Local Focus
RCI was focused at a neighborhood level, while much of the Foundation’s previous grant making had been at the city or state level.
Like a lot of life’s journeys, the best path to follow is not always clear. Such was the journey of the Rebuilding Communities Initiative (RCI), Casey’s first attempt in the 1990s at a comprehensive community change project when no one had fully figured out the best way to rebuild long-neglected, impoverished communities. This paper captures the trials, tribulations and lessons learned from RCI participants after eight years of RCI planning and implementation.
When asked to identify the single greatest accomplishment of RCI, the vast majority of participants described the increased involvement, capacity, power and influence of residents. This resident engagement piece was not even listed as a critical asset at the beginning of the initiative, but many RCI participants saw it as the key to achieveing the others.