Who We Are
Impartiality in health outcomes and economic mobility are central to the Purpose Built Communities approach.
Poor housing, weak schools, thin job access, and unsafe streets are not four separate problems, and fixing one while the others hold usually buys a temporary result. The Purpose Built Communities model responds by concentrating all of it — housing, education, health, and jobs — inside one defined geography, held by one accountable organization, over a horizon long enough to compound.
Neighborhoods are the unit of change that can have the greatest impact on people's lives, changing life trajectories for the lowest-income residents, increasing economic mobility, improving health outcomes, and ensuring opportunity for all.
An independent non-profit organization solely dedicated to the ongoing revitalization of the neighborhood. It aligns partners and resources from all sectors — including neighborhood residents — and sets strategy for the overall effort based on the community's vision.
Safe, high-quality housing serving residents at all income levels with a high percentage designated to preserve long-term, permanent affordability in the neighborhood.
High-quality, neighborhood-serving continuum for student growth, learning, and achievement at every level starting at birth and through college and beyond.
Community-specific mix of facilities, programs, and services that honor local history, reflect the priorities of residents, promote healthy lifestyles, create jobs, and reduce crime.
Skills training, job placement, and entrepreneurship support so that residents share in the economic growth their neighborhood creates.
The model asks one organization to hold the whole strategy — housing, schools, health, and jobs — inside one defined geography, so that gains in one pillar are not erased by losses in another. A family that gets a rehabbed roof and a stable job still needs a school worth walking to.
Northside Initiative plays that quarterback role for Birmingham's Northside, and reports on it publicly.
Concentrated poverty on the Northside was engineered — by redlining, by the interstate, by plant closures. It can be un-engineered the same way: deliberately.
Donate NowCome work a Saturday. Homeowner repair crews, vacant lot clean-ups, and tutoring all run on volunteer hours.
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