2015 was a productive year for our staff and volunteers. Together, we made a difference.
Business District Development
- Launched community process around liquor license transfers into neighborhood, holding two meetings.
- Held 5 clean ups with more than 125 volunteers, resulting in over 1,200 pounds of garbage and weeds collected.
- Installed and hosted a Park(ing) Day event with partner Bloomfield Livable Streets
- Began process of creating a Commercial Property Database in order to track the condition of properties and the needs of owners and businesses.
- Collected over 300 surveys on Little Italy Days 2015 in order to understand how best to advocate for the community.
- Advocated with Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation to remove known drug dealers from Bloomfield, resulting in two arrests.
Community Engagement
- 5 open, widely advertised community meetings engaged over 60 people.
- Launched redesigned website with online business directory.
- Created and distributed 11 newsletters to over 400 contacts.
Organizational Growth
- Completed a revisioning process, adopting a new mission, vision, and committee structure.
- Increased organizational revenue over 2014 by 91%.
- Welcomed 5 new board members.
- Created and filled one new part-time staff position.
Grant Awards
- Awarded Special Partnership Program tax credits through acceptance with Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group’s Reimagining Communities Initiative to form a residential program focusing on wealth building and housing improvement.
- Awarded Love Your Block Grants in 2015 and 2016.
- Awarded increased ACCBO/CDBG funding.
Bloomfield Saturday Market Program
- Increased low income spending power by providing over $1,000 in FREE Fresh Access Food Bucks to SNAP benefit users, a 40% match in dollars to over 50 unique users over 118 transactions.
- Donated over 1,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Pittsburgh Aids Task Force food bank
- More than 15,750 people attended the Bloomfield Saturday Market with 51% of attendees walking to the market.
- With partnering organizations, gave 53 free flu shots, provided weekly health and wellness programming, and helped 5 kittens be adopted.