May 4, 2023 – Rocky Mount/Edgecombe Community Development Corp. (RMECDC) has been named one of 21 finalist organizations nationwide selected by ArtPlace America’s Community Development Investments program. Six organizations will be chosen from the finalists in August to receive funds.
“We are thrilled with the quality, depth and breadth of the 261 applications we received for this program from community planning and development organizations across the country,” ArtPlace Executive Director Jamie Bennett said. “The 21 finalists represent extraordinary opportunities to integrate arts and cultural strategies into the work of organizations that serve as long-term stewards for their communities.”
Community Development Investments (CDI) is a one-time program that will support place-based organizations with a primary mission of community planning and development to incorporate arts and cultural strategies into their work. The program will provide each organization up to $3 million in grant funding over three years, as well as access to national creative place-making experts – a team that will look at the deployment of debt capital, a team to advise on federal grant opportunities and a team that will focus on research and documentation throughout the program.
The RMECDC seeks to bring additional community and economic development funding to Rocky Mount and lift up its investment opportunities to a collaboration of national funders.
RMECDC is part of a diverse finalist pool. The CDI finalists have a wide range of contexts and focuses, from community development corporations to public health organizations to universities working on challenges from housing development to food systems to commercial corridors. Finalists were selected from six defined geographic regions across the country through a review process that included experts in the fields of community development and creative place-making.
One organization from each of the six regions will be chosen to participate in the program, which will begin in September. The full list of 21 finalist organizations and regions are as follows:
A community of any size in Alaska:
- Cook Inlet Housing Authority, Anchorage, AK
- NeighborWorks Anchorage, Anchorage, AK
- The Association of Village Council Presidents, Bethel, AK
A community of any size in California:
- Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs’ Activities League, San Leandro, CA
- Fresno Metro Ministry, Fresno, CA
- Latino Health Access, Santa Ana, CA
- Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corp., Los Angeles, CA
A nonmetropolitan area community in Arizona, New Mexico or Texas:
- Nogales Community Development Corp., Nogales, AZ
- Siete del Norte, Embudo, NM
- Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, Zuni, NM
A nonmetropolitan area community in Minnesota:
- North Central Economic Development Association, Staples, MN
- Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, Statewide, MN
- Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, Slayton, MN
One or more neighborhoods of Philadelphia, PA:
- Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
- Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia, PA
- People’s Emergency Center Community Development Corp., Philadelphia, PA
- Women’s Community Revitalization Project, Philadelphia, PA
A metropolitan community in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia or West Virginia:
- Charleston Area Alliance, Charleston, WV
- Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, Jackson, MS
- Rocky Mount/Edgecombe Community Development Corp., Rocky Mount, NC
- S.G. Atkins Community Development Corp., Winston-Salem, NC
Representatives from RMECDC joined other finalists and ArtPlace grantees and partners at the annual ArtPlace Grantee Summit in Philadelphia May 4-6, which was live streamed via www.artplaceamerica.org.
About ArtPlace America
ArtPlace America (ArtPlace) is a 10-year collaboration of foundations, banks, and federal agencies that exists to position art and culture as a core sector of comprehensive community planning and development in order to help strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric of communities. Visit www.artplaceamerica.org for more information.
About Rocky Mount/Edgecombe Community Development Corp.
Since its inception in 1988, Rocky Mount/Edgecombe Community Development Corp., a nonprofit organization, has served as an economic development engine, creating tax base, homes, new communities, infrastructure and jobs. It has helped citizens of Rocky Mount, Edgecombe and Nash counties build a better quality of life by providing housing development, small business development, housing foreclosure mitigation counseling and job creation. Visit www.rmecdc.org to learn more.