Pratt Center for Community Development

Drew Economic Development Corporation (Drew EDC), Compton, CA

The construction of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital and Medical Center in 1972 was a pivotal step in improving the deplorable conditions of Watts-Willowbrook in Los Angeles County, California. Several years earlier, after the nationally televised Watts rebellion of 1965, the area had become the subject of federal investigations headed by John McCone, the former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. McCone's task force had concluded that the cause of the civil disorders was the state of severe physical, social, and economic deterioration in Watts-Willowbrook. The unemployment rate for African Americans in the area was more than triple the average for urban whites, and the median income was substantially below the poverty line. Poverty-related health problems such as substance abuse, infant mortality, and psychological illness were also endemic. Before the construction of the medical center, residents of Watts-Willowbrook had to travel over twenty miles to the nearest hospital, even though there was almost no public transportation in the area. Because of a lack of access to preventative health care, visits to the hospital emergency room were often the only form of medical attention they received.

A Commitment to Social Issues Related to Health

From the outset, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital and Medical Center, which is part of the Charles R. Drew University of Science and Medicine, was committed to addressing the social issues related to health in its surrounding community. Dr. Alfred Haynes, president of the medical school, believed firmly that his institution should have a broad community service mission. Because health problems are often related to poverty, he reasoned, the hospital would not be able to adequately meet the needs of its predominantly low-income African-American and Latino patients without addressing the underlying economic and social problems they faced.

Initially, Dr. Haynes's attempts to launch a university-sponsored community development program in Watts-Willowbrook did not come to fruition for lack of support and momentum. It was not until the early 1980s, when he hired Brenda Shockley, a lawyer with an economic development background, that his vision of community development began to take shape. Having worked as a research associate at the National Urban Coalition during her law school studies, Shockley had become familiar with the first generation of community development corporations (CDCs) that had emerged in the 1960s. She believed that Drew University could draw upon the impressive models created by organizations like the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Brooklyn, New York and the Watts Labor Community Action Committee in South Central Los Angeles.

Replicating Organizational Structures that Work

Despite the ominous cuts in social programs during the Reagan administration years, Shockley convinced the university's board that a CDC would be the most effective vehicle for fulfilling the institution's community service mission in Watts-Willowbrook. The benefit of the structure of a CDC, she argued, was that it would not only be able to provide services and develop sorely needed affordable housing, it would also empower community residents to take charge of matters that affect their quality of life. What is more, she believed that it was important for the organization to have a measure of independence from the university. It would therefore be able to set its own agenda, and could remain accountable to the residents it was created to serve. At the same time, it would continue to serve the interests of the institution from which it was spawned by allowing three university representatives to sit on its nine member board. As Shockley explains, "Anything we did would always meet the dual goal of enhancing the campus and developing the university, while also improving opportunities for residents of Willowbrook." In 1982, shortly after Shockley's plan was approved, the Drew Economic Development Corporation (Drew EDC) was incorporated.

Building Alliances with Area CDCs

As an emerging "third generation" CDC of the 1980s, Drew EDC was careful to avoid working cross purposes with other, more established organizations in the area. During the early planning stages, Shockley made a point of building alliances with the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC), which had an extensive, successful community development track record in Watts-Willowbrook, and had strong ties to the very constituency that the new CDC was to serve. WLCAC had, in fact, organized neighborhood residents around the grassroots campaign that had led to the creation of the King-Drew Center. In an effort to mitigate potential conflicts of interest and competition for scarce resources, the King-Drew Center and WLCAC came to an agreement about their respective redevelopment plans, and which sections of the community each would target. It was clear to both sides, however, that the problems of poverty and urban deterioration in Watts-Willowbrook were so deeply entrenched that there was a tremendous amount of work for both organizations to undertake.

Child Care as a Foundation for Community Revitalization

From its inception, Drew EDC's mission has been to foster the revitalization of the community surrounding the King-Drew Center by creating and preserving affordable housing, conducting job training and placement, undertaking business and commercial development, and developing child care and child development facilities. Drew EDC's revitalization strategy is based on the belief that high quality, low-cost child care is essential for moving people out of poverty. Because of the nation's growing number of single parent households, access to child care is the key to enabling today's low-income parents to achieve an education and secure employment.

Drew EDC's first attempt to put this philosophy into practice was a pilot project known as Willowbrook Green Apartments. Launched as a joint venture with the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission, the project was part of Drew EDC's plan to develop Drew University's campus. The university's idea was to produce 48 units of multi-family rental housing that would be available to the King-Drew Center's non-traditional staff and student body. Shockley was adamant, however, that the housing be open to the wider community, and that it contain a mix of income levels. She also wanted the design of the complex to break new ground in meeting the needs of single parent households.

In Watts-Willowbrook, forty percent of all households with children under six are headed by single parents. Like many community development initiatives, Willowbrook Green Apartments took many years to plan, finance and construct. The final product, which was unveiled in 1990, truly embodied Shockley's vision of high quality housing suited to today's changing family. Each apartment is equipped with its own washer and dryer to ease the burden of household chores for working parents. The kitchens have views onto a common courtyard so that parents can watch their children while they play outside. The project also includes a central community building, a large playground, public gardens, an on-site job training and placement program for under-and unemployed residents, and tutorial services for school-age children. As Drew EDC's former president Carla Dartis explains, "It's a comprehensive development- one that looks at employment, one that looks at child care, one that looks at housing." The centerpiece of the project, a large child care facility, has been financed and is now under construction.

