Million in General Operating Support from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

WASHINGTON, DC — The Center for Community Progress—a national nonprofit dedicated to helping communities address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties—is thrilled to receive $1.5 million in general operating support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), strengthening a long-standing partnership that began with RWJF’s early investment in the launch of the National Land Bank Network (NLBN) in 2020.

This multi-year grant reflects the deep relationship between Community Progress and RWJF, allowing both organizations to collaborate toward shared goals. As Community Progress advances its five-year strategic plan, this funding will enable the organization to continue working towards the widespread revitalization of vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties and creating strong, healthy, just communities.

“We are honored to continue our partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,” said Kathleen J. Guillaume-Delemar, President and CEO of Community Progress.  This renewed investment allows us to grow our impact and better support the people working to transform vacant and abandoned properties into lasting community assets.”

RWJF served as a founding funder of NLBN, which exists to support the over 350 land banks and land banking programs across the country through peer learning, policy support, and capacity-building resources. The new flexible funding will help Community Progress sustain and grow not only NLBN, but support the other essential work of the organization.

Community Progress is the only national nonprofit dedicated to ending widespread vacancy and abandonment across the US. This general operating support will allow the organization to remain nimble and responsive to the evolving needs of local partners and to continue building systems that support strong, healthy, and equitable neighborhoods.

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About Community Progress: The Center for Community Progress helps people to transform vacant spaces into vibrant places. Since 2010, their team of experts has provided urban, suburban, and rural communities battling systemic vacancy with the policies, tools, and resources needed to address the full cycle of property revitalization. As the only national nonprofit dedicated to tackling vacant properties, Community Progress drives change by uncovering and disrupting the unjust, racist systems that perpetuate entrenched vacancy and property deterioration. Community Progress has delivered customized, expert guidance to leaders in over 300 communities and provided hundreds of hours of free educational resources as well as leadership programming to help policymakers, practitioners, and community members across the country return properties to productive use. To learn more and get help for your community, visit communityprogress.org.

Support for this work was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.