PRESS RELEASE June 15, 2009

For Immediate Release Contact: Jane DeMarines Executive Director, NACEDA 703.741.0144 or jdemarines@naceda.org

NACEDA Recognizes Sister Mary Scullion:
on TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential" List:

--The recognition "energizes" and "inspires" community economic development practitioners across the country according to NACEDA officials.

Washington, DC - June 15, 2009 - National community economic development leaders joined their counterparts in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania to acknowledge Sister Mary Scullion's inclusion in TIME magazine's "The 100 Most Influential People in the world" list.  TIME notes Scullion's, co-founder of Philadelphia's Project H.O.M.E., success in reducing homelessness with an approach that serves as a model for other cities.  The Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC), a NACEDA member organization, shared news of Scullion's honor with NACEDA members across the country.

"PACDC is proud to be associated with the outstanding work of Sister Mary and Project H.O.M.E., who like our other community development members, work to improve the lives of the disadvantaged and their communities, particularly around affordable housing and job opportunities", said Rick Sauer, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. 

Project H.O.M.E. empowers people to break the cycle of homelessness and addresses the root causes of poverty and homelessness through neighborhood-based community revitalization programs.  Similar community development corporations work to create jobs and affordable housing in low-income communities across America. Their work ensures that revitalized communities protect disadvantaged and minority citizens.

Sister Mary Scullion says of being named: "This honor is truly shared by all who struggle for social and economic justice."

Diane Sterner, NACEDA Board Chair and Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey:  "Sister Scullion's recognition is a testament to her years of hard work and unwavering vision.  It serves as an inspiration to CDCs across the country who are working to provide opportunities to the homeless and to strengthen vulnerable neighborhoods."

"I am pleased that TIME recognized the great strides in combating homelessness and improving neighborhoods in Philadelphia.  Just as important, in receiving the award, Sister Scullion and her colleagues at Project H.O.M.E. emphasize the ongoing need for advocacy at all levels to ensure funding for the programs and partnerships that we know work to make our neighborhoods stronger", said Jane DeMarines, NACEDA Executive Director.  "The recognition of Sister Scullion and Project H.O.M.E. energizes NACEDA members and reinforces the need for our advocacy at all levels." There are 4,600 CDCs across the country, which besides affordable housing, provide other  services to communities and in particular, assist residents of communities to find  solutions to their own problems, e.g. as, foreclosure prevention and homeownership counseling, Veteran's services, among other programs to help improve neighborhoods. They are dedicated to specific communities, but also work with each other and local governments in creating resources to create healthier communities.

Inspiration behind the creation of the resident-led community development movement dates to the late 1960's when then Senator Robert F. Kennedy and allies created a framework for supporting community development corporations.  The initial success in the Bedford Stuyvesant area of New York City spread to neighborhoods across the nation.  Over the last decade, community economic development has stabilized and transformed urban and rural communities across the country, with remarkable growth in the southern United States where 1,000 new CDCs were started from 2002-2005, according to industry data.

Click here for TIME Magazine's coverage.

Click here for Project H.O.M.E.'s statement.

Photo available upon request.

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About NACEDA and the CDC Industry
Through its member network state/city/regional associations, NACEDA represents more than 3,000 community development corporations. In 2005, as an industry total (aggregate) CDCs produced: 1.3 million homes (since 1988), 774,000 new jobs and 126 million sq feet of commercial/industrial space, housing for special needs populations. Nearly 2/3 of CDCs offer homeownership counseling.