The Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc. (NNN) envisions the near northwest neighborhood as a strong, diverse community that attracts and welcomes people of all racial and economic backgrounds. We believe that residents should be able to access a wide variety of well-preserved and maintained housing and should experience the neighborhood as a safe, decent, affordable place to raise their children, live out their lives and grow old. Everyone in the community, but especially youth, should enjoy social, educational, and recreational opportunities that allow them to grow and contribute positively to society.

The neighborhood should provide a balanced mix of business and residential accommodation and a diverse mix of professional and other job opportunities to promote a healthy local economy. A sense of responsibility of one another’s safety and a low crime rate will contribute to a shared sense of neighborhood pride. Affordable, easily accessible, eco-friendly transportation, excellent educational facilities and protected green spaces and riverbanks will create a unique urban living experience for all residents.

In order to reach its vision the NNN could use some assistance with brand development and marketing services, to continue to create a neighborhood that is valued as a highly desirable place to live and work to create an integrated neighborhood, in which an inclusive, diverse population is represented.

Impact:
The impact of the organization is especially significant due to that fact that it empowers residents in the neighborhood to directly address problems that affect their life. This can be realized in resident driven programs such as the Adopt-A-Block, NNN Bike Patrol, Arts Café, Garden Walk, and through the pride shown in the many resident maintained community gardens throughout the neighborhood. These activities give residents a sense of pride and ownership in their neighborhood, while working to chip away at the negative perception of inner city neighborhoods.

Residents are now actively taking ownership of their neighborhood, putting a variety of skills and talents to work to make the near northwest a great place to live, but routinely setting the standard in our field through programs such as the Adopt-A-Block. This partnership developed between the NNN Environmental Committee and the City of South Bend has received national recognition, been given special distinction by the City and earned NNN the 1st District Business of the Month award. Additionally, the program that was successfully created and piloted here in the near northwest has now spread throughout the city due to the benefits Adopt-A-Block brings to the community. This highlights just one example of what distinguishes NNN as an organization setting the standard of excellence in our field.

Volunteers:
The organization’s volunteers are used to provide support for the residents, programs and the staff of the Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc. as they work to revitalize the neighborhood. Volunteers focus on improving the quality of life in the near northwest neighborhood of South Bend through participation in resident driven committees, such as environmental, marketing, membership, nuisance property, organizing, and safety. These committees work to create solutions that address concerns within the neighborhood.

The goal of the volunteer’s efforts is to broaden the organization’s leadership base. The NNN is committed to providing volunteers with training sessions and events designed to bring together neighborhood leadership, encouraging the emerging volunteers through promoting leadership development and increasing organizational capacity to build the community. The NNN volunteer opportunities work to strengthen the capacity of residents, associations and organizations to work, individually and collectively, to foster and sustain positive neighborhood change through incorporating resident volunteers as active agents of change in their neighborhoods. The desire is to collaboratively link residents to the broader community and strengthen relationships with community institutions, while enhancing the neighborhood.

Housing Program:
One of the best programs offered by the NNN is our Homeownership Program which focuses on one of the key components of the NNN’s mission of providing affordable housing. The Homeownership Program has three main elements: the NNN’s targeted revitalization efforts, the NNN’s homeownership outreach strategy and the NNN’s homebuyers.

A critical role in the Homeownership Program are the organization’s revitalization efforts which can range from the rehabilitation of existing housing stock, demolition in the extreme circumstance that a property is deteriorated beyond repair, increasing green space or opportunities for in-fill construction, and ultimately the creation of opportunities for income eligible households to obtain homeownership. In its revitalization efforts the NNN maximizes the impact of its work by acquiring properties in a concentrated area creating a greater stabilizing effect. The concentrated revitalization approach helps alleviate concerns of the property owners in the area, creates additional stability in the neighborhood, in addition to the ultimate goal of providing affordable housing opportunities for low-to-moderate income households. This allows the NNN to have a profound impact on the number of residents who are able to achieve homeownership.

Additionally due to difficulty in reaching the target market and keeping them informed of the NNN Housing Program the role of partnerships has been important. The NNN has identified numerous local institutions with complementary missions to the NNN’s and a desire to reach a similar market. The NNN has actively worked to build partnerships with Community Homebuyers Corporation, REWARD Program, Center for the Homeless, and the City of South Bend Housing Authority, in order to better reach potential homebuyers. Through the relationship built with these organizations applicants to the NNN programs have access to assistance with budgeting, help developing savings plan, researching mortgages, assistance in choosing a property, explanation of documents pertaining to the home buying process and down payment assistance.

Attracting the broader community into the near northwest neighborhood is very important to change the perception of the neighborhood. It promotes the positive change that is occurring, as well as allows people to see the quality of NNN housing. The assistance of professional marketing help through A Force for Good could greatly assist us in advancing our mission.