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Benefits for Participating Communities

Each community selected for participation will receive the following benefits totaling more than $25,000 (minimum value of the initiative, not a cash award) per participating community:

Six days of core community revitalization training led by highly regarded professional trainers, including materials, meals and lodging.
A community profile – a demographic and planning report that includes key indicators and trends specifically for their community.
Access to a community development consultant for coaching, facilitation, resource identification, and more.
A matching mini-grant for planning, technical assistance, project implementation and/or predevelopment needs after successful involvement in Blueprint Communities.
Strengthened relationships and communication between local leaders and funding source representatives.
An opportunity to present a draft community plan to key institutions and funders after the core training sessions are completed.

Community Revitalization Training

Blueprint Communities training will be facilitated by the University of Delaware Center for Community Research and Service. Training will begin with a kickoff and orientation, to be held in March 2008,
in Newark.

A series of one- and two-day training sessions will follow, with community teams involved in intensive workshops in the spring and fall of 2008. Sessions are designed for community results, with topics including:

Identifying & developing community resources
Growing local leadership
Team building & cohesiveness
Community asset mapping
Encouraging civic engagement
Understanding community development models
Creating housing capacity
Visioning & holistic planning
Marketing & communication
Promoting best practices

Teams that complete Blueprint Communities training will gain a thorough understanding of how to create sustainable communities and the elements necessary for success. Communities will have developed a:

Vision
Draft community plan
Clear action strategy (including a funding strategy)
Process to measure outcomes
List of next steps/timeline to move the process forward

Blueprint Communities Promotes Team Training

Each team will comprise eight community representatives, including at least one from an FHLBank member financial institution, a development organization, the local governing entity and a community-based organization, as well as other key stakeholders. Everyone involved in helping to make communities better should have a stake in the Blueprint Communities initiative:

community planners & developers
service providers
member bankers
leaders in local government
religious & civic leaders
community-based organizations
housing providers
community & economic development practitioners

These key individuals must collaborate in committed partnerships, taking into account all aspects of the community, for revitalization to be successful.

Community Eligibility

Selected communities are classified as “emerging” – those that have not completed a detailed community plan, but that do have a strong foundation of local leadership and possess some development capacity.

To be eligible, communities are required to:

Have a population between 500 – 15,000, which may be an entire municipality or unincorporated place, a neighborhood within a larger municipality, multiple municipalities or unincorporated places (contiguous).
Have not completed a neighborhood or community vision and a holistic plan within the last two years.
Demonstrate local leadership, have basic development capacity and possess opportunity for development and collaboration.
Be able to put together a diverse team of leaders committed to attending training sessions, broadening civic engagement, and advancing the welfare of the community.

Community Selection

Communities referred by partners or self-identified as potential participants will be sent a Request for Proposal (RFP), which will establish eligibility and provide the foundation for fair selection. FHLBank Pittsburgh, aided by program partners and an advisory
com mittee, will select communities to participate from RFPs received.

Questions

For more information on Blueprint Communities, contact Laura Kemp-Rye at 304-291-5485 or via e-mail to blueprint@fhlb-pgh.com. You may also visit the Blueprint Communities dedicated Web site at www.blueprintcommunities.com or call FHLBank's Community Investment Department at 1-800-288-3400.

Resources

Go to the dedicated web site.