In January we were pleased to announce that one of our own, Eleanor Tutt, Data Management Coordinator for Rise, was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP).

NNIP is a collaboration of the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social policy research center, and local partners in 37 cities to further the development and use of neighborhood-level information systems for community building and local decision-making. NNIP partners focus on democratizing information – facilitating the direct practical use of data by city, community and neighborhood leaders.

Eleanor has actively represented St. Louis at NNIP partnership meetings as an attendee and presenter since 2008. These meetings aim to strengthen NNIP’s peer learning network and advance the agenda of the partnership as a whole. They include presentations on individual partner work on a variety of topics, updates on cross-site projects, in-depth workshops on new data sources, and discussions about the direction of the partnership.

As a partner, Rise is hosting the next NNIP meeting, which will be held in St. Louis at the Drury Plaza Hotel, April 2-4, 2014. For more information about Rise’s important data democratization work, and our role in the NNIP partnership, please contact [email protected] or visit www.neighborhoodindicators.org.

In partnership with Southwestern Illinois Development Authority (SWIDA), the Village of East Alton and Madison County, Rise has begun developing 46 new single-family homes in East Alton, Illinois. The Emerald Ridge project is scheduled to be completed in early 2015 and will be occupied mainly by existing neighborhood residents.

These homes will be affordable to families earning sixty percent of the area median income, making nearly two-thirds of the population of East Alton eligible. Tenants will also be given the opportunity to own the homes after 15 years. Residents can expect reduced utility bills as a result of the energy efficient design and construction, including increased insulation, ENERGY STAR appliances, reflective roofing and high-efficiency systems. Our goal is to provide sustainable, energy-efficient, universally-designed workforce housing for families in East Alton.

The project is a part of the Village of East Alton’s effort to revitalize the community, and will replace obsolete apartments in a community formerly known as the ‘Defense Area.’ The ‘Defense Area’ was built by the Federal government as temporary housing in the early 1940’s to accommodate workers at the nearby Olin ammunition plant that was gearing up for the war effort. After the war, these barracks-style buildings were not dismantled as originally planned, but were sold off to private owners. The rigorous commitment of the Village of East Alton to rejuvenate the area has now come full circle with the Emerald Ridge residential redevelopment. At Rise, we plan to play a significant role in transforming this community by surrounding the existing park and recreation center with new, attractive homes.

The official groundbreaking for Emerald Ridge was held on a very cold (5 degrees!) February 10, 2014. The event was well attended at the Keasler Recreation Complex and included esteemed guests State Senator Bill Haine, State Representative Dan Beiser, Madison County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan, Mayor of East Alton Fred Bright, SWIDA Chairman Robert Lombardi, Acting IHDA Board Chair Karen Davis and IHDA Treasurer Mary Kane.