THE LEVERAGING EFFECT
OF CAPITAL GRANTS
Philadelphia Regional Fund for Sacred Places
granted
by the Philadelphia
Regional Fund
$1
2009 New Dollars/New Partners congregations participate in Module II training, led by
Luther Snow, Asset-Based Community Development consultant, at The First Presbyterian
Church in Germantown.
UPDATE on Partners:
The Philadelphia
Regional Fund
Commercial Corridors Project
With funding from the Citi Foundation last year, Partners
launched exciting pilot projects along two commercial
corridors in Philadelphia. Working with asset-based
community development consultant Luther Snow,
Partners convened congregations and organizations along
Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia and Germantown
Avenue in Northwest Philadelphia to identify new
partnerships that can revitalize their neighborhoods. The
community meetings have generated several valuable
initiatives for each corridor, inspired by conversations
about shared interests and priorities.
Grants
The Philadelphia Regional Fund continues to support
critical capital projects at 26 of Philadelphia’s historic
sacred places, including five grantees that were
announced last fall. The new class of grantees will be
announced in late 2009.
Last year also saw the implementation of an innovative
round of collaborative grants to 13 congregations that
proposed new and inventive partnership projects. The
initiatives established under these seed grants continue,
ranging from a neighborhood coalition that is planning
5 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Summer 2009
The $25 million
leveraged by
our grants
supported
112 jobs, over
$4 million in
wages and
nearly $260,000
in local taxes.
$12
$25,985,314
leveraged in
actual bricks and
mortar projects
streetscape improvements to community meetings that are
developing a plan for enhanced church space use.
Training
2009’s round of New Dollars/New Partners training began in
February at The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown.
Many faith denominations are represented, eager to act on
their affinities and assets.
Free supplemental workshops continue to be offered, most
recently on communications strategies, including articulating
congregational identity via printed materials and websites.
Held in late January, this workshop was led by Ennis Carter
of Design for Social Impact and Candace Roberts of Quantum
Think.
Events
Partners was a collaborator and presenter for a citywide
preservation conference hosted by the Preservation Alliance
for Greater Philadelphia in May. The first of its kind in the
city, this event drew together Philadelphia’s broad spectrum
of preservation-minded community groups and agencies,
ranging from city government representatives to nonprofit organizations such as Neighborhoods Now! (which
develops market-driven programs to improve Philadelphia’s
low- and moderate-income neighborhoods), the Local
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) (which helps
community residents transform distressed neighborhoods
into sustainable communities), and the Community Design
Collaborative (a volunteer-based center that provides pro bono
preliminary design services to non-profit organizations).