We Build Strong and Healthy Neighborhoods
CDC Capacity Building & Collaborative Grant Programs
With the support of St. Louis area banks and foundations, and local and federal government agencies, RHCDA provides capacity building technical assistance to St. Louis area community development corporations (CDC's). Our capacity building programs help CDC's successfully undertake the revitalization of neighborhoods. Our Collaborative Grant Program (the "Collaborative") provides enhanced capacity building technical assistance coupled with operating support grants to a targeted group of high-performing CDC's.
RHCDA's capacity building includes individualized technical assistance as well as group training classes for area CDC's. Our individualized technical assistance focuses on 6 categories of organizational capacity development:
1. Leadership and community engagement
2. Small business modeled operations
3. Organizational financial management
4. Organizational development
5. Planning, Implementation and Evaluation
6. Community Support
We undertake in-depth organizational assessments of all program participants using an assessment tool we developed; we design capacity building plans for participants based on these assessments; and we undertake annual re-assessments of participants to determine measurable increases in each of the six categories of organizational capacity.
Our group training classes cover a broad range of organizational development and neighborhood revitalization topics, and are taught by in-house RHCDA staff and outside experts in a variety of specialty areas. In addition, RHCDA is able to provide digital mapping and database management services to assist CDC's in planning their development activities and tracking important neighborhood information.
The "Collaborative" focuses on providing financial resources coupled with technical assistance to build the capacity and sustainability of the best CDC's in the area. Participation in the program is by invitation only. Since 1998, the program has made over $2.3 million in operating support grants to 15 local organizations. In turn, these organizations have successfully developed over 1,200 housing units, representing $182 million of new capital investments in St. Louis area neighborhoods.
For more information, please contact:
Rick Bonasch, Director of Technical Assistance
314-333-7007 or rick@rhcda.com