2004 Community Partnership Awards
Tracking the Impact of Community Development Investments
| Awardee: | Local Inititatives Support Corporation |
| Partner: | Dr. Paul M. Ong, Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research |
Abstract:
Over 16 years LISC has invested $363 million in LA leveraging $1 billion in financing for activities ranging from housing and commercial space to community facilities. Industry standards for quantifying the economic development and social impact of this investment are moving from capturing anecdotal successes to integrating more quantitative evidence of neighborhood change.
LA LISC will partner with UCLA's Lewis Center to develop a pilot neighborhood monitoring system to track the socioeconomic health of neighborhoods; define impacts of community investment programs; and evaluate the quality of life change in investment areas. Without these supportive outcome measurements it will be increasingly difficult to substantiate the broader economic and social benefits of bringing financial resources to Los Angeles' most impoverished neighborhoods.
Developing collaboration between UCLA and LISC will result in a system that will be continuously updated and maintained through the support of numerous agencies in community development. LISC will ultimately use such information to determine the extent to which its program strategies and funding are most effective in building the capacity of grass-roots non-profit organizations; increasing the availability of affordable housing and goods and services to under served communities; and making an economic impact with both community assets and employment opportunities.
