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Transforming Blight into Assets

The leaders of Partners for Neighborhood Renewal – Poplar Lawn, a longstanding initiative funded and facilitated by The Cameron Foundation, have begun to take this neighborhood revitalization effort to scale in the last few years. The partners include several nonprofit housing and preservation organizations and the City of Petersburg, all acting on a strategy intended to demonstrate that distressed historic neighborhoods can be saved if resources are targeted on a small area. This includes both rehabilitating owner-occupied homes and restoring vacant, uninhabitable homes.

Partners for Neighborhood Renewal – Poplar Lawn’s distinction is its focus on historic preservation in a blighted neighborhood that dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries with historically and architecturally significant homes.

To date, Rebuilding Together Richmond and project:HOMES have completed seven homeowner occupied projects. Additionally, project:HOMES has undertaken major renovation of four vacant, uninhabitable historic homes and has four more under way. The Cameron Foundation awarded $430,000 to this initiative in 2021, bringing its total investment to $1,167,354 since the initiative was launched in 2016.

To read more stories like this, visit the Foundation’s 2020/21 Biennial Report.