Grants Awarded: 2008 - $150,000; 2009 - $150,000

Convening Partner: The California Federation, Robbie Bell, President

Fiscal Partner: New Directions Housing Corporation

Collaborative Partners: In addition to the residents of California, The California Collaborative includes: Breaking New Grounds; Brown-Forman; Center for Health Equity; Community Farm Alliance; Louisville Metro Council Members David Tandy (District 4) and George Unseld (District 6); Habitat for Humanity; Kentucky Center for the Arts - ArtsReach Louisville; Midway Church of Christ; St. Benedict Child Development Center; St. Stephen Baptist Youth Ministries; St. William Church; Spalding University; University of Louisville - Office of Community Engagement, Kent School of Social Work, Speed School of Engineering; Women 4 Women; and YouthBuild Louisville.

The residential groups, nonprofits and other stakeholders listed above formed The California Collaborative to execute a neighborhood revitalization plan that maximizes their assets, combines their strengths and centralizes their efforts. The Change Makers grants are enabling the California Collaborative to implement a neighborhood management system inspired by the NeighborWorks America model for neighborhood revitalization. The system will utilize a variety of strategies to develop and promote a positive image of California as a green and wireless community with a vibrant arts scene.

Strategies for the project include: (1) improving the physical conditions and appearance of the California neighborhood; (2) preserving and promoting home ownership to provide a full range of housing choices; and (3) supporting the many community-building efforts of all the civic, faith-based and residential groups in the neighborhood to make and keep California a safe and vibrant community where people choose to live.

In reporting on the first year of the Collaborative, Robbie Bell, president of The California Federation, said, “This year, we’ve been about planting community gardens, organizing youth, collecting data, welcoming new folks to California, opening The California Collaborative headquarters, surviving wind, ice and flooding, connecting, making art, inspiring others and finding new supporters. We’ve been about unity—meeting, talking and planning—and a lot of doing. We are now, and in the future, a neighborhood of choice and a neighborhood of Change Makers.”