+1-786-628-7980
Sign Up/Sign In 
Urgency of place-based leadership emerges as key theme
ATLANTA—Dec. 22, 2020—Purpose Built Communities announces season three of This Is Community, the organization’s podcast that showcases the voices, stories and work of community redevelopment work occurring nationwide.
Purpose Built Communities is a national nonprofit that supports a network of 28 neighborhoods in 24 cities around the U.S. using a coordinated, holistic approach based on quality and focused on sustainability to tackle complex, deeply rooted issues as intergenerational poverty, unsafe environments, high crime, and failing schools
“For decades, systemically racist policies have disenfranchised entire neighborhoods and created areas of concentrated, intergenerational poverty,” said Carol R. Naughton, chief executive officer, Purpose Built Communities, which came into existence in 2009. “To bring about change, we must address the symptoms and the root causes of such inequity, while making investments that bring new opportunity and also preserve the history and culture of a place.”
This Is Community is a podcast by Purpose Built Communities that explores these issues and more.
The podcast strikes at the heart of the place-making movement that has emerged across the U.S. along with the urgent need for place-based leadership, particularly in times of crisis.
The newest season of This Is Community explores the evolving role of a “community quarterback,” an independent non-profit organization solely dedicated to the ongoing revitalization of the neighborhood that aligns partners and resources from all sectors—including neighborhood residents—and sets strategy for the overall effort based on the community’s vision. These conversations from summer 2020 feature leaders from throughout Purpose Built Communities’ national network discussing the urgency of place-based leadership for swift crisis responses in areas of greatest need.
Community quarterback executive directors from neighborhoods in in Atlanta, Birmingham, Grand Rapids, New Orleans, Omaha, and Wilmington share real stories from their communities during the confluence of a public health crisis, the resulting economic fallout, and outcry from around the nation for racial justice – all of which have affected and continue to disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities and those living in poverty.
“While no one has been exempted from the unique blows of 2020, the residents of the communities in the Purpose Built Network are especially vulnerable,” continued Naughton. “Communities already impacted disproportionately by inequity and poverty faced new challenges related to COVID-19. Our Network Member leaders had to take swift and decisive action to help residents.”
Listen to season three of This Is Community at purposebuiltcommunities.com/podcast.
About Purpose Built Communities
Purpose Built Communities is a nonprofit organization that works with local leaders across the country to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by producing better health outcomes, racial equity, and economic mobility. The Purpose Built Communities model includes mixed-income housing, a cradle-to-college education pipeline and community wellness programs and facilities in a defined neighborhood, coordinated by a dedicated, nonprofit community quarterback organization.
Website: purposebuiltcommunities.org
Connect on social:
Instagram : @PurposeBuiltCommunities
Twitter: @PurposeBuiltCS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PurposeBuiltCommunities
