Neighborhood Progress Inc. (NPI) of Cleveland, Ohio, was established in 1989 by local private, public, and philanthropic interests, and the Ford Foundation. A community development partnership (CDP), NPI provides community development corporations (CDCs) with operating support, organizational and human
capital training, real estate development assistance, project gap financing, and technical assistance. The mission of NPI is to stimulate revitalization of Cleveland’s neighborhoods by strategically investing in CDCs and their development agendas to:
- increase economic opportunity;
- build local capacity;
- create private investment opportunities; and
- advance stakeholder objectives.
Since its inception, NPI has assisted more than 25 CDCs and other community development support organizations, raising in excess of $30 million and leveraging $180 million toward community revitalization efforts. Currently, NPI provides multiyear operational support to 14 CDCs. The six most productive CDCs in Cleveland receive substantial multiyear operating assistance and priority access to other resources. NPI also maintains partnerships with four CDCs involved in large-scale market-rate development projects.
This report provides an overview of capacity-building activities undertaken by NPI and offers insight into the role of CDPs in community development, utilizing the model of CDC capacity developed by Glickman and Servon (1998). The five complementary components of CDC capacity that provide the framework for the study are resource, organizational, networking, programmatic, and political.