A Tap Legacy in the Heartland: "The Springfield Project"

          In Spring 1994, Dan Sweat, the former Executive Director of The Atlanta Project (TAP), traveled to Springfield, Illinois. He was invited to Springfield by Dr. Naomi Lynn, Chancellor of The University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS), to deliver a presentation on TAP to the Springfield Urban League and to meet with citizens interested in learning about TAP. Dan Sweat's visit was the beginning of a relationship that lasted through the last four years of TAP's association with The Carter Center.

          At Dan's invitation, a group of thirty-nine residents traveled to Atlanta for a whirlwind 24 hour visit to review TAP's work. The group was organized by Dr. Lynn and the University under the leadership of Dr. Larry Golden, a professor of Political and Legal Studies. In addition to his work at the University around issues of civil liberties, civil rights, and social justice, Dr. Golden had a long history of community activism. Included in the group were the newly elected mayor of Springfield, the Chancellor of UIS, the Superintendent of Public School District #186, the President of Lincoln Land Community College, some concerned residents, and members of Springfield's banking, real estate, business, and religious communities.

          The Springfield group met resident leaders, viewed a neighborhood cluster operation, and spent time at TAP's Collaboration Center working on a process of identifying and prioritizing problems facing the Springfield community. Upon returning to Springfield, the group continued to meet to discuss the needs and possibilities of establishing a similar Springfield-based organization. They realized that their city was quite different from Atlanta and that they did not have a President Jimmy Carter to lead them. Yet there was much to learn from TAP's experience; TAP became a learning laboratory for the establishment of The Springfield Project
(TSP) in Spring of 1996.

          TSP adapted some of the most important principles from the TAP model to the Springfield context. First and foremost was the need for TSP to be a resident-based organization where problems are identified and acted upon as much as possible from the "bottom up". TSP has the advantage of working with a smaller population and geographical base, which facilitates more active participation in its organization. In addition, it built into its structure a "Community Council" open to all Springfield residents. The Council meets monthly to hear reports on activity from TSP initiative teams and to receive input from residents about other problems needing attention within the community.

          Second, TSP modified TAP's principle of an organization based primarily on the private business/corporate sector to include a partnership between private industry and entities such as the University of Illinois at Springfield and Lincoln Land Community College. While occasionally in an adversarial position, TSP tries to work closely with the City of Springfield
on projects of mutual interest. This private/public partnership has been important to the development of TSP.

          A related principle involves the practice of funding. Whereas TAP relied on the large corporate base of Atlanta and survived almost entirely on private donations, TSP has accepted the leadership and support of the University of Illinois at Springfield. This support was augmented when in 1998, UIS received a Community Outreach Partnership Center grant from HUD.

          A significant portion of that grant is to allow the University to partner with TSP on a number of initiatives. Given the limited corporate presence in Springfield and due to the small size of the city, private sector fundraising is more difficult than in Atlanta. In the absence of an individual with national stature like President Jimmy Carter, TSP created a position of TSP Ambassador. The Springfield Project organization was fortunate enough to obtain the assistance of Mr. Howard Humphrey, a retired executive with Franklin Life Insurance Company. Mr. Humphrey served as TSP's ambassador until Fall 1998. His assistance allowed TSP to gain financial support from numerous individuals and businesses in the community no one has filled this position since that time.

          A fourth principle that TSP borrowed from TAP was its role as a facilitator, rather than a provider, of resources and programs. It was a common refrain to hear TSP leadership say, "We don't DO anything". "Instead", they say, "we will facilitate the provision of resources and programs to accomplish the objectives." This position was important because it meant that TSP would not grow into a large, bureaucratic organization and that it would not directly compete with already-existing service providers. Rather, like TAP, it tries to leverage and coordinate resources from all segments of the community to fulfill the particular goals defined by the residents and TSP leadership.

          Using the above principles from Spring 1996 to the present, TSP has built an organization to respond to Springfield's needs. Based upon discussions with residents during summer 1996, TSP's primary emphasis has turned to neighborhood enhancement. By Spring 1997 TSP was committed to work with residents in a 21-block, largely minority-populated, deteriorating neighborhood on the city's Near East side. Relying on resident leadership, TSP moved from neighborhood beautification projects to building a resident-based neighborhood organization, and by bringing needed resources and projects to the neighborhood to achieve revitalization and change. Among the initiatives:

• TSP has coordinated an Adopt-A-Block program that is bringing numerous groups together as partners with residents to improve designated blocks within the area.
  
• TSP began an intergenerational program, Bud To Flowers, pairing youth with seniors in the neighborhood. The youth are employed half-time for the summer to provide needed companionship and work assistance in the home of a senior. During the program, the youth receive educational and career counseling and mentoring. Bud To Flowers is coordinated and under the full responsibility of a partnered relationship between Lincoln Land Community College and TSP.
  
• Only 28% of the homes in TSPs neighborhood are owned by residents who live in them. Home ownership is seen as a vital key to revitalization. With the help of the Springfield-based Dominican Sisters, TSP has established a not-for-profit program, the Home Ownership Program for Equity (HOPE), to help residents move from rental to home ownership by rehabilitating vacant homes and providing opportunities for low-cost financing to residents who might not qualify for traditional loans.
  
• In addition to the specific neighborhood enhancement initiatives, TSP is working on community-wide issues that affect the ability of residents to live in safe, clean neighborhoods free from the blight of dilapidated housing. Among the initiatives:
  
• TSP is working with UIS through its Community Partnership Outreach Center on a program to respond to the problems of trash, refuse and recycling. The program includes a study to determine the number of residences that do not subscribe to the private garbage service. Meetings are also held with the garbage haulers, the public, and stakeholders to educate them about the extent of the problems of "drive-by" trash dumping. The goal is to develop a comprehensive program that will provide the opportunity for disposal of unwanted trash and to expand what is now a voluntary recycling program by the City.
  
• TSP is working on a program to improve the City Code and code enforcement process for housing and environmental complaints. As part of that program, UIS students are surveying code violations and the City's response to them. They have also been monitoring the administrative hearing process to assess enforcement and compliance to the Code. Important goals are to remedy the deterioration of Springfield's housing stock in the inner city, to ensure that renters are able to live in housing free of code violations, and to clean up those parts of the City which are being exploited by absentee owners of property or those who do not care about maintaining their property.
  
• TSP is working with the local Habitat for Humanity to establish a warehouse center to help expand the number of Habitat houses and to provide not-for-profit groups with donated building materials at a low cost for rehabilitating and building low income homes. TSP goals include recycling good-quality, used building materials and using the warehouse to provide employment opportunities and training for residents.

          The contact and exchange of ideas between TSP and TAP has continued over the years. Dr. Larry Golden, now President of TSP and TSP Administrator Cheryl Briggs attended the Initiating Community Building Strategies conference at TAP in Fall 1996. In the summer of 1999, Dr. Douglas Greenwell, Director of TAP, reciprocated by visiting TSP. Since its early beginnings, TSP has been forging its own direction, given the character and needs of its own community. While The Springfield Project by name and operation has indicated its indebtedness to TAP for providing initial inspiration and guidance, the two organizations have come full circle to the point that the leadership of TAP now draws upon the partnership between the University of Illinois at Springfield and TSP to provide guidance in the move of TAP from The Carter Center to Georgia State University.

          A Special Thanks to the Authors, Editors and Storytellers

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