Mosaic Community Development

Since 2008, inCOMMON’s primary target area has been Park Avenue, a centrally located, historic community, home to approximately 9,000 of Omaha’s most diverse makeup of residents. As the most densely populated neighborhood in Omaha, interventions within Park Avenue can result in extremely high impact. This reality is compounded by the fact that Park Avenue faces significant challenges in regard to levels of poverty.
• 33.8% of adults and 45.8% of minors live below the Federal poverty line – these rates are over two and half times the rates found in Douglas County.
• Unemployment is 14.2% and 30% of inCOMMON’s program participants are currently unemployed.
• The median household income is $23,109, just 45% of the Douglas County median income.
As a result of these conditions, many Park avenue residents face an overwhelming gamut of challenges commonly associated with poverty: housing instability, food insecurity, illicit economics, and crime. Feelings of isolation, inadequate safety, and a lack of hope for the future are often tied to these challenges, and can continue for generations. Utilizing a holistic, multi-generational approach, inCOMMON’s aim is to stop poverty at a neighborhood level by developing the capacity of local residents so that they can effectively work together toward neighborhood change.

inCOMMON’s efforts are focused in four development areas: workforce development, relationship development, leadership development, and neighborhood development.
• Workforce Development: inCOMMON partners with neighbors to increase employment success and economic self-sufficiency through adult education, language classes, job readiness classes, and financial workshops. In 2018, 259 low-income individuals participated in a workforce development activity.
• Relationship Development: To increase workforce success outcomes beyond the classroom, residents receive relational support as they work toward life and employment goals. inCOMMON also fosters relationships between neighbors through block parties, community meals, and cultural celebrations. Each year, over 2,000 residents attend these community events; outcomes include improved connectivity and trust among neighbors and residents taking on leadership roles as volunteers and event organizers.
• Leadership Development: To ensure community development continues on beyond inCOMMON’s interventions, leadership development and civic engagement are foundational to all of our programs. inCOMMON works with residents of all ages to identify and foster leadership skills through assessments, surveys, coaching, and opportunities to lead in programs and in the broader community.
• Neighborhood Development: Ultimately, inCOMMON’s aim is to empower neighbors to guide development in their own neighborhood. As residents progress through inCOMMON’s programs, they are empowered to use the skills and support they develop to lead neighborhood change. Facilitated community organizing and neighborhood planning connects individual resident leaders to each other and the broader issues facing our community.

In order to support program outcomes toward the goal of reaching our mission, inCOMMON invests in operations, personnel, and resource development. inCOMMON’s operating budget has grown 66 percent over the past five years, and in 2016, inCOMMON hired its first full-time Development Director. Over the past three years, all of inCOMMON’s staff received annual professional development and attended training in their work areas. Investment in staff, operations, fundraising, and community collaborations have all contributed to the current success, as well as laid the foundation for future impact.

During its sixteen-year history, inCOMMON has developed a strong reputation in the community as an organization providing excellent services directly involving individuals served in development efforts, and working collaboratively to confront issues facing vulnerable neighborhoods. inCOMMON’s Executive Director has served at the helm of the organization since 2006, and in 2018 inCOMMON added the role of Associate Director to its executive leadership team. The Board of Directors is made up of a diverse range of community and business leaders, who effectively support the organization through governance, strategy, and development.

Over the past fifteen years, inCOMMON has worked alongside neighbors to transform vulnerable neighborhoods into thriving, connected, opportunity-rich communities. Since 2008, our focus has been on Park Avenue, where we have empowered individual neighbors to become economically self-sufficient, provided families with quality, affordable housing, and partnered with resident leaders to accomplish neighborhood development projects such as hosting neighborhood visioning sessions, installing a playground and soccer field, and organizing the community around projects that improve neighborhood aesthetics, health, safety, and human connectivity.

In June 2018, inCOMMON’s staff and Board of Directors completed a strategic planning process to chart the future efforts of inCOMMON. Building on current successes, the following strategic directions were established:
1. Invest in sustainable leadership: inCOMMON is committed to continuing to invest in developing sustainable neighborhood leadership, and is working toward a plan of employing neighbors at the organization. We also remain committed to the development of our current staff and board leadership to ensure effective and efficient operations for the organization now and in the future.
2. Lead and cultivate change in the physical development of Park Avenue: Park Avenue is rapidly redeveloping, which has brought many challenges to low-income and minority residents. Over the next three years, inCOMMON will invest in real estate and facilitate a citizen-led neighborhood plan for future development.
3. Leverage the inCOMMON brand for increased awareness and support: inCOMMON has a broad-base of community support, including over 400 individual donors annually. By partnering with our Board of Directors, inCOMMON will continue cultivating individual donors, as well as look to diversify our revenue stream in order to sustain our organization’s high level of impact.
4. Expand inCOMMON’s impact beyond Park Avenue: inCOMMON’s vision has always included the development of multiple vulnerable neighborhoods throughout the Omaha-metro area. Through our work in Park Avenue, inCOMMON has developed a sustainable model for leadership development, and we are ready to replicate that model in an additional neighborhood.