Historic Little Italy Organization

The Historic Little Italy Advisory Council

Fundamental to any revitalization process is the creation of a “Sustainable Organization” to coordinate the effort and the hiring of a Neighborhood Manager to lead and organize the revitalization efforts.

The Neighborhood Manager

Paramount to operating a successful organization is having a top quality person in charge of coordinating and managing it. As mentioned earlier, the PAC is proposing that a Neighborhood Manager be hired to work with the Historic Little Italy Advisory Council and be responsible for implementing the recommendations of this Plan.

Initially, the Manager should be employed under contract with the ERA and provided an office and benefits through the ERA. It is anticipated that the Manager may spend no more than one day per week at the ERA office location. A local office should be provided with the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network, or other acceptable location, and the Manager should spend about four days per week working from that office. The Manager should report directly to HLI Advisory Council.

The Neighborhood Manager would direct all activities of the four committees and provide the required staff support to the Advisory Council. The Manager would use the committees for advice and direction for their specific areas of concerns.

The manager must be an aggressive and self-directed individual with strong skills in consensus building, organization, project implementation, and communication.

Sustainable Organization

There are several existing organizations within the Little Italy neighborhood that provide specific and high-quality services to the community in their specific areas of interest. For instance, the Sisters of Saint Joseph Neighborhood Network has been extremely active in the neighborhood for many years and is credited with much of the positive change that has occurred to date.

No one organization, however, is charged solely with spearheading efforts to implement the recommendations of this Plan, which would include:

	coordinating efforts of existing organizations to maximize impact and reduce redundancies
	accessing all potential funding sources
	being the voice for the neighborhood
	organizing promotional activities
	and recruiting businesses, as well as other activities.

	Faith-based organizations (e.g. SSJNN, Bethesda/ Trinity Center, Saint Paul Church and other churches)
	Institutions (e.g. Saint Vincent, LECOM)
	For-profit organizations (e.g. local business owners, industries)
	Non-profit organizations (e.g. HANDS, Neighborhood Watch)
	Residents
	Property owners
	Local governments (e.g. City of Erie, ERA)

As the primary neighborhood revitalization organization for the neighborhood, the HLI Advisory Council would be responsible for:

	Adopting, updating, maintaining, and implementing the Historic Little Italy Revitalization Plan. As a result of this planning process, Historic Little Italy will have a vision, goals, and revitalization strategy to carry it forward over the next 10 to 15 years. The organization will need to constantly monitor the strategy, measure its results against the recommendations, and update the strategy every two to three years to reflect accomplishments and new goals.
	Establishing the other four committees to work with the HLI Advisory Council and the Neighborhood Manager to organize and manage the neighborhood, and to network with other neighborhoods and business districts in Erie. These committees (which are discussed in more detail on the following pages) are: Design Committee Economic Development Committee Marketing Committee Clean, Green & Safe, and Housing Committee
	Developing a strong volunteer base and coordinating staff, volunteers, and projects. Organizing residents to provide volunteer services is critical to the success of any neighborhood revitalization program. As evidenced in public sessions to date, there are many residents of the neighborhood and local businesses that are prepared to volunteer their time and resources to the betterment of the area. The Advisory Council should capitalize on these expressions of interest as soon as possible.
	Coordinating activities with HANDS, SSJNN, the Neighborhood Watch Group, the City of Erie Department of Economic and Community Development, ERA, and other housing and service providers, who are currently working successfully in the neighborhood. The Advisory Council and Neighborhood Manager should become familiar with what these organizations do, and assist in coordinating efforts to increase home ownership, renovate houses, construct new homes, and provide home ownership and other counseling services.
	Advocating for neighborhood residents with the City. The Historic Little Italy Advisory Council and Neighborhood Manager should work with the various City of Erie departments to address zoning, building codes, trash removal, street maintenance and lighting, parks and recreation, water and sanitary sewer, storm drainage and other issues affecting residents of the neighborhood.
	Developing relationships with local businesses. The HLI Neighborhood Manager should maintain a list of all local businesses, key contact people, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses, and work through the Economic Development Committee to maintain a local Retention, Expansion, and Recruitment program.
	Attracting resources to finance Historic Little Italy and its Committees. A critical aspect of any organization is to assure its longevity. Thus, attracting adequate resources to pay for the Neighborhood Manager, as well as HLI’s various activities, is an important responsibility of the organization. Undertaking a fund-raising campaign may be necessary