Worcester, MA – August 16, 2021 – Rockland Trust has deepened its community involvement in Worcester with a $10,000 grant to the
Main South Community Development Corporation (CDC). The grant will be used to fund initiatives recently added to the Main South CDC's Community Investment Plan (CIP) over the next three years. The CIP focuses on providing safe and quality affordable housing, economic environment, community building, engagement, and equity in health and education. In 2020, the CIP was updated to concentrate on new development activities and programming for the neighborhood.
"The Main South CDC is delighted to see that Rockland Trust Bank is expanding both its business footprint and community engagement presence in Worcester," said Steve Teasdale, Executive Director at Main South CDC. "We are thrilled to be able to develop a new working relationship with the Bank and are very appreciative of their generous donation, which will support our agency's operations as we continue to address the housing, employment, and business development needs of the Main South Community."
The Main South CDC is a neighborhood-based and resident-governed organization. Through inclusive decision-making, it seeks to promote racial equity and social justice with the development and sustainability of quality affordable housing, the advancement of educational, economic, and recreational opportunities, and the creation of safe and healthy physical environments. Main South CDC also provides access to financial literacy workshops and credit mending support for potential first home buyers looking to purchase in the Main South neighborhood.
"At Rockland Trust, we understand that our communities are only as strong as the opportunities that exist within them," said Michael Crawford, Worcester Market Executive at Rockland Trust. "We are honored to be able to support the Main South CDC and the important work they are doing to ensure that all of our neighbors have access to the housing, education, and business resources they need to succeed."
Main South CDC's CIP aims to address the need for more quality affordable housing by revitalizing a blighted and contaminated vacant lot in the Crompton Knowles project area by developing 48 new housing units at 92 Grand Street. The new units will be environmentally friendly and will incorporate solar panels to ensure utility bills will be cost-effective. Main South CDC will also, acquire and renovate one distressed two to six-unit building over the course of the CIP.
The CIP will also introduce new programs to the Main South neighborhood, including community organizing and advocacy and a slate of community building and engagement strategies, programs, and services.
Additionally, the CIP will provide support for small businesses by establishing a cross-sector partnership to support a thriving economy along the commercial corridor between King Street and Wellington Street, which is a Mass Development TDI District and traditionally struggles for investment. Main South CDC's BIPOC small business program will provide marketing and credit counseling services, develop and expanded the newly formed Business Association which will be a cross-sector partnership. Additional business enterprise opportunities will be made available through Main South CDC's commercial condominium development, which is creating a 16,000 square-foot commercial structure in a vacant lot on Main Street that will house six 1,500 square-foot individual retail storefronts for its lease-to-own program.
