Late in 2019, Dale Kroop of Community Resource Management LLC, Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno, and other seasoned professionals sat over lunch reflecting on the state of the community development sector – with retiring colleagues, the lack of talent in the field, and limited visible career pathways, there was a clear need to address retention and recruitment gaps present in the field.
“Who is going to be the next us?” was the question that propelled the conversation into a written proposal to the Commissioner to fund this idea of a program as a 2-year pilot. Along with funding from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, the Housing and Community Development Leadership Institute (HCDLI) as we know it today came to be.
During the early stages of its creation, the program faced its challenges: the closing of a key partner, the Affordable Housing Alliance (formerly The CT Housing Coalition), the withdrawal of other significant partners, and most especially, the unprecedented start of the pandemic, which hindered the program's earlier developments. Originally, the program was set to be a traditional, classroom-based learning opportunity to be hosted at the Hamden Economic Development Corporation's business and training incubator, which is now known as The Lab at ConnCORP.
Due to these unforeseen challenges, Dale had to pivot the program to take on a virtual structure. He partnered with trade organizations like the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) and NeighborWorks to get the pilot off the ground. Successfully, Dale was able to complete 1 cohort before LISC CT took over the program's administration.
Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno and then Deputy Commissioner Shanté Hanks placed an emphasis on creating this program to include women and Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and other Persons of Color (BHIPOC). They recognized that one of the gaps present centered around the decades of disinvestment in Black and Brown communities, which affected the representation of these demographics within the internal structures and leadership hierarchies in organizations.
At its current stage, the HCDLI is supporting its 3rd cohort with plans to launch an accelerated, Hamden in-person 4th cohort sometime in June. The program has engaged more than 40 professionals since its conception, with a majority identifying as women and BHIPOC individuals.
The purpose was to introduce this kind of community development work to a new generation of professionals and create an internal structure for community justice by empowering people that live in these communities to do the work and get paid for it.
- Dale Kroop
Speaker Feature: Dale Kroop
Background
I was born and raised in New Haven, CT and attended public schools during a time of great racial (Black Panther trials and race riots of the 1960s) and societal turmoil (Vietnam War). I grew up in a poor working family and lived in an apartment growing up. Despite losing my dad when I was only 23-years-old, I’m very close to my family. I am now 68 and a grandfather in love.
I have a Bachelor's in Social Work and a Master's in Urban Studies. I first gravitated to community organizing and neighborhood work.
Professional Background
I began my career with the Dixwell Neighborhood Corp, one of many CDCs in New Haven in the 1980s, completing comprehensive neighborhood studies and writing grants as my main responsibilities. My position was grant-funded and eventually ended after 2 years.
I then got a job for an architectural/engineering firm to write grants for their clients. I would write grants for things like an elderly affordable housing project, community centers, and business incubators and if the grant was funded, the clients would do the design work. I administered all these grants learning about labor compliance, land use permitting, engineering and environmental laws, etc. These were similar to marketing costs, and I managed design teams, which was a great learning experience. I stayed for almost 14 years, during which I was involved in over $80 million in projects with over 80 grants funded.
I was then hired to be the Economic Development Director in Hamden and was there for 21 years. I did a lot of work around business retention, and expansion, and also developed the business incubator during this time. I had a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) under my department, so my hands were in community development as well. From there, I focused more on neighborhood work and really got into brownfields.
At roughly the same time, I started a new consulting practice in 2000 and have continued this work since retiring from the Town in 2020. Community Resources Management, LLC focuses mostly in community development, with grants for projects, brownfields, as well as neighborhood engagement and planning.
What is one advice you'd share with individuals transitioning or entering the affordable housing and community development sector?
They need to know that you can have a long career that helps people, entire communities, and improve the economic and physical environment, and still make good living doing it. There is no shame in that! You have to do the work, but your work life and personal self-worth will be fulfilled.