Twenty-one professionals from across the country came to Yale recently with the goal of ushering in a new Renaissance. But the rebirth they hope to inspire in this Renaissance will occur outside the walls of academia, in the nation's urban centers.
The men and women had come to campus to be trained as Community Renaissance Fellows. They were chosen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD, in partnership with Yale, to participate in the inaugural class of the program, which seeks to revitalize inner-city public housing developments in 17 large American cities.
Last May Yale was selected by HUD to develop six one-week seminars to give the participants the skills they will need to become effective community builders. The training, which is being funded with $672,000 of federal money matched by $682,000 from Yale, will prepare them for such projects as conducting financial feasibility studies and structuring financing packages, assisting resident management boards, developing plans to attract and select new housing residents, and linking with other community projects.
"The kinds of neighborhood transformation projects that are the cornerstone of the department's initiatives require a new generation of community building professionals," says Michael A. Stegman, HUD assistant secretary for policy development and research. "Graduate education does not prepare students with the full range of expertise in finance, planning, real estate and community development required to assume this role. The Community Renaissance Fellows program seeks to meet that need by giving these professionals a better understanding of the political and economic forces at work in inner cities.
"These fellows will receive on-site job experience at progressive public housing authorities and a classroom education designed by Yale that will include the highest quality seminars tailored to the challenges they will face as future leaders. The seminars are being taught by an experienced and inventive faculty that includes successful urban professionals from throughout the country," Mr. Stegman notes. "We believe this unique combination of experience and education will make it possible for them to make a difference in the future of America's cities."
The Community Renaissance Fellows will work with public housing authorities to transform the way in which this nation addresses the needs and improves the prospects of low-income urban populations, according to Mr. Stegman, who participated in the first week of training along with three other HUD officials and several Yale faculty members. Training combines community case studies, goal-setting exercises and a two-year applied research project designed and conducted by each participant.
The Community Renaissance Fellows, who are expected to develop creative new approaches for dealing with today's problems, will receive $50,000 annual stipends during the two-year fellowship. The public housing authorities where they are assigned are revitalizing housing with federal HOPE VI and Development Grant funds ranging from $14 million to $50 million each.
Yale, which in recent years has significantly expanded its partnerships with New Haven communities and its academic courses devoted to urban issues, was selected in a national competition to design the educational curriculum.
"This is a new dimension of the New Haven Initiative. We want to be a partner in training the individuals who will be the catalysts for community changes in cities across the country," says Linda Koch Lorimer, vice president and secretary of the University. "We invited city officials, neighborhood leaders and entrepreneurs in the private sector to join our faculty in order to provide truly practical training. We look forward to this unique opportunity to talk with and learn from these fellows when they return to Yale in coming months for more training."
The 9 men and 12 women selected as fellows -- 15 of whom have advanced degrees -- will be working in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Holyoke, Houston, Little Rock, Louisville, Minneapolis, New York City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis and Tucson. They were selected from 167 applicants who had at least three years of practical, multidisciplinary neighborhood revitalization experience. The 21 successful applicants demonstrated that they already were making a difference in their communities, according to Mr. Stegman.
Kevin Marchman, HUD acting assistant secretary for public and Indian housing, whose office is providing funding for the program, stresses the importance of the program for public housing residents. "Because the concept of community building places equal emphasis on human development and housing development, the approach this program advocates will help families gain the skills and resources they need to become self-sufficient," he says.
Co-directors of the program are Douglas Rae, the Richard Ely Professor of Management at the School of Management SOM, who also administers a $580,000 HUD Community Outreach Partnership Centers grant; and Cynthia Farrar, assistant secretary for urban policy development in Yale's Office of New Haven Affairs and associate professor adjunct of political science. She also is leading Yale's revitalization partnership with New Haven's Dwight, Edgewood and West River neighborhoods under a $2.4 million HUD Joint Community Development Program grant.
While the Community Renaissance Fellows program is based at SOM, its faculty comes from throughout the University. Other Yale faculty and staff members participating in the program are Alan Plattus, associate professor of architectural design and theory; J.L. Pottenger Jr., the Nathan Baker Clinical Professor of Law; Katherine M. O'Regan, associate professor of economics and public policy; Steven Marans, the Harris Assistant Professor of Child Psychoanalysis at the Yale Child Study Center; Jean A. Adnopoz, associate clinical professor and coordinator of community child development at the Child Study Center; and D. Ellen Shuman, director of Yale investments -- real estate and capital markets.
The faculty also includes two experienced professionals with long-standing ties to Yale: Harry Wexler of Holt, Wexler and Farnam in New Haven; and Alexander Garvin, lecturer in urban planning and development at the School of Architecture and author of the recent book "The American City, What Works, What Doesn't." Additional faculty for the first of the six seminars are Bruce Alexander, retired senior vice president of the Rouse Co. in Baltimore; and Mark Sissman, president of the Enterprise Social Investment Corp.
The Community Renaissance Fellows now will begin to work with public housing authorities, using mixed-finance strategies to create mixed-income neighborhoods -- ideal settings in which to learn about community building, note HUD officials. The participants also will gain experience from the private developers who are working in partnership with local public housing authorities.
"These fellows must be skilled in the difficult art of community building as well as in arranging financing, thus building trust as well as housing. Mobilizing the ambitions and energies of inner-city residents and harnessing market forces are both essential to successful neighborhood revitalization," Professor Farrar says.
"These bright and creative men and women have chosen a new career field in which they can be agents of change to make urban neighborhoods vibrant again," Professor Rae notes. For more information, contact Jane Karadbil at HUD, 202-708- 1537, ext. 218, or Michael Stegman at 202-708-2713.