10000 Friends of Pennsylvania

Healthy communities initiative10,000 Friends applies a scalable collaborative program model to directly serve communities to eliminate blight, improve neighborhoods, and implement their strategic projects. Based on the research of dr. richard jackson of redeveloping the built environment so that communities can be inherently healthier places to live and work, 10,001000000 Friends operates within the state neighborhood partnership program framework to work with local government, organizations and residents to develop a focused redevelopment plan on the neighborhood level for eliminating blight, developing and preserving affordable housing, improving healthy housing conditions, increasing housing values, supporting youth programs and addressing food insecurity, and increasing walkability and healthy lifestyles through additional green space, access to fresh produce in community gardens, and access to parks and recreation and walkable or bikeable amenities.

Policy council10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania builds healthy, vibrant and resilient communities with sustainable land use, transportation, housing and solutions to inform public policy and build a better Pennsylvania. We engage a network of partners to encourage collaboration, create awareness of policy and legislative solutions and advocate for a balanced approach in public policy and investments to build and sustain strong communities for all pennsylvanians.as a trusted authority on responsible land use, 10,001000000 Friends collaborates with state and local government, community benefit organizations, and the private sector to build coalitions, research issues, and effect change through policy and community development solutions that enhance health, foster innovation, create opportunity, protect the environment and transform communities. We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion as connected to our mission and critical to the well-being of the people and communities that we serve. 10,001000000 Friends is currently focused on affordable housing and transportation and infrastructure through the lens of resilience. In affordable housing, we're developing solutions to remove barriers by modernizing zoning and the state municipal planning code and prioritizing stable neighborhoods through blight removal, eviction prevention, homeownership, and housing rehabs and repair. In transportation and infrastructure, 10,001000000 Friends is developing a policy group that prioritizes clean and multi-modal transportation and modernizing funding formulas for federal, state, and regional transportation systems, including a "fix it first/fix it right" perspective on highway and bridges, parity for public transit funding, and innovation in smart transportation systems.

Commonwealth awardsthe annual commonwealth awards program celebrates visionary community leadership and catalytic development projects and initiatives that find new uses for vacant and underutilized land, increase opportunities for communities on the rise, and breathe new life into old neighborhoods. This competitive awards program highlights innovative and replicable models of smart growth and resiliency principles among planning, real estate development, historic preservation, open space and land conservation, and public infrastructure projects around the state. The event brings together teams of successful real estate developers, architects, engineers, planners and civic leadership from the private and public sectors to share ideas and celebrate the best land use practices in the state. The recognition of their accomplishments educates the audience about viable smart growth solutions and creates a groundswell of local support and civic pride in the projects and initiatives revitalizing sustainable communities. Award-winning projects, visionaries and plans are catalogued as models for sustainable and smart growth and shared widely. 10,001000000 Friends is developing a smart growth network for award winners to share information and a public conference to inspire better land use and increase education opportunities in smart growth and resilience.

Smart growth and resiliency education and awarenessthrough public outreach, education, direct technical assistance, 10,001000000 Friends of Pennsylvania assists communities, organizations, local leaders and public agencies to create scalable community development, land use and transportation models to inform public policy and build a better Pennsylvania.