A Review of Eastpoint Neighborhood Investment Initiatives Prepared By
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A Review of EastPoint Neighborhood Investment Initiatives Prepared by: A Review of EastPoint Neighborhood Investment Initiatives Prepared for the City of San Antonio Office of EastPoint Table of Contents EastPoint Steering Committee………………………………………………………………… 1 Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………. 2 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………. 14 Purpose of the Review…………………………………………………………………… 14 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………….. 16 The Project Team………………………………………………………………………... 18 Review of EastPoint Initiatives Initiative I- Eastside Promise Neighborhood Implementation Grant.…………………… 20 Examination of Work Plan and Sub-Initiatives……………………………… 21 Evidence of Impact…………………………………………………………. 44 Best Practices and Challenges……………………………………………….. 55 Initiative II- Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant……………………………… 57 Examination of Work Plan and Sub-Initiatives……………………………… 58 Evidence of Impact…………………………………………………………. 76 Best Practices and Challenges……………………………………………….. 87 Initiative III- Byrne Public Safety Enhancement Grant and Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant…………………………………………………………………….…... 89 Examination of Work Plan and Sub-Initiatives…………………………..….. 90 Byrne Public Safety Enhancement Grant……….………….…………… 90 Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant….…….…………………….. 100 Evidence of Impact………………………………………………………... 110 Best Practices and Challenges……………………………………………… 115 Initiative IV- Wheatley Full-Service Community School Grant…………………………. 117 Examination of Work Plan and Sub-Initiatives………………………....…... 118 Evidence of Impact………………………………...……………….……… 126 Best Practices and Challenges……………...……………….………………. 128 Initiative V- Eastside Promise Zone……………………………………………………. 131 Examination of Work Plan and Sub-Initiatives……………………………... 132 Evidence of Impact………………………………………………………… 149 Best Practices and Challenges………………………………………………. 151 Collective Impact and Governance Structure…………………………………………… 153 Summary of Best Practices and Challenges…….………………………………………… 160 Looking Forward…………………………………………………………………………… 170 EastPoint Steering Committee Members The following is a listing of the EastPoint Steering Committee members, appointed by Mayor Ivy Taylor to guide the EastPoint sustainability planning process. This Committee will guide both phases of the process, including Phase I- Review of six Key EastPoint initiatives, and Phase II- Development of a Sustainability Plan. ● Floyd Wilson, Chair – Market President, Frost Bank ● Alan E. Warrick II – District 2 City Councilman, San Antonio City Council ● Dennis Noll – CEO, San Antonio Area Foundation ● Mary Ellen Burns – Senior Vice President, United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County ● Tony Leverett – Director, United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County ● Brian Dillard – President, Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association ● Jackie Gorman – Executive Director, San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside ● Dr. Adena W. Loston – President, St. Phillip’s College ● Andrew Solano – Policy Advisor and Liaison to Council, Office of Mayor Ivy R. Taylor ● Dr. Stanton Lawrence – Assistant Superintendent, San Antonio Independent School District ● Lori Houston – Assistant City Manager, City of San Antonio ● Molly Cox – President & CEO, SA2020 ● Jeffrey C. Arndt – President & CEO, VIA Metropolitan Transit ● Steven Hussain – Vice President of Workforce Development, Goodwill Industries ● Dr. Lloyd Potter – Demographer, University of Texas at San Antonio ● Ken Lowe – Homebuilder, Ken Lowe Partners ● Alicia Walters – Director, Urban Strategies ● Richard Milk – Director of Policy and Planning, San Antonio Housing Authority ● Beverly Watts Davis – Project Director, San Antonio Housing Authority ● Dr. Christine Drennon – Associate Professor and Chair of Urban Studies Department, Trinity University ● Sha-Rone V. Caffie-Reyes – Director Brooks City Base Regional Center ● Dwayne Robinson – Constituent Services, Office of Bexar County, Judge Nelson W. Wolff Staff: ● Dr. Mike Etienne – Director, Office of EastPoint, City of San Antonio ● Jaime Lalley Damron – Program Manager, Office of EastPoint, City of San Antonio Executive Summary San Antonio’s Eastside neighborhoods reflect an enormously rich cultural heritage and historic record. For generations, the residents of the Eastside have been predominantly working class and poor, people of color. The community has a proud legacy as the heart of San Antonio’s first and largest African- American community. Over time, the demographics of the Eastside have evolved and it is now a diverse, majority-Hispanic community that remains home to a sizable African-American population and numerous African-American led community, religious and cultural