💼 New LCC director joins group at time of existential crossroads

Joel McReynolds has had plenty of homework since taking over as Executive Director of the Longfellow Community Council at the end of June.

There's a lot to learn about the organization, which is run by a 15-member board that branches into multiple subcommittees, offers several grant programs with different requirements drawn from different pools of money, organizes dozens of events per year, leases land, funds everything from murals to rent assistance, and touches just about every major development or political issue that overlaps with the neighborhood. 

But the most important challenge facing Joel and his board is more existential: The plum funding that brought neighborhood groups to prominence in the 90s and 2000s has dried up, leaving many facing consolidation, austerity, or dissolution.