TMA NDC- Community Design Project

The TMA AmeriCorps VISTA project, ¿Building, Sharing, and Equalizing Power through Community Design¿ addresses the need for long-term capacity building among the community partners that the Neighborhood Design Center (NDC) engages with through our Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) sponsored work in low-to-moderate income communities in Baltimore City. NDC provides pro bono planning, capacity building, conceptual design, and community engagement services for community-initiated projects across Baltimore City. NDC's approach is to empower communities by utilizing design as a tool for autonomy, agency, and advocacy. We collaborate with community leaders committed to community development that is targeted and responsive to residents' needs and priorities, increasing the vitality of community spaces and the quality of public infrastructure investment and maintenance.

While some partners may have a higher organizational capacity or prior experience in community development, many are engaging with projects improving the built environment for the first time. A large portion of NDC staff work involves initial guidance to help the partner better understand their own goals, scope, and capacity. We believe that technical design assistance is not complete without an effort to help our partners better understand the processes and systems within which their built environment project will be planned and implemented.

The VISTA in this position will support NDC in strengthening our existing capacity building initiatives, while addressing gaps in our work and setting new goals in collaboration with our community partners. The project¿s outcomes will prioritize relationship building among community partners and organizers in Baltimore, and the provision of digital and print educational resources to extend the reach and longevity of our technical assistance.