institutions. Often, the story of the Eastside has been told with nostalgia for its heritage and history and regret for the subsequent economic decline and disinvestment. Indeed, the area has seen pockets of crime and blight that are among the worst in San Antonio, which have certainly been both a contributing factor to, and a result of, economic disinvestment. Public narratives about neighborhoods are powerful. They can attract or hinder investment, shape public policy for better or worse, and they can even impact how the people who live and work in that neighborhood think about themselves. The narrative of the Eastside’s decline from a grander past is one that has been frequently told, but there has also been a competing vision of the Eastside that looks toward a dynamic future. This forward-looking vision is not new - it can be seen in the work of many community members, faith-based and nonprofit organizations, government institutions and private businesses over many decades - but in 2010 it took shape in an unprecedented way. Following the Eastside Reinvestment Summits, in September 2010 the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County was awarded a $312,000 Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant by the U.S. Department of Education. As outlined in the Eastside Reinvestment Report, this was the first in a series of federal investments to support the comprehensive revitalization of Eastside neighborhoods. The federal investment timeline is on the following page. 2 Eastside Federal Investment Timeline Timeline Grant Grantee Amount September US Department of Education - Promise United Way of San $312,000 2010 Neighborhood Planning Grant Antonio and Bexar County US Department of Housing and Urban March San Antonio Housing Development – Choice Neighborhood Planning $250,000 2011 Authority Grant December US Department of Education - Promise United Way of San $23,700,000 2011 Neighborhood Implementation Grant Antonio and Bexar County US Department of Housing and Urban December San Antonio Housing Development – Choice Neighborhood $29,800,000 2012 Authority Implementation Grant October US Department of Justice – Byrne Criminal San Antonio Housing $600,000 2012 Justice Innovation Grant Authority November US Department of Education - Byrne Public United Way of San $320,000 2012 Safety Enhancement Grant Antonio and Bexar County Promise Zone Designation- Does not come with federal funding, but eligible applicants receive 2014 Various Grantees $17,480,000* preference on various federal funding streams to implement Promise Zone goals TOTAL FEDERAL INVESTMENT $72,462,000 *The total investment amount shown for the Promise Zone designation includes the $2,500,000 federal investment made in Fall 2014 to the San Antonio Independent School District by the U.S. Department of Education for the Wheatley Full-Service Community School. The initiative that has come to be known as the EastPoint Neighborhood Investment Initiative (EastPoint) is the largest coordinated community revitalization project in the history of San Antonio. EastPoint is a four square mile area inside the Promise Zone that consists of the combined footprints of the Promise and Choice Neighborhood initiatives. A map of the EastPoint footprint can be found on the following page. 3 EastPoint Footprint 4 *** To sustain these initiatives, the City of San Antonio retained NALCAB to undertake a review of the key concurrent initiatives that have been part of EastPoint to determine what worked, what has not worked, and why for to facilitate the development of a Sustainability Plan for the EastPoint Neighborhood revitalization efforts. NALCAB – National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders is a national nonprofit organization that provides capacity building services, research and investments to nonprofit organizations and government agencies that seek to build assets and advance economic mobility in low- and moderate-income communities. The key concurrent initiatives reviewed by NALCAB were defined by the Office of EastPoint and the EastPoint Steering Committee as follows: ● Eastside Promise Neighborhood Implementation Grant ● Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant ● Byrne Public Safety Enhancement Grant and Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant ● Wheatley Full-Service Community School Grant ● Eastside Promise Zone ● Collective Impact and Governance Structure This significant community development effort is not complete. Several of the initiative grant programs have already ended, and other initiatives will sunset in the coming months and years. In 2016, the City of San Antonio and many of the partners in EastPoint placed a significant focus on asking the question, “What comes next?” including by establishing a Sustainability Steering Committee with broad representation and commissioning this report to help inform that process. NALCAB was engaged to examine all of the initiatives