RVP 2024: Philanthropy and Community Revitalization

With the 2024 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference (RVP) kicking off in St. Louis this week, Community Progress took a moment to ask three of our top sponsors—JPMorganChase, Missouri Foundation for Health, and Wells Fargo Foundation—what they were looking forward to at the event, and how philanthropy plays a critical role in supporting community revitalization.

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Can you tell us a little bit about your work and philanthropic strategy, and how your organization is working to address the challenges of disinvestment to promote healthy, thriving communities?

Olivia Barrow Strauss, Vice President, Neighborhood Development for Corporate Responsibility, JPMorganChase: Drawing from our philanthropic, business, and research and policy expertise, we advance a holistic strategy to drive inclusive economic growth. Central to this strategy is advancing healthy, well-connected communities with ample access to high-quality employment opportunities, thriving small businesses, and of course, access to safe and affordable housing. We leverage our business practices, philanthropic dollars, policy expertise, and convening power to advance solutions that increase housing supply, stabilize neighborhoods, and help families and communities build and preserve wealth through homeownership.

Missouri Foundation for Health: Our foundation is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Missourians. Our philanthropic strategy focuses on creating long-term, systemic change to eliminate inequities and address the social and economic factors that shape health outcomes. We believe that health is influenced not only by individual choices but also by the environments and systems people live in. Through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts, we aim to build capacity within communities, foster collaboration, and support solutions that address the underlying drivers of inequities.

Our vision is that all Missourians—regardless of their background—will have a fair and just opportunity to live their healthiest lives. To achieve this, we prioritize equity, integrity, humility, and commitment in everything we do. By strengthening community capacity, engaging diverse voices, and addressing barriers to health, we are working to transform systems and policies that perpetuate disparities, ultimately promoting healthy, thriving communities throughout the state.

Wells Fargo Foundation: Housing provides the foundation to help generate wealth, the ability to prosper, and is an element of human dignity we all deserve. That is why our team works to shift the narrative to change the way people and their families are housed. It all comes down to people—how many are served, how we are serving them, and how we are positively affecting the trajectory of their lives through our work.  

How do your partnerships with local governments, nonprofits, and residents inform your community investments?

Olivia Barrow Strauss, JPMorganChase: We believe that supporting thriving communities and robust local economies requires developing strong relationships with local partners. That’s why we’re committed to supporting place-based community development strategies that are rooted in deep partnerships with local community, business, and civic leaders. These local partnerships play a critical role in informing our community investments. For example, we drew on our extensive experience working with community partners to develop a paper outlining strategies and policies to address residential vacancy. These insights also informed a recent philanthropic commitment in Baltimore to stabilize housing supply and address vacancy in the city.

Another focus area we are working closely on is the issue of heirs property—a major contributor to neighborhood destabilization and generational wealth loss, particularly among under-resourced communities. JPMorganChase is tackling heirs property challenges as part of the firm’s commitment to advancing housing affordability and stability. We continue to advocate for federal and state policies to address heirs property—including the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) and the HEIRS Act of 2024—and have released research and policy recommendations around heirs property challenges. For example, the JPMorganChase PolicyCenter published recommendations to support heirs property owners in the wake of natural disasters, including policies that increase their access to home repair programs. We are also leveraging philanthropic dollars to support pro bono legal assistance and estate planning services to help more under-resourced households preserve their homeownership and protect their family wealth.

Missouri Foundation for Health: Philanthropy plays an important role in fostering sustainable community revitalization efforts, but true, long-term change requires collaboration across all sectors. Achieving health equity isn’t the sole responsibility of any one entity, including philanthropy. We need local governments, nonprofits, the private sector and residents to come together, each bringing their unique strengths and resources to the table. When these sectors work in partnership, we can address the root causes of inequities and create lasting, impactful change that improves the lives of many.

At MFH, we believe that collaboration is essential to transforming systems and promoting thriving communities. Philanthropy can act as a catalyst by providing funding, strategic support, and capacity building, but it is the collective action of diverse stakeholders—residents, local governments, and nonprofit partners—that ensures community-driven solutions are at the forefront and sustainable. By engaging communities directly in decision-making and partnering with those most affected by inequities, we can create solutions that reflect the needs and aspirations of Missouri residents. This multi-sector approach is crucial for addressing the complex challenges of disinvestment and ensuring that revitalization efforts lead to healthier, more resilient communities.

Wells Fargo Foundation: Philanthropy means nothing if there is no one to do the work the funding exists to support. Local organizations and residents know best what their neighborhoods, and ultimately, what the families and children in those neighborhoods, need to prosper. They are the direct lines to the communities we have a responsibility to serve. Once we know better, we can do better, and investing in mission-aligned partners is absolutely vital to Wells Fargo’s efforts to expand housing access and affordability to all.

What are you most looking forward to at the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference?

Olivia Barrow Strauss, JPMorganChase: The Center for Community Progress is convening over 700 dedicated and thoughtful experts who share a common vision for healthy, vibrant communities. I’m thrilled to count myself among this group and cannot wait to learn, connect, and strategize with fellow attendees. I’m certain that the RVP Conference will bring the necessary momentum to drive the next wave of this work and inspire even greater action to come.

Missouri Foundation for Health: Conferences like RVP are critical to supporting and fostering the partnerships needed to create sustainable change. In this space, a shared understanding that housing, land use, and infrastructure play key roles in shaping health outcomes is central—along with an intentional focus on elevating collaboration among multiple sectors and communities most impacted by disinvestment. RVP offers a space to generate inspiration and share tools needed to transform disinvested neighborhoods, sparking change that comes from both grassroots efforts and systemic reforms.

MFH supports RVP because of its alignment with our commitments to learning, collaboration, and partnership with those who share a vision for equity-driven revitalization and sustainable community development. We support the unique opportunity for local governments, nonprofits, residents, and philanthropic organizations to come together, strive for a shared understanding, and build the relationships necessary for impactful, long-term change. No single sector can tackle these challenges alone—true transformation requires all of us to work together. We’re excited to see the learning from and engaging with others that will occur and that the conference will not only spark innovative approaches, but also strengthen the collective efforts needed to transform disinvested areas into thriving, healthy communities where all residents have a fair opportunity to live their best lives.

Wells Fargo Foundation: Peer learning and knowledge sharing is so important. Conferences like RVP are opportunities to make connections outside the office and the Zoom box to find ways to work together toward common goals. We cannot be siloed in our efforts—housing is complex, and we all need to play an active role in getting to the other side of this housing crisis.

We need to be a sponge and consider other perspectives. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to meeting and listening to the stories of others in this industry to see if there are ways to work together.

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Community Progress extends our warmest gratitude to JPMorganChase, Missouri Foundation for Health, and Wells Fargo Foundation for their support of RVP and, more importantly, for their support of work that builds stronger, more vibrant communities. We thank them and the other sponsors and exhibitors for their tireless dedication to our shared mission of turning vacant spaces into vibrant places so all people can thrive.