Building Healthy Communities

I’ve been thinking about this post for a couple of days.  I wanted to find something cheery to write - something in the holiday spirit.  Our office is full of such: Christmas trees and wreaths, menorahs and holiday sweets.  My inbox is full of sparkling, gold-edged holiday cards sending good will.

I appreciate all of that and am definitely looking forward to the holidays and having some time to spend with family and friends.  But I’m having trouble with the upbeat message as I’m struck by how many of those year-end cards are being sent to chase down a last few donations - desperately.  I know I should expect this given the headlines and economic reality that have defined 2010 (for details on that, see the results of a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy survey), but I think that what has caught my attention is not only the quantity of these pleas, but the tone of them.  For quite a few, it’s clear that this isn’t just about trying to get a few more dollars into the bank, but it’s really about saving staff jobs, programs and, perhaps, even the organization itself.

But, that’s not what I’ve been mulling over.  It’s really that I’m torn about what the appropriate response is.  Of course, on a personal level, I’d like the Foundation to be able to give to each of these nonprofits.  I’m absolutely sure that every single one of them is helping someone who needs help, making a community stronger or giving voice to a forgotten cause.   As everyone in philanthropy knows, though, we shouldn’t make grants scatter shot; we have to be focused, aligned, strategic.

On a professional level, I completely agree with that  - we invest in nonprofits that can work with us strategically to make significant impact in our communities.  As we reach the end of our fiscal year, we’ve managed our budget so that we’ve granted all that we have to give - we have to make our numbers work too.  We aren’t set up to respond to these kinds of spur of the moment requests, nor do I think that we should be.

It still doesn’t feel good to send out the letters declining these requests.  But with my personal year-end donations, I plan on spreading my gifts among a number of organizations, some of which I haven’t supported before.  I guess that I’m not along in that, as one respondent to the Chronicle survey said he was seeing the number of donors giving to his organization going up even while the dollars are down.  I’m lucky in that I can have it both ways - I’ll let my head rule at work, but my heart wins at home.

For many people, the notion of building sustainable communities seems like something rather far-fetched … an expensive “city of the future” that is nice to aspire to, but perhaps not something very realistic to actually accomplish.  When The Home Depot Foundation was founded eight years ago, we decided to try to disprove that notion by focusing our work on creating healthy, affordable housing as the cornerstone of creating communities that aren’t just surviving, but are thriving.  Communities where the housing is healthy and efficient, while also affordable to live in for the long term; where there are safe and green outside places for people to walk, play and learn; and where people have access to good jobs, good schools and the stores and services they need.

As a result of our commitment, we want to shine the light on cities that are making great strides in bringing the economic, social and environmental benefits of sustainability to their residents. And so, this year we created the Awards of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development to identify, recognize and showcase the work being done in cities to construct green affordable housing in a sustainable community.

We were blown away by the quality of the submissions we received from cities across the country - there is truly some fantastic work being done.  It’s clear that many cities across the country are finding successful ways of dealing with the financial, social and environmental issues facing them through thoughtful design, land use and building methods.

I’m proud to announce today that the inaugural winners of this award are Minneapolis, MN and its nonprofit partner Aeon and North Charleston, SC and its nonprofit partner The Sustainability Institute.  It’s also nice for me to note that the winners don’t just walk away a beautiful award to display. They are also receiving a combined total of $150,000 to further the sustainability goals of their communities.

You can read a quick description of the accomplishments of each below, but be sure to visit our web site to read the press release and the case studies for each as well as to watch the video.

Minneapolis, MN and Aeon:

• The City of Minneapolis has titled its Comprehensive Plan as “The Minneapolis Plan for Sustainable Growth,” making it clear that sustainability will be considered with all decisions, not as an afterthought. The city has established 25 sustainability indicators to track its progress, each with specific targets and incentives for achieving those targets.  As part of this commitment, the city partnered with Aeon to develop Ripley Gardens, a best-in-class example of the successful completion of a sustainable community. Using the historic Ripley Memorial Hospital and planning to add three additional buildings, the project team created plans for a residential development focused on historic preservation, energy efficiency and sustainability.  The site is accessible to transit, jobs in the downtown area and bike trails and contains one acre of greenspace that includes a playground and a community garden. The project boasts green and efficient building and maintenance practices and meets the MN Green Communities standards.  View the case study and watch the video.

North Charleston, SC and The Sustainability Institute:

• In the early 2000’s, North Charleston faced many challenges, including the closing of a major naval base.  The city struggled as residents moved to the surrounding suburbs leaving vacant homes, a low home ownership rate and impoverished neighborhoods. In 2008, the city revised its Comprehensive Plan and included sustainability as a goal with specific priorities to guide its actions.  As a result, the city partnered with The Sustainability Institute to develop Oak Terrace Preserve, a once vibrant community that had fallen into major disrepair by 2000.  The city purchased the land, with a vision to transform it into a sustainable, attractive community. Today, it exemplifies best practices in housing, natural resources and land use and development.  It includes bioswales, rain gardens, pervious paving in alleys and “flexi-pave” sidewalks.  The community layout encourages community interactions and all 55 homes on the property achieved EarthCraft certification.  View the case study and watch the video.

My sincere congratulations to Minneapolis and North Charleston for their impressive work to make their cities a healthier, more productive place for their citizens.  My hope and the goal of The Home Depot Foundation is that their success stories will offer insight, inspiration and a roadmap for other cities to follow as they develop and implement sustainability plans for their communities.

We’re excited about the progress being made by so many non profit housing organizations, green builders and developers, and cities.  You can count on The Home Depot Foundation to keep the sustainability drumbeat going  by highlighting success stories like Minneapolis and North Charleston who are building “cities of the future” today.

At The Home Depot Foundation, we make grants every week, but this week, the amounts have really added up.  In fact, today we are mailing out grants that total over $750,000.  None of the grants is individually enormous, but combined, they demonstrate how we work throughout the country to support local communities to do the work they need to do given their unique situation.

I’m not going to list them all, but here are some highlights:

• Atlanta Land Trust Collaborative: $125,000 to support the development homes that will always be affordable for families of lower income
• Clean Air Campaign: $25,000 to support carpooling initiatives that have saved commuters almost $800,000 in 2009
• Global Green USA: $15,000 to provide technical assistance to nonprofit developers working to make homes more efficient and healthier
• Park Pride: $25,000 to sponsor a conference about the role of parks and green infrastructure in the new economy
• FLASH: $50,000 in support of their work to strengthen homes and safeguard families from the impacts of disasters

The list goes on, but hopefully you get a feel for what we are doing.  And while at first blush this may seem like a somewhat random list of organizations and efforts, I hope that you’ll take a second look and see that they are all aimed at creating healthier, more livable and more affordable communities.   We like to think that we are very smart and strategic in what we do as a Foundation, but I’ve got to admit that at bottom we are just trying to create neighborhoods where anyone would want to live and houses that any family would be proud to call home.