Center for Community Progress

Center for Community Progress
Name	Center for Community Progress
Formation	2010
Type	Nonprofit organization
Headquarters	Columbus, Ohio
Region served	United States
Leader title	President & CEO

Center for Community Progress is a nonprofit organization focused on addressing urban blight, vacant property, and community stabilization in the United States. Founded in 2010 in Columbus, Ohio, the organization works with municipal agencies, nonprofit organizations, philanthropic foundations, and community development practitioners to rehabilitate vacant buildings, strengthen land banks, and advance equitable neighborhood regeneration. It engages in applied research, technical assistance, policy advocacy, and capacity building across cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Philadelphia.

History

The organization emerged in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when cities including Detroit, Cleveland, and Flint, Michigan faced widespread vacancy and foreclosure crises. Early collaborators included the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Ford Foundation, and municipal land banks like the Columbus Land Bank and the Cuyahoga Land Bank. Leaders drew on precedents from the Urban Land Institute and models such as the Cleveland Model and initiatives in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to develop strategies for vacant property remediation. Over its history the organization has partnered with federal entities such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and state agencies in Ohio and Michigan to pilot programs and scale interventions.

Mission and Programs

The organization’s mission centers on stabilizing neighborhoods by converting vacant property into productive reuse while promoting equitable outcomes in places like Baltimore and Newark, New Jersey. Programs include technical assistance for land banks, property maintenance standards similar to those championed in Philadelphia, and capacity building modeled on training from the National League of Cities and International City/County Management Association. Initiative areas mirror policy discussions found in forums like the Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, and Reinvestment Fund concerning foreclosure prevention, housing rehabilitation, and community wealth building. Pilot programs have been implemented in partnership with civic groups such as Habitat for Humanity and advocacy organizations like PolicyLink.

Research and Publications

The organization produces applied research, policy briefs, and toolkits aimed at practitioners and policymakers in jurisdictions such as Cook County, Illinois and Wayne County, Michigan. Publications have been cited alongside work by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Economic Innovation Group, and think tanks including American Enterprise Institute and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in analyses of vacancy, tax delinquency, and land reutilization. Research topics intersect with studies by academics at institutions such as Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, and University of Michigan on housing markets, blight remediation, and equitable development. Toolkits reference legal frameworks like statutes used by the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority and procedural innovations from the Columbus Mayor's Office.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Collaborations span municipal governments like the City of Detroit, county offices in Cuyahoga County, philanthropic partners including the Kresge Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and intermediary organizations such as the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Enterprise Community Partners. The organization has engaged with federal programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and worked with academic centers including the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. Cross-sector partnerships have linked the group with community development corporations in Chicago, St. Louis, and Richmond, Virginia and with legal aid partners like Legal Services Corporation for foreclosure and title issues.

Funding and Governance

Funding has come from foundation grants (for example, from the Kresge Foundation, Ford Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation), fee-for-service contracts with cities such as Columbus, Ohio and Baltimore, and philanthropic collaborations with organizations like W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Governance structures mirror nonprofit best practices seen at organizations such as National Trust for Historic Preservation and Habitat for Humanity International, with a board composed of leaders from municipal government, philanthropy, academic institutions including Ohio State University and Johns Hopkins University, and community development sectors represented by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Impact and Criticism

Reported impacts include support for land bank capacity in Cuyahoga County and programmatic assistance in cities affected by post-crisis vacancy such as Detroit and Flint, Michigan, often highlighted alongside recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina and local revitalization initiatives in New Orleans. Evaluations by municipal partners and researchers from universities like University of Michigan and Rutgers University note improvements in property reuse, tax base stabilization, and community-led redevelopment. Criticism has come from housing advocates and scholars associated with debates in forums such as Housing Matters and policy analyses at the Urban Institute over the limits of demolition-led strategies, concerns voiced in contexts similar to disputes in Baltimore and St. Louis about displacement, historic preservation issues raised by groups like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and questions about scalability raised by the Brookings Institution and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States