During the month of February, the Virginia Main Street (VMS) team published seven blog posts, highlighting the latest community vitality-related news, events and more! Here’s a recap:

VMS Community News:

• The historic Blackstone College for Girls, which was attended by Bea Arthur, and former Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center (VUMAC) property in Blackstone, Virginia has been transformed into a chic, modern-industrial boutique hotel with 100+ rooms!

Grant Project Examples:

• With support from a $95,000 Virginia Business District Resurgence Grant (Resurgence) from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Hopewell Downtown Partnership (HDP) has paved a path for real estate (re)development projects in Hopewell by educating a cohort of small-scale developers in and around the downtown historic district. Click here to learn more!
• The Metropolitan Business League (MBL) utilized Resurgence funds from Virginia DHCD to support their We Care Recovery Project, which is a relief fund designed to support small, women and minority-owned businesses located in Richmond, Virginia’s Art and Culture District. Click here to learn more!

Grant Advice:

• A key component of a Community Business Launch (CBL) application is the local match, which can and should be more than just cash. Click here to learn about a few impactful types of in-kind match!

Homeownership:

• During Black History Month, Virginia DHCD (as a housing agency) reflected on innovative ways to increase Black homeownership in Virginia. Click here to learn more and explore homeownership assistance programs!

Looking Back: Finding Main Street

• In 2018, VMS crossed the state, exploring communities through the lens of songwriter and author Dar Williams’ What I Found in a Thousand Towns. In the resulting Finding Main Street series, staff interview downtown champions on issues that engaged them and challenges that excited them. Click here to check out what we learned through the process!

Training Resources:

• Recently, VMS launched a new training series that prepares Main Street community champions for the “switch to six,” illuminating the new Main Street America Evaluation Framework through stories from across the network. If you missed the first webinar of the series, Broad-Based Community Commitment to Revitalization, check out the recording to learn more about the importance of having strong partnerships, continued outreach and communication to successfully launch and sustain a Main Street program. Join us in March for the second webinar of the series – register here – where we’ll focus on the driving center of all Main Street communities, it’s people.

Stay tuned for lots more great content in March!