New Directions Community Partnership

1. New Directions Community Partnership Description: NDCP is an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) program. -NDCP is a. “collaborative working group focused on developing coordinate approaches for service provision and neighborhood improvements in east Baltimore.” -Focus is on the “creation of horizontal linkages to develop a healthy urban infrastructure.” “The NDCP partners will press for increased organizational and community capacity to identify common issues and to collaborate on solutions.”

2. Problem/Issue Area Addressed: • 1. Lack of viable and varied housing options • 2. Community tensions/ conflicts/ factionalism • 3. Concentrated pockets of poverty-resident isolation. • 4. Weak, decentralized, uncoordinated community infrastructure-economic and political vulnerability. • 5. Concerns in community health and welfare • (related to these is the larger problem of uncoordinated service delivery)

3. Strategies: • Education • Housing readiness/Financial Literacy • Cross-cultural Communication- resource presentation • Leadership Development • Organizational Mentoring • Community Health • Grassroots Mobilization and Engagement • Cross-Community Organizing • Affordable Housing - Gentrification

4. Members: • The NDCP is composed of about 25 different organization leaders (3 CDC’s, 13 Service agencies, 5 Community Associations, 2 City departments, representatives from the University of Maryland Schools of Social Work, Law, Medicine, and Nursing). • Selection of Partners= 3 factors: • Previous personal/ professional relationships with university members (SSW grads, placements) • Relational ties from earlier collaborations (Annie E. Casey making Connections Grant) • Organizations with expressed interests in goals of NDCP (NHS, NRS). Strengths and challenges to these methods of selection.

5. Geographic and cultural issues affecting operation: • Primary cultural issue affecting operation is ongoing demographic shifts in target area. Conflicts between existing, long-term residents (English speaking) and newly arrived/ transitional residents (non-English speaking). • East Baltimore (Demographics) • Nine neighborhoods in target area • Diverse (60% Black; 30% White, 10%Growing immigrant and Latino) • 55% of the residents are unemployed • 44% of families live in poverty • High vacancy rate • Facing gentrification

6. Structure: • The NDCP is composed of about 25 different agencies. Representatives from each agency form a Community Advisory Council, which meets monthly. It has a decentralized authority and utilizes democratic structure and process in collaborative efforts.

7. Values, Norms, and Organizational Culture: • Democratic leadership model, participatory management, cultural sensitivity, ethical decision-making, and a desire to help disadvantaged populations. • -Community perceptions and informal reputations.

8. Funding: • The NDCP is supported by a HUD COPC grant. The only grant-funded staff consists of the University of Maryland School of Social Work interns and field instructor. • All other resources were provided through in-kind offerings and services by the individual partnership members.

9. Events/Meetings: • Partnership has not held any events that were organized by the partnership as a collective group. • The individual partners hold various events, trainings, presentations, discussions. • The partnership members meet once a month at the Community Advisory Council meeting to discuss ongoing projects and exchange information.

10. Work Undertaken: • A main goal is to ensure that affordable housing is developed and maintained in the face of local redevelopment plans. • The partnership is working to develop collaboration between communities that are working toward this goal. • Corresponds to several current development initiatives currently being undertaken in the target area. • Examples: Goody Clancy Planning Firm, MMcF Planning Process, TRF. • Major accomplishments of the partnership: networking, information exchange, service promotion, resource enhancement, mutual aid, mentoring, increased collaboration, decreased service duplication.

11. Long-term Strategy • The partnership is looking to develop ways in which to make the work of the NDCP sustainable after the life of the grant. Upcoming meetings will focus on steps to take to this end.

12. Challenges: • -Largely uncoordinated service/ advocacy network in the target area. • -Duplication of services • -Cross disciplinary collaboration • -Communication difficulties/ domain disputes- inevitable conflict. • -Size of partnership • -Goal selection-Housing (ideological differences) • -Level of partner’s commitment varies – lack of funds • -Lack of concerted action • -External Changes: impact of current fiscal environment on partner agencies, resources and prioritization. • -Partners struggle with scarcity of resources, and are not always able to fully contribute to the partnership.

13. Challenges (Cont.) • -Challenges of CAC structure with regard to Partner Roles • definition, accountability, specific actions or outcomes, leadership, unity of purpose? • -Are members’ needs being met? • -Evaluation • limited funding and low expectations for evaluation; • reliance on student interns and research classes • -Sustainability

14. Skills and Knowledge Base: • -Understanding of group dynamics and effective facilitation techniques (task & process). • -Knowledge and understanding of motivators for participation, perceived gains. • -Power sharing and Negotiation • -Relationship building • -Group problem solving/ decision making. • -Conflict resolution • -Social marketing/ framing. • -clarification, partializing, focusing • -Time management • -Information management, technical capacity.