Neighborhood Allies is working in close coordination with Homewood business owners, the Homewood Collaborative, public and private sector partners and others to support the equitable revitalization of Homewood’s Business and Institutional Corridor.
Together, with Homewood residents and local business owners and entrepreneurs, we are actively working to re-invigorate and rebrand the North Homewood Avenue business district as an African American Cultural Destination, an identity cultivated by and supported from the Homewood community. We are collectively accomplishing this by activating priority projects along North Homewood Avenue that have been established by the community. Neighborhood Allies is providing financial investments and technical support in these efforts.
To implement these strategies, Neighborhood Allies has recently added Senior Program Manager of Corridor Revitalization Demi Kolke to the team. In her role, Demi is working alongside community-based organizations and partners to implement strategies that enhance neighborhood business district, create a long-term strategic approaches to achieving equitable economic growth results, assisting the community in securing funding for neighborhood economic development initiatives, and more. Her first major project will be tackling the neighborhood level strategies listed below in Homewood, focusing specifically on deploying resources and capital to the N. Homewood Avenue Business Corridor and supporting the N. Homewood Avenue Transformation Initiative. This work is supported by a recent two-year $500,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
Immediate investments and interventions of the initiative to help spur equitable growth include:
- Investments to uplift the people and cultural identity of the neighborhood by supporting current initiatives and organizations,
- Support to existing entrepreneurs and small businesses in Homewood through resource connections,
- Coordinating public and private investment in Homewood’s business corridor
- Interventions to reduce vacancy and building code violations along the corridor,
- Advancing projects aimed to attract investors and those interested in moving their business into the neighborhood,
- Hiring a Business District Manager,
- Hosting community events to activate the corridor such as retail pop-ups, food-centric activities, and public art installations,
- Increasing lighting and supporting building façade renovations,
- Amplifying and beautifying the streetscape of the business district,
- Sharing positive stories about the culture, evolution of the neighborhood as well as the accomplishments and vision of the residents of Homewood.
