ioby was founded in 2008 in order to make it easier for local leaders to gain the funding, knowledge, and resources needed to make positive change on a local level. For the past ten years we've worked alongside more than 1,600 passionate, committed community leaders and have watched as small projects have turned into larger initiatives and collaborations have become movements.

We want to take a look back at the past ten years and tell some of our favorite stories of positive neighborhood change. We want to know: what kind of things can start with a conversation, a neighborhood meeting, a few dollars raised?

 

Dr. Mindy Fullilove–celebrated social psychiatrist, professor, and author–has brought to life several projects with ioby over the years, helping revitalize the High Bridge Park in New York and reinvigorating her community. We spoke with her about her project, Hike the Heights, and the value ioby has brought over the years. Read the story >> The Mid-South Coliseum, shuttered for over a decade now, was at one point planned for demolition. But if you ask any Memphian, there's a good chance they still have fond memories of the building. So the Coliseum Coalition brought Memphians together to previtalize the building and prove there were still more memories to be made. Read the story >>
South Macon, Georgia has a rich history of neighborliness. In fact, most of residents' produce once came from gardens they tended themselves, who's bounty they shared. Now facing an aging and emptying population, and faced with a food desert, neighbors are banding together to revive it's past to strengthen the community and tackle food insecurity. Read the story >> These days, to access necessary resources–things like grocery stores, employment counseling, or healthcare–in Reverend Williams' Northside Pittsburgh neighborhood, one would have to travel all the way across town. But she and the Northside Partnership Project coalition are creating a new hub to serve as a one stop shop; a neighbor-grown solution to support their community. Read the story >>
In Northeast Georgia, Ivette Bledsoe and her team at Firefly Trail, Inc. are turning a former rail line into an active transportation corridor, threading across the region communities together. Read how they turned a $60,000 crowdfunding campaign into a $16 million transportation initiative. Read the story >> When Yancy saw the deep division and hatred that came out of the 2016 election cycle, and saw how it threatened immigrants and other communities, she decided she was ready to speak out a little louder. She crowdfunded with ioby to get quick, right-size funding for an art installation that invites people to see themselves in each other’s eyes. Read the story >>
Highland Park, MI, is missing about 993 streetlights, repossesed for unpaid bills when the city fell on hard times. Soulardarity wants to bring them back, but wants do so in a way that brings direct control of this critical piece of public infrastructure back in the hands of residents so that Highland Park never gets left in the dark again. Read the story >> Samaria Rice is working tirelessly to build the Tamir Rice Afrocentric Center, a place for young people to gather and access key support. It's just one of the ways she's worked to preserve her son Tamir Rice's memory, after he was killed by Cleveland police in 2014. "I was still raising my son, so I had a lot of nurturing and caring to do for him," she says. Read the story >>
Jackson Heights, in New York City, is one of the densest neighborhoods in the country. Unfortunately, that means there isn't a ton of space to expand parks and add more green space. So the Jackson Heights Green Alliance got creative in their quest to create more public spaces. Read the story >>