Low-income Neighborhoods and Families to Benefit from Promise Zone Designation
Third Round Promise Zone Designation Awarded to ECHO Housing Corporation and City of Evansville
In 2015, Bolek Grant Writing contracted with our evaluation partner, Diehl Consulting Group, to assist ECHO Housing Corporation and the City of Evansville, Indiana, in the development of an application for the third and final round of Promise Zone Designations through the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This project involved the formation of a steering committee, extensive community stakeholder input and data gathering over the course of several months.
Bolek Grant Writing served as lead writer and contributed to strategy development around six strategic community goals. Our process involved extensive research and understanding of replicable community development models and best practices, current and planned local community initiatives, federal investments, public / private partnerships and the work and potential contributions of all implementation partners. We knew that success hinged on striking just the right balance between community assets and needs and telling the story in such a way for application reviewers to see the value in investing in Evansville.
In June, 2015, ECHO Housing in partnership with the City was awarded the Promise Zone designation, and joins only 21 other communities across the nation in this honor. The project will impact thousands of low-income children and families through increased federal resources, millions of dollars of leveraged new funding to support job creation and economic growth, more housing, increased access to health care, improved education and reduced crime.
This was an important win for a truly deserving community, and Bolek Grant Writing is honored to have played a role.