Resiliency planning effort

The NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program was created by New York State to support the planning and implementation of resiliency initiatives in communities impacted by Superstorm Sandy. Each community was provided with a team of Planning Professionals to help the community identify broadly supported resiliency projects to be funded with federal disaster aid. As a member of the Planning Team, AIM developed the public engagement plan and facilitated a number of key Committee meetings in two Brooklyn communities.

Our public engagement work focused on promoting the participation of a broad range of stakeholder groups and included a special emphasis on outreach to vulnerable populations. Because the community is multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and has a large percentage of new immigrants, outreach material was translated into several languages and translators were made available at all meetings and events. Stakeholder engagement approaches included large public meetings, committee meetings, small group discussions, and surveys.

Our facilitation work included a variety of participatory techniques and exercises used to engage stakeholders on topics that included developing a vision; creating an inventory of community assets and resources; identifying needs and opportunities; developing project criteria; developing strategies, programs and actions. As a result of our work, there was a high level of consensus around reconstruction and resiliency strategies in the final reconstruction plans for the use of over $20 million in to be made available from the federal CDBG-DR program. In addition, one of the communities we worked with – which included the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, and Sea Gate – was awarded an additional $3 million in project funding for “Best Inclusion of Vulnerable Populations” as part of the NY Rising to the Top Competition.

retreat center turnaround

A North Carolina Retreat Center was at a crossroads. Although the organization had a rich historic legacy; plentiful land assets; and committed partners, Board Members and employees; the organization had considerable fiscal challenges and an uncertain future. AIM was hired by a national faith-based organization to stabilize the Center and prepare the nonprofit for sustainable, missioned aligned, bricks & mortar development initiatives.

AIM began by conducting an extensive assessment of the Center's existing physical, financial, human, and institutional assets and resources. Findings indicated that although the Center had significant missional potential, intensive technical assistance and support would be required to develop and strengthen the existing fiscal, governance and operational structures.

AIM worked closely with the Center’s Board, staff, the client, affiliated partners, and local stakeholders. Our work included a series of facilitated strategic planning sessions, trainings, and one-on one executive coaching focused on stabilizing the organization and enhancing leadership capacity; improving the organizational structure, financial systems, governance procedures, and programs; and re-envisioning the use of the Center’s 243 acres of land.

To improve the short-term sustainability of the Center, AIM provided in depth analyses and recommendations on the hospitality and catering components based on a market analysis, fee structure and break-even analyses, building and space utilization assessments, and staffing review. In preparation for growth, AIM also developed an online event and hospitality system to improve the booking and contract process and support marketing efforts. For longer term income diversification and stability, AIM successfully rezoned a portion of the Center’s land and provided in-depth analyses for a number of economic development projects that could be initiated through a CDC. Working with stakeholders, the strategic plan that included income diversification actions, benchmarks and reporting requirements was completed.

After its work with AIM, the organization was well-positioned to bring its historic legacy to the next generation of leaders by recreating itself as a Justice Retreat Facility. Since AIM began working with the center, it went from being underutilized to hosting more than 40 national justice group from 37 states which use the Center’s facilities to provide retreats, trainings and strategy sessions to over 14,000 individuals on topics that include equity and race, immigration, criminal justice, voting rights, and environmental justice. Moreover, for the first time in decades, the Center has a balanced budget and is financially stable. AIM’s rezoning success will now allow the Center to leverage their underutilized land to implement a variety of income producing economic development projects to serve the local community, diversify the Center’s income, and support long-term sustainability.