Our Purpose
we are building a community of
opportunity and choice
By aligning partnerships and resources, the BR Choice team is authoring a compelling transformation story for the Ardenwood Village public housing site, and the East Fairfield, Smiley Heights, and Melrose East neighborhoods.
On September 17, 2018 the Baton Rouge community submitted a Choice Neighborhoods application to HUD to request $30 million grant to ensure a strategic implementation process in collaboration with community stakeholders.
In early February 2019, the BR Choice team was notified that our community is one of four finalists nationwide for the $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant from the U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development.
On October 2, 2019, the U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development officially announced that East Baton Rouge Parish has been awarded a grant of $29.5 million to implement its “BR Choice” initiative that will revitalize EBRPHA’s Ardenwood Village and the surrounding Baton Rouge neighborhoods. The $29.5 million will be invested into Housing ($19.8 million), Neighborhood ($4 million), Supportive Service ($4 million), and Demolition ($1.7 million).
Our Three-Part Approach
resiliency
Through planning for disaster recovery
- Assembling a team of local and nationwide experts in design and community development
- Attracting and effectively deploying capital for critical housing and community development needs
- Planning sustainable /people-oriented systems and networks
placemaking
Through arts and culture
- Creativity fuels place value
- Integrating art into community rebuilding that stimulates local economies and leads to increased innovation, cultural diversity, and civic engagement
- Arts and culture taps into the neighborhood’s unique character and history stimulating initiatives related to crime prevention, redevelopment of blighted properties, environmental sustainability, education, employment
innovation
Through workforce development
- Preparing students for the challenge of post-secondary education and global competition
- Providing quality academic instruction and internships with business, industry and community public/private partners
“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”