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Community Development Corporations (CDCs) are non-profit organizations that originate locally from the efforts of residents who are determined to revitalize their neighborhoods. Revitalization activities include developing affordable housing to attract homeowners back into their neighborhoods, initiating economic development and developing social services.
CDCs succeed because they embrace mainstream American values. Since these values transcend ideology, CDCs have been able to generate broad participation from entire communities. CDC values include:
Self Help
CDCs are organizations neighborhood stakeholders (residents, churches, and businesses) create to take responsibility for improving their neighborhood and enforcing neighborly behavior.
Community Building
CDCs bring people together, reinforce the social fabric and bolster community institutions from churches to little leagues. Their mission--to rebuild communities physically, economically, and socially--transcends housing or any other single issue.
Local Control
CDCs bring decisions down to the neighborhood level where it is closest to the people. CDCs work to end the isolation of poor neighborhoods by attracting investment and building relationships between neighborhood leaders and the corporate and public sectors.
Partnership
CDCs are pragmatic and collaborative, not confrontational. They recognize that no single organization can revive a neighborhood alone. They seek to build consensus and take advantage of the common ground among neighbors, local governments and the private sector--lenders, investors, property owners, developers, businesses, and foundations.
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