Harrisonburg is one of 15 cities across the country that was selected to receive a Community Connectors grant, which aims to repair the damage caused by infrastructure that divided communities. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
In the 1950s and early '60s, Harrisonburg was one of hundreds of communities in America that used federal funding for so-called "urban renewal" projects. The city seized 40 acres through eminent domain – primarily in the historically Black, Northeast section of town. Somewhere between 100 and 200 families were displaced. Rental properties, stately single-family homes, and Black-owned businesses were destroyed to create the Mason Street corridor of commercial and government properties.
The physical and emotional scars of those events still reverberate throughout the community today.
MONICA ROBINSON: To me, there's always been an invisible fence around the Northeast community.
Monica Robinson is the executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project, a member of city council, and a resident of the neighborhood.
ROBINSON: It's almost like we're an afterthought. An afterthought in resources, an afterthought in getting folks to the table, an afterthought in connecting us to downtown … making sure infrastructure needs are being met all over the city are being met in our community.
The Community Connectors program, administered by the nonprofit Smart Growth America, aims to address those issues – not by prescribing a top-down solution, but by gathering community leaders and residents to first identify the neighborhood's needs, and then make a plan together.
ROBINSON: We can begin to build some of that trust back into the community.
The grant provides up to $130,000 and technical assistance for the collaborative planning process. For more information about the Northeast neighborhood's history, check out our previous reporting on urban renewal and school desegregation, and The Harrisonburg Citizen's coverage of a historic walking tour. There's a lot to learn!
