Restoring Hope: A Neighborhood-Driven Case for Revitalization in 27260
The 27260 ZIP code, encompassing Washington Street, is a High Point neighborhood rich in community ties and historical and cultural significance that is pursuing a neighborhood-driven effort to improve housing, education, economic mobility, and overall well-being. D-UP, a grassroots nonprofit organization, has been a youth-focused service organization and central community partner on Washington Street since 2007. As D-UP has expanded to meet more and more needs for 27260 residents, D-UP leadership wanted to engage the community in defining and prioritizing needs and goals, to best support those efforts. “We’ve had a lot of conversations around expanding what we do in the community,” said Rishaunda Moses, Director of Community Engagement and Partnership. “We feel that D-UP can be a catalyst to bring some change to the area, but we really needed a fresh perspective and new baseline.”
D-UP worked with Dr. Stephen Sills, Sociologist and lead researcher with Innovative Research Insights, to craft and implement a needs assessment to solicit feedback from adults and youth through one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and surveys of stakeholders. The assessment identified collective challenges and priorities for renewal. Primary concerns include housing stability, support for local businesses, a desire to celebrate and leverage the cultural and historical heritage of the area, transportation availability, and safety. The youth respondents expressed a wish for safety, more spaces to gather, and better education options. Moses shared, “They talked about equity. About wanting to see here what they see in other communities. Clean streets, affordable housing, jobs, mental health services, and homelessness support. That’s what came out of the mouths of our youth.”
The assessment served as a reminder of the community strengths and attributes of the Washington Street neighborhood. The neighborhood retains a great deal of pride, a strong sense of community, hope, and a willingness to invest in improvement and revitalization. This strength will be a key factor in D-UP’s ongoing efforts.
D-UP, in keeping with their vision of creating a safe environment that fosters courage, hope, belief, and pride to live healthier lifestyles; take advantage of educational opportunities; navigate through life; and become productive citizens in their communities, shares in that willingness. As Moses and the D-UP leadership continue to explore ways that D-UP can step up, civic engagement becomes part of that. The assessment provided an opportunity for residents to self-advocate, expressing in their own words and from lived experiences, the challenges and the hopes that they have for new opportunities and goals for 27260. Now D-UP has the opportunity to carry the ball down the court if you will, offering their legacy and reputation as a means of forming a collaborative vision.
One of those explorations includes traveling with other community leaders to visit a “Purpose Built Community” in Atlanta this past spring, and more recently to host staff from the Purpose Built Communities national office. Purpose Built Communities are intentional neighborhoods which incorporate mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education, community wellbeing, and economic vitality. As the established experts and leadership for the Purpose Built model, Purpose Built Communities offers a range of support to communities who are considering this as part of their future housing planning, including pro-bono planning, coaching, strategic development, and operationalizing the plan – once established. D-UP sees many correlations to their own mission and to the feedback from the 27260 Assessment completed in July. Moses expressed a desire to continue to bring together thought and action leaders across High Point for continued conversation.