Be a Part of your Community’s 2020 Resilience Story
Tags: Urban Planning, 2020, Nonprofit, Community Development, Community

Be a Part of your Community’s 2020 Resilience Story

The key to building thriving cities begins with building thriving communities. Many of our communities have been hit hard this year, and our cities are evidence of that. Here in Portland, our downtown core is scarred by a year of political unrest, economic strain and increased homelessness. Perhaps you’ve wandered around your city, seen businesses closed, shuttered or boarded up storefronts, the streets that were once bustling feel quiet. Maybe you’ve noticed the rise of homelessness, or the long lines at the food pantries.

2020 has escalated an already rising vacancy crisis in commercial real estate. A few staggering statistics from Cushman and Wakefield’s study on commercial real estate vacancy trends:

Between Q2 2020, when Covid-19 hit the U.S., and Q3 2021, the net negative office square feet damage will reach 95 million square feet , roughly 10 million square feet more than the financial crisis.

, roughly 10 million square feet more than the financial crisis. The study predicts that global office vacancy will rise from 10.9% pre-crisis (2019 Q4) to 15.6% in 2022 Q2. This increased vacancy is not predicted to return to pre-crisis levels until 2025.

A successful rebuilding process will focus on building strong and vibrant communities. We believe in creating physical spaces that leave people stronger and connected. It is more important than ever that we consider the needs of people who ended 2020 vulnerable and marginalized.

Beautiful buildings are useless without people. Urban planning and architecture must consider the wellbeing of the people who live in each city. If we start merely with design and form, meeting guidelines and requirements, we may end up with a newly decorated facade, but miss an opportunity for something greater. Starting with a human centered approach to the urban plan will be essential to reimagining a thriving community.

This story of resilience is for all of us. We each have unique opportunities to participate in the rebuilding process of our cities alongside organizations that are doing good, serving our communities, and are well acquainted with the needs of our community.

We invite you to IMAGINE something big. Do you have a property or an organization that could benefit from shared space, resources, and human-centered design that meets the needs of your community?

We invite you to be generous with your time, energy and resources. This holiday, the greatest gift you have is your human commodity; your time, energy and resources. We encourage you to look into your own local community, research the issue you care about most and see what you can do right now, before the year ends.

The government relies heavily on nonprofit organizations and faith based communities to meet the social needs they cannot. This why we are choosing to dedicate this moment to shouting out nonprofits and their collective impact.

As we sat down to make a list of organizations we have met over 8 years of research the list was so long I could not include everyone. (reach out to hello@link2lift.com if you would like to highlight the work you do.) Here is a shout out to just a few organizations who are committed to global and local work healing and restoring people and communities. What issues do you care about most?

Because People Matter, Create environments for humanitarian services to mobilize, provide relief and develop people

City Gospel Movement, United 632 movements globally and counting. Several resources from marketplace, government and non profit collaborations.

Compassion First, Human Trafficking

The Contingent, Empower and create new leaders to confront the challenges ahead.

House of Light India/CRU, Human Trafficking

Fashion & Compassion, Vulnerable women live abundant lives through ethical fashion. (GREAT gifts for purchase)

First Door, Homework Club and other programs to bridge the gap between school and home.

Fly Fishing Collaborative, Mobilizing the fly fishing community to create sustainable solutions to poverty and human trafficking.

Friendzy teaches kids to be kind with social and emotional learning for K-8th grade.

Kindred Partners, Connecting the City, Schools, and Churches to help vulnerable families.

Medical teams International, Globally delivering life saving medical relief to people in crisis.

NewStory Charity, Innovation to end global homelessness

Paid in Full, Provide adults in Custody fully accredited bachelor’s degree.

QIdeas, Research analysis and commissioned talks on complex cultural issues to better engage difficult conversations.

Road2Hope Maternity Home, Provides physical, spiritual and emotional needs of a mother-in-need and her child.

SSekodesigns, Enabling women in Uganda to continue on to university. (GREAT fair trade gifts for purchase, including coffee)

Tennis Bandits, In the Tri-state area, providing inner city kids a chance to learn tennis.

Transitional Youth, Hope and healthy transformation to at risk youth in Oregon and Washington.

As you consider opportunities to enrich your community and work for the common good of your city, we would be delighted to hear from you. Let us know about the vision you have for a building, or tell us about the work of a nonprofit organization that you work for or support. Email us at hello@link2lift.com. There is reason for hope as we look forward to the new year.

More about Link2Lift:

www.link2lift.com

BELIEF:

We believe that whole communities can be radically transformed through re-thinking how we leverage empty and underutilized physical spaces.

WHAT WE DO:

We have developed a data-driven and human-centered approach to repurposing empty or underutilized space. We help our clients activate ways to use their space in a way that will ultimately benefit the common good of the communities around them.

VISION:

Our vision is to see a portion of every building dedicated to common good so that our collective impact will bring global change.