Marianne Heaps left her job at Wasatch Bank for one that is less rewarding financially but much more rewarding personally.
At Wasatch Bank, Heaps was director of the Community Redevelopment Act. Now she is serving for one year as the development director of the Provo Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a program that will eventually provide funding to revitalize Provo's Franklin neighborhood."I knew I wanted the job because it is something I believe in and it's a program that I'm excited about," Heaps said. "At the bank I never really got to see the results of my work. Here, I get into the neighborhood and meet with people and see things actually happen."
The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp. is a federal program that helps cities set up their own Neighborhood Housing Service, an organization that administers a loan program to revitalize neighborhoods and to rehabilitate and purchase homes.
Five years ago, residents of the Franklin neighborhood began organizing to fix up and improve their south-central Provo neighborhood. They painted more than 80 homes, got crossing guards for busy streets and persuaded the city to upgrade street lights in the area. But they knew they needed more.
"They went looking for solutions and found the NRC concept," Heaps said.
A national representative of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp. came to Provo for a three-day assessment and determined that Provo was deserving of the program.
The neighborhood, led by Cindy Richards, persuaded the city to contribute $100,000 in organizing money if the group raised another $100,000 in private donations. The group has raised about $47,000 and has until January to raise the remaining $53,000.
"If we don't get it, then we'll have to cut our staff by one person," Heaps said.
Currently, Heaps oversees five committees that are developing a strategic plan. The committees recently conducted a condition survey of Franklin buildings and an attitude survey of Franklin residents and the rest of the community.
Information from the surveys will be used to complete the strategic plan. When the plan is complete, the committees will elect a board of directors and hire an executive director.
"We want to turn this neighborhood around before there are problems that will cost much more to correct," Heaps said.
Most likely, the organization will use a grant of $500,000 in federal housing money to operate a revolving-loan program. Franklin residents who cannot qualify for bank financing will receive low-interest loans to rehabilitate buildings. Some will receive down-payment assistance and mortgage loans to purchase homes.
"We will really push for homeownership," Heaps said.
Heaps says five to eight years will be needed before Franklin residents can keep their neighborhood going without the organization's assistance. When that time comes, the organization will move on to revitalize another Provo neighborhood.