People’s Homesteading Group | Baltimore, 2005-2007

By / / Planning / 5 minutes of reading
PHG's focus on 22nd Street helped reinforce existing strengths: a few committeed homeowners, resident-curated community gardens, and neighborhood churches.
Manisha helped secure historic tax credits to rehabilitate homes that ranged in condition from this hollowed out unit which only had a façade remaining, to units that were abandoned and full of trash and environmental hazards, but otherwise intact.
Manisha helped secure historic tax credits from Maryland Historical Trust to rehabilitate homes that ranged in condition from this hollowed out unit which only had a façade remaining, to units that were abandoned and full of trash and environmental hazards, but otherwise intact. The historic tax credits not only helped to preserve the architectural character of the block, the tax credit served as an additional form of subsidy for low-moderate income first time home buyers.
Manisha was responsible for pre-development of transitional housing for ex-offenders and recovering addicts. This project included working with a LEED accredited architect to to incorporate green building elements into the renovation.
Manisha was responsible for pre-development of transitional housing for ex-offenders and recovering addicts. This project included obtaining site control of this vacant property from the Baltimore Housing Authority and working with a LEED accredited architect to to incorporate green building elements into the renovation. This map shows the four units in the context of other PHG and City-initiated development activities.

People’s Homesteading Group, Inc. is a community development corporation in the heart of Baltimore, Maryland, located south of the Johns Hopkins University main campus, north of Baltimore’s historic Inner Harbor, Mount Vernon Historic District, and Penn Station, and northwest of John Hopkins University Medical Campus. The area of focus for PHG’s services is in the Barclay, Greenmount West, and East Baltimore Midway neighborhoods. PHG rehabilitates vacant homes for affordable and market rate homeownership as well as transitional rental housing, operates a community safety program, manages community gardens, and operates a few commercial enterprises along Greenmount Avenue.

In my two years at People’s Homesteading Group as a Housing Development Project Manager, from 2005-2007, I  wrote several successful grant applications to support PHG housing development and community safety initiatives, conducted due diligence for developments in the 400- and 500-blocks of East 22nd Street, scribed minutes at construction progress meetings, successfully applied for several historic rehabilitation tax credits, and managed pre-development of a transitional rental housing project for ex-offenders and recovering addicts. I introduced ArcView GIS 9.0 and the Adobe Creative Suite to the organization and used these software tools regularly in my work, and frequently served as tech support for this small organization. I worked regularly with the organization’s Community Organizer and Development Director to provide planning expertise for the organization’s community safety program, community gardens, and neighborhood meetings. I facilitated a strategic planning process to articulate PHG’s goals and work program. I represented PHG along with our Executive Director at working group meetings to form the Central Baltimore Partnership, a group that included City officials, Johns Hopkins University, University of Baltimore, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and other community-based arts, economic development, and housing development organizations. While at PHG, I attended training in for HOME Community Development Housing Organizations  (CHDOs), Neighborworks America training on Mixed Use Development, New Market Tax Credits, construction project management, and more.

My experience at People’s Homesteading Group gave me the chance to understand the dynamics of community development and the tools necessary to reinvest in distressed neighborhoods. It was a small organization with seven staff, which necessitated flexibility, creativity, and risk-taking. Upon graduating from Penn, I had the option of taking a more traditional planning position.  I chose this job instead, and as a result I learned a lot about the trials and tribulations of running a business, the politics of development, and the challenges of overcoming years of disinvestment. My colleagues, some of whom were founding members of the organization and others who were long time neighborhood residents, were mentors who will forever influence my view of community development.

People's Homesteading Group's strategy on the 400-500 block of East 22nd Street in Baltimore was called Anchors of Hope.
People’s Homesteading Group’s strategy on the 400-500 block of East 22nd Street in Baltimore was called “Anchors of Hope” and included units for low-moderate income families, as well as unrestricted market rate units.
Manisha used GIS to illustrate PHG's development strategy.
Manisha used GIS to illustrate PHG’s development strategy.

People’s Homesteading Group’s approach to neighborhood revitalization, property acquisition, and rehabilitation of vacant homes for affordable homeownership and vacant lots into community gardens was focused on making strategic investments in locations where the neighborhood would benefit from the highest positive impact.

Among the skills Manisha utilized for in her Master of City Planning studio projects, in her real estate classes at the Wharton School of Business, as an intern at the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, and in her work at People’s Homesteading Group, was using Adobe Photoshop to help show revitalization potential of buildings, lots, and key intersections. The examples shown here are from Center City Philadelphia for a Wharton project, the Aronimink Station Area Plan in Upper Darby Township from her first year planning Master of City Planning studio, and in the Barclay neighborhood of Baltimore while she was at People’s Homesteading Group.
PHG's focus on 22nd Street helped reinforce existing strengths: a few committeed homeowners, resident-curated community gardens, and neighborhood churches.
PHG’s focus on 22nd Street helped reinforce existing strengths: a few committeed homeowners, resident-curated community gardens, and neighborhood churches.
Hand-drawn site plan from People's Homesteading Group, Baltimore
This hand-drawn site plan was part of People’s Homesteading Group’s Anchors of Hope redevelopment strategy and was created during a community design charrette. As shown in the adjacent image, Manisha helped create a more permanent record of this effort by digitizing this site plan.
Baltimore City had thousands of vacant properties in 2007. Manisha worked with her colleagues at PHG on strategic whole-block revitalization strategies. She used ArcView GIS and Adobe creative software to illustrate PHG's revitalization program. This panorama illustrates one of the key blocks for redevelopment in PHG's area of focus.
Baltimore City had thousands of vacant properties in 2007. Manisha worked with her colleagues at PHG on strategic whole-block revitalization strategies. She used ArcView GIS and Adobe creative software to illustrate PHG’s revitalization program. This panorama illustrates one of the key blocks for redevelopment in PHG’s area of focus.
Inside a unit that had only a façade intact. Manisha was responsible for much of the pre-construction due diligence, as well as taking official minutes at construction progress meetings.
Inside a unit that had only a façade intact. Manisha was responsible for much of the pre-construction due diligence, as well as taking official minutes at construction progress meetings.
Site plan by People's Homesteading Group, digitized by Manisha
Using the photograph with GIS and Adobe Illustrator, Manisha digitized this and other site plans in order to preserve these important documents, give them a more professional appearance, and to create the ability to easily replicate them for use in grant applications and other documents.
In the PHG focus area, residents of the Barclay neighborhood converted trash-strewn vacant lots that were havens for drug activity into beautiful community gardens. This image illustrates the positive contagion of this activity - the first community garden was on the bottom right, and neighbors of the lots across the street wanted to add fencing and flowers to those lots for similar curb appeal.
In the PHG focus area, residents of the Barclay neighborhood converted trash-strewn vacant lots that were havens for drug activity into beautiful community gardens. This image illustrates the positive contagion of this activity – the first community garden was on the bottom right, and neighbors of the lots across the street wanted to add fencing and flowers to those lots for similar curb appeal.

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