Land Banks as a Tool to Address Vacant Properties
A public event sponsored by the Civil Rights Heritage Center, Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc., the Community Forum for Economic Justice, and many other community partners.
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021 AT 7– 9 PM (EDT)
Join us (in-person or online) as we welcome Tarik Abdelazim, Director of National Technical Assistance for the Center for Community Progress, one of the nation’s leading experts on land banks.
Abdelazim will lead a community forum on “Land Banks as a Transformative Tool for Addressing Vacant, Abandoned and Tax Delinquent Properties.”
As of March 2020, there were 1,367 unsold parcels of tax delinquent property in St. Joseph County, mostly concentrated in South Bend’s west side and south side neighborhoods.
With more than 300 currently in operation—from Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas— land banks are an effective means to facilitate the equitable reuse of tax delinquent properties. These quasi-public entities take temporary ownership of delinquent properties and, in a transparent and consistent manner, transfer them to responsible buyers who will repurpose them into productive uses consistent with community priorities.
In 2020, a land bank in Indianapolis, RENEW, sold 73 homes and 123 vacant lots to new owners. These sales resulted in investment commitments of more than $18,500,000 in Indianapolis neighborhoods.
This free event is encouraged for anyone interested in how communities come together to solve problems of inequity related to home ownership, racial redlining, and other inequities.
This forum is possible through co-sponsorship by 466 Works Community Development Corporation, the Community Forum for Economic Justice, the Far Northwest Neighborhood Association, Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County, Housing Matters, LLC, the Near Northwest Neighborhood (NNN), the
Northwest Neighborhood (NNN), the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization (NNRO), Prosperity Indiana, and South Bend Heritage Foundation.
Vaccinated and un-vaccinated in-person guests must wear a mask over their mouth and nose for the duration of the event. Those who wish to view at home may do so via Zoom at https://iu.zoom.us/my/crhciusb.
