Creative Placemaking for Rural Initiative

CPR@ruralhome.org

Through the Creative Placemaking for Rural Initiative (CPR), Housing Assistance Council (HAC) will provide support and technical assistance to host a virtual and/or on-site local Placemaking Workshop or participate in the Placemaking Learning Cohort. The initiative will focus on improving rural prosperity and building the capacity of rural organizations to create and implement innovative placemaking strategies into their larger community development planning goals and activities.

Rural community leaders from government, nonprofit organizations, local business, and civic organizations will:

• Participate in virtual trainings and sessions on placemaking, planning, community engagement, facilitation, and fundraising techniques
• Connect and exchange ideas with peers from other rural communities in the cohort
• Receive technical assistance and coaching from experienced placemaking and design professionals tailored to local needs
• Receive support in navigating funding opportunities to make their community's vision a reality
• Receive on-the-ground technical assistance and peer-to-peer support to the extent allowed by budgets, geography, and the public health situation

Examples of placemaking projects include:

• Historic preservation and adaptive reuse of community buildings
• Designing quality affordable housing that supports livable and equitable communities; including housing and other amenities that support young people, families, and/or the elderly and aging in place
• Creating public or civic spaces that support and integrate cultural expression and local identity and/or play and active recreation
• Developing recreational trails for mobility, active transportation, and economic development
• Redesigning main street as a local street versus state highway/thruway
• Designing spaces and places that improve access to healthy food and local food systems
• Leveraging main street or local businesses for economic development, including branding, wayfinding, façade improvements, and streetscape design
• Integrating cultural identity into the built environment to drive heritage tourism

Applicants must:

• Be part of a rural or tribal community of 50,000 or less in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and/or West Virginia
• Identify a specific placemaking challenge to address through the CPR program
• Be able to meet the participation expectations of CPR
• Plan a workshop or commensurate event with HAC staff during the period of programming from August 2022 - December 2023

Entities encouraged to apply include:

• Municipal, tribal, and county governments
• Local nonprofit organizations, including (but not limited to) Main Street organizations, art centers, preservation groups, historical societies, and chambers of commerce working in rural areas
• Local education entities and organizations that include schools or colleges as part of the project team
• Regional planning organizations working in rural areas
• University community design centers and university agricultural extension offices with close ties to the community presenting the placemaking challenge or opportunity

10 communities will be selected to address a placemaking challenge or opportunity that is impacting their community. Each workshop includes:

• $5,000 stipend to the host community for workshop staff time and related expenses
• A tailored virtual design process working with a dedicated resource team, including goal setting, and online sessions with design and/or placemaking experts to assist with project visioning and advancement toward implementation
• Potential site visit from a local/regional designer if local public health guidelines allow
• An action plan following the workshop, with project-specific placemaking and planning recommendations, created by the CPR resource team
• Ongoing technical assistance related to the project until December 2023
• Participation in a learning cohort which includes online learning sessions, webinars, breakout sessions, coaching, online resources, and networking opportunities

Links to additional guidance, application instructions, and the online application are available on the program website.