People

Jane Benedict, housing advocate and principal founder of the Metropolitan Council on Housing in New York City, died in June. A former trade unionist, Benedict became involved with housing in the early 1950s when the prewar tenements of her Yorkville neighborhood were being razed for luxury high-rise apartment buildings, displacing tens of thousands of low- and middle-income residents. In response, Benedict started the Yorkville Save Our Homes Committee, which lobbied for the construction of low-cost, racially integrated public housing. The Committee later joined forces with other New York City tenants’ groups to form the Metropolitan Council.

NeighborWorks America appointed Eileen Fitzgerald as its new chief operating officer. Fitzgerald has served for nearly 20 years in housing and community development. Prior to this, she was senior director of National Initiatives with the Fannie Mae Foundation, served as the acting executive director and vice president of program operations at the McAuley Institute, was chief investment officer for single-family finance at the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service.

Local Initiative Support Corporation announced Mark Edwards as Philadelphia LISC’s new program director. During the last 18 years, Edwards has worked in a variety of Philadelphia civic, community development and social services capacities. He was most recently senior vice president and chief operating officer with Germantown Settlement, a human services agency that aims to enhance the quality of life for the more than 195,000 low-to-moderate income residents living within the Greater Germantown community. Edwards worked for the Urban League of Philadelphia as a senior vice president from 1997 to 2001 and served as a deputy executive director at the Philadelphia mayor’s office from 1987 to 1995.

The Foundation for the Mid South’s president, Dr. George Penick, is stepping down in the next year. Penick has served as president since 1990, when the organization was founded. Former Mississippi Governor William Winter and former Clinton adviser Bob Nash of Arkansas recruited Penick to help develop the Foundation’s framework of building philanthropy and promoting racial, social and economic equity in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The Clinton School of Public Service, in Little Rock, Arkansas, is seeking minority applicants to its Master of Public Service degree program. Applicants from all academic and professional backgrounds who are interested in public service careers will be considered. For more information, contact Bob Torvestad, Director, Student Services at 501-683-5216 or rjtorvestad@clintonschool.uasys.edu.
www.clintonschool.uasys.edu

The Burlington Community Land Trust (BCLT) received a $1 million gift from Lois McClure to support the creation of affordable homes in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties in Vermont. The gift launches the BCLT Legacy Endowment Campaign, co-chaired by McClure and Burlington mayor Peter Clavelle. More than 850 families and individuals live in BCLT’s affordable apartments, cooperative housing and single-family homes, while another 350 households receive education and financial assistance each year through the trust’s HomeOwnership Centers. www.bclt.net

The Cleveland Foundation’s board of directors approved over $16 million in grants and loans to area nonprofits. Among the recipients were: Neighborhood Progress, Inc., with a $500,000 grant to support its Strategic Investment Initiatives program. Through the program, NPI will work to re-establish market forces to help six Cleveland neighborhoods (Buckeye, Detroit Shoreway, Fairfax, Glenville, Slavic Village, Tremont West) become competitive in the region; Care Alliance, with a $500,000 grant to relocate and expand its health clinic for the homeless; The Center for Families and Children, with a $500,000 grant to expand and renovate the Midtown Human Services Training Center during its Building on Hope campaign; and The Domestic Violence Center, with a $250,000 grant to renovate and enhance its west side shelter, enabling the organization to continue helping families in crisis. In 2004, the Center provided assistance to almost 600 women and children in need. www.clevelandfoundation.org

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s new Web site, CommunityLots.org, seeks to build capacity, facilitate information sharing and create and sustain networks of community-based organizations in the functioning of urban land markets. The Community Lots project will provide research and training to those involved in community development, including CBOs, nonprofit developers, practitioners, engaged citizens, policymakers and academics. www.communitylots.org

The Bruner Foundation named its 2005 Rudy Bruner Award recipients. The award recognizes projects that transform urban problems into creative solutions. The 2005 Gold Medal Winner ($50,000) is the Portland Streetcar Project (OR), which includes 2.4 miles of double track streetcar linking five districts. The Streetcar Project resulted in reclamation of a 70-acre brownfield site and has contributed to the continuing development of a high quality, livable urban environment. The 2005 Silver Medal Winners ($10,000) are: Fruitvale Village (Oakland, CA), a 225,000 square foot “transit village,” built by the nonprofit Unity Council, whose major goal is to strengthen community institutions and catalyze neighborhood revitalization; Downtown Silver Spring Revitalization (Silver Spring, MD), which resulted in over a million square feet of retail, office and civic space, and multifamily dwelling units; Artist Relocation Program (Paducah, KY), which encourages artists from across the country to relocate to the Lower Town neighborhood of Paducah; and The Heidelberg Project (Detroit, MI), a community-based organization that empowers people through art by offering a variety of art works, three art education programs and space for visiting artists. www.brunerfoundation.org