In the spring of 2002, a convergence of city residents, leaders, and professionals led by a team of national consultants convened to spark innovative thought about how the city of Syracuse could begin to take its best step forward. Among many topics of discussion, the team observed that "the city of Syracuse offers some of the starkest disparities, quick shifts from comfortable middle-class existence to deep poverty, from orderly safe environments to rundown and palpably unsafe places we have seen anywhere on the continent. The stark contrast, neighborhood to neighborhood, even block to block shocks and dismays."

This observation provided the impetus to act upon what we were well aware. The Foundation made the formal determination to join forces and welcome like-minded partners in the development of a neighborhood initiative that would be substantially more than a scaled-down version of existing initiatives in larger communities. This neighborhood effort would be focused, achievable and, most importantly, resident driven. It would be, in the words of the residents of the neighborhood chosen, “a chance to do something for ourselves rather than having folks coming in here and doing things to us. That’s been happening for years and it isn’t what we want.”