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Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, the thousands of organizations, individuals, volunteers, and local leaders that make up Main Street America™ represent the broad diversity that makes this country so unique.
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Main Spotlight: Para Nuestra Comunidad, For Our Community
North Main Street in Fort Worth. Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
50 years ago, our Hispanic business community in Fort Worth, TX felt we needed an avenue to grow, connect and champion each other’s businesses. A small group of business owners founded our Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and since then we’ve been building a legacy of being a resource and advocate for our community.
For the last 20 years we’ve been located in Fort Worth’s Historic Northside, a neighborhood that is rich in Latino culture, flavor, and history. Our office sits on North Main Street just about a mile north of our beautiful downtown, yet we’ve dealt with years of less than beautiful circumstances that come with an area riddled with homelessness, littering, and a street that has several vacant and boarded up buildings. Still, our commitment to stay in Northside has not wavered. We’ve been involved as an advocate for businesses in the area but have always dreamed of being able to do more but recognized our limitations with a small staff already overextended with our business assistance programs.
Then, a few months ago an opportunity presented itself that is going to hopefully make that dream a reality. Our city announced they were partnering with Main Street America to help targeted revitalization areas and committed to providing funding to organization’s willing to lead the efforts. We decided to submit a proposal for the Historic Northside and competed against several other worthy corridors to be selected as one of two for the initial pilot program. This news has truly planted incredible seeds of opportunity and reenergized the business corridor to consider the possibilities of beautifying our commercial district to reflect the pride of our community.
As a brand-new partner in the Main Street America program, we recognize we will be on a learning journey that will allow us to leverage best practices and experiences from other communities throughout the country. We’re excited to put those resources to work but also are very proud to amplify the voice of the long-established community. As an invested neighbor, we are aware of some of the challenges that may be ahead.
Like many other economically disadvantaged communities, we hear and feel the fear of displacement. The neighborhood online discourse has highlighted that some feel that accepting unsafe living situations is the best way to protect their homes, often even discouraging efforts by those who want to report illegal activities to the city. Our hope is that by involving the community we can create a sense of place and a commercial corridor that adds to their quality of life. If business owners are relatable and invested in the community, they can also serve as a source of inspiration – a true testament to the American dream that many Hispanic families are still pursuing.
We also recognize that it will be important to ensure that assigned staff members who lead community outreach are able to connect with the community culturally. We envision hiring a new person to help lead this effort and are engaging community leaders in advance to discuss characteristics that would be important to them. Clearly this person will need to be bilingual but also culturally sensitive to the various types of business owners we serve: English and Spanish speakers, varying citizenship statuses, different levels of business education, and at times varying levels of trust for sharing personal information. Our hope is to involve the community in the staff selection process to help build trust and lay the foundation for a strong relationship with the selected candidate.
And last, we understand that we will need to be very intentional to preserve the strong Hispanic heritage that has played such an integral role in the history of the area. This is the portion of the work that we hope to lean on the Main Street America training and network to help us navigate. If we can successfully accomplish the preservation of culture, we believe other areas in our city will be less apprehensive to participating in these types of commercial redevelopment initiatives.
Our Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber is so energized and grateful for this opportunity and what it could mean for the Historic Northside. As trusted stewards of this initiative, we will do our best to make Main Street America and our city proud.
Urban Impact Inc., harnesses strategic investments and collaborative efforts to foster a vibrant and sustainable future, from visionary adaptive reuse ventures to transformative development grants for small businesses and property owners in Birmingham, Alabama's historic 4th Avenue Black Business District.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $20B in federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) awards distributed to eight national non-profit consortiums. Main Street America looks forward to partnership and engagement with awardees and local programs to identify projects and expand impact throughout our network.
Tasha Sams, Manager of Education Programs, shares highlights of phase one of the Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (E3) in Rural Main Streets Program and the biggest takeaways from the workshop experiences.
In this video, learn more about the Williams’ family story, how the business is helping to revive downtown Helena, and the impact they’re having on a national level.
In this episode of Main Street Business Insights, Matt sits down with Derrick Braziel, owner of Pata Roja Taqueria and co-founder of MORTAR, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Every year, H2BE holds their Juneteenth Mobility Stroll and Roll in Dearborn, MI, which celebrates Black Americans and improves local connections. Learn more about the event and why Juneteenth is important to this community.
Do you want to support the next generation of Main Street leadership! Start a youth board! Learn how Historic Downtown Clinton set theirs up and how your organization can benefit from one.
The Main Street Movement is a proud ally of the LGBTQ+ community. We spoke to Main Street leaders about how they support the LGBTQ+ community during Pride and beyond.
On May 9, the National Trust for Historic Preservation released its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2023 which included a cultural district located within a designated Main Street America community.
The annual Cinco de Mayo Parade and Fiesta in the Mexicantown Main Street district offers a great example of collaborative partnerships that honor the community’s cultural heritage and support local businesses through events.
Meet Kavi, the first Indian American Girl of the Year doll and a (fictional) resident of 2023 Great American Main Street Award winner Metuchen, New Jersey!
Community Development Block Grants are powerful tools for Main Street programs. Learn more about how CDBG's can be applied to our work and how you can advocate for the program
Main Street America was awarded $5.9 million to support 20 communities in the Main Streets Community of Practice through the Department of Transportation's Thriving Communities Program over the next two years.
We spoke to three women who were awarded Inclusive Backing grants to learn more about their passions, their businesses, and their advice for other women.
#EquityRising, Old Algiers Main Street Corporation's new job training program, seeks to combat rising cost of living by helping residents train for careers that will allow them to stay in their neighborhood.
We spoke to three Black business owners who were awarded Backing Small Businesses grants from Main Street America and American Express to better understand their challenges, successes, and the kinds of support that have helped them the most.
Stockbridge Main Street has made significant strides in exploring and sharing the story of Martin Luther King, father of civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.
Juneteenth is the anniversary of the final emancipation of enslaved people in the US. Here are five examples of examples of community celebrations from Main Streets across the network.
Oklahoma is home to the headquarters of nearly 40 federally recognized Native American tribes, and many of their offices, cultural sites, and museums are located close to or within Main Street districts.
Kendall Whittier is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in an ever-diversifying Tulsa. Learn how they are making efforts to engage their large Hispanic community.
We spoke with two Black entrepreneurs in UrbanMain commercial districts: L. May Creations in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago and The Four Way in south Memphis, Tennessee.
Main Street America is committed to helping build inclusive communities. Homelessness is an increasingly important issue facing Main Street communities big and small, urban and rural.
To understand the role that immigrant business owners play in Boston’s small business ecosystem, you need only to walk through any Boston Main Streets district.