SYRACUSE — The City of Syracuse will use a $965,000 grant from the Cities for Responsible Investment and Strategic Enforcement (Cities RISE) program. 

The initiative provides municipalities the funding to launch programs related to housing and “strategic” code enforcement. 

Cities RISE seeks to “innovatively address and transform blighted, vacant, or poorly maintained” problem properties through the use of housing and community data from various state agencies, according to the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia (Tish) James. She announced the grant during a Feb. 20 appearance at City Hall Commons at 201 E. Washington St. in Syracuse.

The City of Syracuse will use the grant to establish a community-ambassador program that pays and trains residents to serve in a leadership capacity in their neighborhoods for code enforcement and housing-related issues. The city will also “pioneer” a student legal partnership with Syracuse University to “increase the capacity of code enforcement to more efficiently resolve cases.”

“This funding could not come at a better time to help us build our collective capacity to improve our neighborhoods and improve the lives of those that we serve,” Walsh said in his remarks. “I think what this funding and this third round of Cities RISE funding supports is really a creative and grassroots, bottoms-up approach to code enforcement,” Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said in his remarks at the Feb. 20 event.

James earlier in the day had announced more than $1.5 million in grants for the Cities of Elmira and Binghamton as part of the same program during a visit to Elmira.

“This program was conceived to provide local governments with innovative technology to address and transform problem properties, otherwise known as zombie properties that fall into despair during the foreclosure crisis,” James said in her remarks in announcing the grant. “Zombie properties dot the landscape all over the state of New York. They bring down property values. They attract a criminal element. And they decrease the … tax revenues, not only here in Syracuse but all across the state of New York.”

About Cities RISE

Launched in April 2017, Cities RISE “advances” the office of the attorney general’s strategy for helping New York families and communities rebuild from the housing crisis, James’ office said. 

In the program’s first phase, 16 municipalities received a two-year subscription to a data platform designed to integrate and analyze data such as code-enforcement records, tax liens, and fire and police data to innovatively address and transform blighted, vacant, or poorly maintained problem properties.

Ten of the original 16 grantees were selected for phase two of the program, which began in November 2018. 

Phase two of the program provided cities with technical assistance to analyze city data as well as assisted the cities with community engagement to develop program ideas for their grant application. Over the last year, these municipalities have worked with Cities RISE program partners to improve their code-enforcement strategies and develop new strategic programs. 

The cities involved received expert support from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, along with Boston, Massachusetts–based Tolemi, a social enterprise that created the BuildingBlocks platform used by all Cities RISE participants. 

“The cities didn’t just ask for a million dollars. They thoughtfully and intentionally built innovation strategies to address distressed properties and abandonment in their communities with a deliberate attempt to insure efficient, effective, and equitable outcomes for residents so we really want to congratulate the City of Syracuse as well as our nine other cities throughout this process,” Lindsay Woodson, program manager for innovation field lab New York, at Harvard’s Ash Center, said in her remarks at City Hall Commons. 

Harvard and Tolemi helped municipalities leverage data and evidence in operational work and policymaking. Additionally, last May, the mayors of the municipalities attended an executive education program at Harvard. They also worked with New York City–based Hester Street, an urban planning, design, and development nonprofit to develop and launch a community-engagement process.

In phase three of the program, 10 cities, including the City of Syracuse, were able to apply for a grant of up to $1 million to implement innovative and strategic programs related to code enforcement.

Enterprise Community Partners — a Maryland–based nonprofit that works as a community development intermediary specializing in affordable housing — is overseeing the initiative.       

SYRACUSE — The Central New York Community Foundation announced that it recently awarded the following grants to local nonprofit organizations in Madison and Onondaga counties.

• Arts at the Palace received $20,000 to support Script to Stage, an arts-based residency program at the Palace Theater in Hamilton.

• Boys & Girls Clubs was provided $25,000 to launch the Junior Staff Program for youth who are looking to explore a career in the human-service field.

• Cornell Cooperative Extension/Madison County was allocated $35,000 to host a series of facilitated “Food for Thought” dinner conversations to bridge the divide between farmers and consumers in order to build community and positively impact farmer mental health.

• Crouse Health Foundation received $150,000 to build a new facility for its Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services located on Erie Blvd. in Syracuse.

• Ignatian Volunteer Corps was given $7,000 to provide health and human services for new Americans being served at All Saints Church.

• Le Moyne College was provided $90,000 to collaborate with Syracuse University to promote civic engagement among students, faculty, and the community.

• Merry-Go-Round Playhouse was allocated $31,300 to support its in-school arts education program, which brings high-quality performances into local schools to encourage curiosity and passion for the arts.

• New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation received $70,000 to continue civic-engagement activities surrounding the I-81 project and environmental-impact study results.

• On Point for College was given $60,000 to create a full-time staff position to recruit, train, and manage volunteers, increasing On Point’s capacity to serve low-income students.

• Point of Contact was allocated $9,000 to expand its El Punto Art Studio program, which provides cultural educational experiences for youth populations.

• Purpose Farm was provided $33,900 to hire a part-time development director who will help create new fundraising streams to ensure long-term sustainability.

• Redhouse Arts Center received $75,000 to support the Fences and Fun Home productions, which directly address issues related to diversity within the Syracuse area.

• SUNY Morrisville College Foundation was allocated $25,000 to conduct educational outreach to SUNY Morrisville and the surrounding community for its recycling program. 

• Syracuse Center for Peace and Social Justice was provided $17,500 to make ADA-compliant upgrades to its building.

• Syracuse Community Choir was given $19,000 to fund a part-time managing director to assist in the capacity building and succession planning of the organization.

• Syracuse Poster Project received $20,052 to hire a salesperson to diversify revenue streams and expand the presence of civic-arts kiosks around the City of Syracuse.

• Syracuse University/Advancement & External Affairs was allocated $67,296 to collaborate with the Skaneateles Lake Association to better predict and prevent harmful algal blooms on Skaneateles Lake.

• The Great Swamp Conservancy received $12,038 to install a parking lot for visitor safety and convenience.

• Vera House was given $50,000 for data-management software and technology upgrades.

• CNY received $23,118 to upgrade its streaming infrastructure by converting a recording booth

The Central New York Community Foundation, founded in 1927 and based in Syracuse, says it is the largest charitable foundation in Central New York with assets of more than $280 million and has invested more than $200 million in community improvement projects since its inception. The Community Foundation strives to strengthen local nonprofits and encourage better understanding of the region.