Creating Economic and Employment Opportunities

Another one of Drew EDC's early projects focused on the economic development component of its mission. Concerned about a survey that had revealed that a mere five percent of the vendors used by the King-Drew Center were community-based suppliers of goods and services, Drew EDC created a joint venture with an existing company to establish a bookstore/office supply enterprise on campus. The bookstore not only employs and trains local residents to manage the store's operations, but also fulfills an accreditation requirement for the medical school.

In the process of developing its economic development and job creation strategy, Drew EDC came across a disturbing finding that is not uncommon to many urban areas. While the medical center was the single largest new investment in Watts-Willowbrook in the past half century, most local residents lacked the education and training necessary to take advantage of the employment opportunities it offered. Those lacking basic skills could only hope for entry level service jobs, which are often low paying, do not have benefits, and have little or no room for upward mobility. To address this problem, Drew worked in partnership with a local community college to develop an adult education program for residents of Watts-Willowbrook. Participants who successfully complete the program are able to further their education and earn AA and BA degrees at Drew University's College of Allied Health. Through these programs, disadvantaged residents of the area are given the opportunity to build successful careers in the fast growing field of health care.

Drew EDC also provides services to build the capacity of local entrepreneurs. In collaboration with the State of California Assembly District Office, it provides entrepreneurship development classes, job development and referral services, and loan packaging and other technical assistance to local businesses. The organization has also worked out agreements with general contractors who carry out construction at Drew University to increase the participation of minority-owned subcontractors and joint venture partners in their projects.

Building on Success

One of Drew EDC's current major initiatives is designed to build on the success of its Willowbrook Green project. The organization has been helping tenants of Ujima Village, a 300-unit publicly-owned housing complex that has been on the brink of foreclosure numerous times in its twenty-year life, to negotiate with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to take control of their housing. Like much of the nation's public housing stock, Ujima Village has suffered from disinvestment and has been allowed to fall into major disrepair. Drew EDC is clear, however, that the idea is not to transfer the units to the private market, which would foreclose the option of keeping them affordable to future generations, but to create a nonprofit ownership structure that would enable tenants to participate in the management of their own housing. It is seeking operating subsidies that will keep the rental units affordable once they are rehabilitated. It has also been training tenants in resident management, and has created numerous support services, including a Learning Center that offers basic reading, writing and math skills to children and adults, a micro-business training program and an employment training program.

Drawing upon the University's Resources

While Drew EDC received a small amount of financial support from the university during its formative years, it became entirely independent once it grew and matured. It continues to draw upon the wealth of resources housed within the institution, however. To create its child care programs, for instance, Drew EDC consulted with the Pediatrics Division of the Medical School to devise a curriculum on early childhood development. Drew EDC, in turn, has assisted the predominantly African-American and Latino women who operate various child care and development programs at the medical center to create their own, independent CDC. The establishment of the Drew Child Development Corporation has enabled these women managers to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and to attract more resources for their Head Start, respite care and child abuse prevention programs.

Building Organizational Capacity

Drew EDC's operations are small relative to the scale of the projects it administers. It has augmented its organizational capacity by creating innovative partnerships with various other nonprofit entities, public agencies, and for-profit corporations. It has also greatly benefited from the core support provided by several major funders, most significantly the Ford Foundation, which has been providing grants to the organization since its early years. Unfortunately, Shockley notes, it continues to be very difficult to find unrestricted general support for the organization because most funders prefer to support specific project initiatives.

Another instrumental factor in building Drew EDC's organizational strength has been its board of directors, which is comprised of business and development professionals, university officials, leaders of community-based organizations, and local residents. The way in which the organization operates reflects Drew EDC's belief in the importance of community participation. As Shockley explains, "I think that communication and identification with your community is absolutely essential. It really is the reason you create the organization in the first place."

Plans for the Future

In less than a decade and a half, Drew EDC has made some notable achievements in Watts-Willowbrook. Its founding president Brenda Shockley has reason to be proud that many of her innovative ideas about housing, day care, and economic development have been put into practice. In 1992, after close to ten years of service at Drew EDC, Shockley decided that it was time to bring new leadership to the organization. She chose Carla Dartis, who had been working as an economic development specialist at Drew EDC and had extensive experience in the public sector aspect of community development, to take over Drew EDC's presidency. Under Dartis's leadership, and now under Jonathan Newsom's leadership, Drew EDC has been expanding its economic development agenda and has been increasing opportunities for local residents to start small businesses. Drew plans to complete the Willowbrook Child Care Center, to create greater employment opportunities in health care, day care and food service for the residents of its housing projects, and to develop new, single family homes for first-time, low-income homebuyers. "We will look into having a corporate image," says Dartis. She adds, however, "I don't ever want Drew to leave its grassroots beginnings because there is too much work to be done."

Drew Economic Development Corporation (Drew EDC)
3209 North Alameda Street, Suite J1
Compton, CA 90222
(310) 632-3290