Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida Awarded $250,000 to Promote Economic Progress in Miami Dade

One of 13 Organizations Selected by the Citi Foundation and Low Income Investment Fund

Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) will receive $250,000 in Citi Foundation funding to increase economic progress in Miami-Dade as part of the Partners In Progress initiative.

Florida Community Loan Fund has worked with NHSSF since 2007, providing financing for 2 projects:

• DuPuis Pointe, offering affordable homes in Miami that are energy efficient and hurricane proof
• Rio Palma, offering affordable rental apartments in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami.

Below is text from the press release on the Partners in Progress initiative award. For more information, visit www.nhssf.org.

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NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF SOUTH FLORIDA AWARDED $250,000 TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN MIAMI-DADE AS PART OF NATIONAL "PARTNERS IN PROGRESS" INITIATIVE 

One of 13 Organizations Selected by the Citi Foundation and Low Income Investment Fund to Advance the Community "Quarterback" Model

New York, NY – Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) will receive $250,000 in Citi Foundation funding to increase economic progress in the northwest 79th Street corridor of Miami-Dade as part of the Partners in Progress (PIP) initiative launched today in New York City. The initiative, backed by the Citi Foundation and the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), aims to advance the "quarterback" model of community development by building the capacity of trusted organizations that align objectives, resources, and efforts among local stakeholders to create strong, resilient neighborhoods and paths to economic opportunity.

Under the one-year grant, NHSSF will expand and accelerate efforts to transform Miami-Dade County's 79th Street Corridor from a fragmented set of residential, commercial, and industrial sites into a cohesive neighborhood with better transit that connects residents to jobs, retail, and needed services. The 79th Street Corridor is a low-income community that faces significant economic and social challenges. NHSSF will focus its efforts on using current transit infrastructure to connect neighborhood residents to jobs in the south Florida region; creating new affordable housing; and revitalizing the retail, commercial, and social services resources in the area. Additionally, NHSSF will seek a Foreign Trade Zone designation for the Corridor, which will open the possibility for new businesses to locate in the corridor, creating new jobs and economic activity.

"Partners in Progress provides us an amazing opportunity to lead by serving. We will work diligently and tenaciously with our partners in the 79th Street corridor to create a vibrant neighborhood of choice by building on the years of work already accomplished," said Arden Shank, President & CEO of NHSSF, who was in New York City to receive the award and participate in kickoff events with the Citi Foundation and LIIF leadership.

Through PIP, NHSSF and the other grantees will be able to initiate or deepen their efforts to become community quarterbacks. In this role, they will lead the development or expansion of local stakeholder networks to improve places—the physical environment of a community including housing, transit, and safety— and create opportunities for people—such as jobs, child development, education, and health. PIP funding will enable grantees to engage and align an expanded range of partners, share knowledge, and use data to drive project design. In addition, grantees will participate in a learning community that will include coaching and skill building.

"Recognizing that there is no 'one size fits all' solution to improving economic opportunity, we know the quarterback model works to align smart approaches with smart financing," said Nancy O. Andrews, President and CEO of LIIF.

"The Partners in Progress initiative is focused on identifying and supporting organizations that have the credibility and potential to be local community development champions," said Pamela Flaherty, President & CEO of the Citi Foundation.

The impetus behind the PIP initiative came from Investing in What Works for America's Communities, a book LIIF co-published in 2012 with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which asserts that flexible and dynamic community quarterbacks could transform local community development efforts that are often fragmented and duplicative. The Citi Foundation supported LIIF's work on the original book, and the PIP initiative now aims to advance the community quarterback model in across the nation.

To learn more about the PIP program, visit www.partnersinprogressproject.org.

Follow PIP on Twitter, @PIPCommunities, and like the PIP Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/partnersinprogressproject.

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About Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida. Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) is a local nonprofit organization that collaborates with residents and other stakeholders to stabilize neighborhoods and develop sustainable housing. A chartered member of the NeighborWorks® network, NHSSF is amongst a nationwide network of 245 trained and certified community development organizations at work in more than 4,400 communities across America. NHSSF is a certified Homeownership Center, a HUD approved counseling agency and has adopted the National Industry Standards for Homeownership Education and Counseling. NHSSF provides a full spectrum of homeownership services in English and Spanish to assist potential buyers in reaching their homeownership dream and assist current owners to preserve their homes. For more information, please visit www.nhssf.org.

About the Citi Foundation. The Citi Foundation is committed to the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of low- to moderate-income individuals and families in the communities where we work so that they can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation targets its strategic giving to priority focus areas: Microfinance, Enterprise Development, College Success, and Financial Capability and Asset Building. In the United States, the Citi Foundation also supports Neighborhood Revitalization programs. The Citi Foundation works with its partners in Microfinance, Enterprise Development, and Neighborhood Revitalization to support environmental programs and innovations. Additional information can be found at www.citifoundation.com.

About the Low Income Investment Fund. The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) invests capital to support healthy families and communities. Since 1984, LIIF has served 1.5 million people by investing $1.4 billion. Over its history, LIIF has provided financing and technical assistance to create and preserve affordable housing, child care centers, schools, healthy food retail, health clinics and transit-oriented developments in distressed neighborhoods nationwide. LIIF's work has generated $26 billion in family income and societal benefits. LIIF has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C. For more information about LIIF, visit www.liifund.org