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Russell is a historically Black neighborhood located in Louisville, Kentucky, just west of the central business district. The neighborhood boundaries are S. Ninth Street (east), W. Broadway (south), S. 32nd Street (west) and W. Market Street (north). Russell was once a vibrant and diverse hub of Black-owned businesses that served the neighborhood, created jobs and contributed to neighborhood resilience, and was a center of Black homeownership.
Redlining practices in the early 1900s and urban renewal efforts in the 1950s-60s decimated Russell’s residential and business community, destroying opportunities for generational wealth building. Since then, a host of facially neutral but racially discriminatory institutional and state actions and policy decisions have perpetuated these patterns, keeping families from preserving and building wealth. Over the past several years hundreds of millions of dollars in planned and underway investment are changing the neighborhood, and Russell is poised to experience a neighborhood renaissance. It is essential that these changes are paired with intentional and innovative strategies focused on Black wealth building and investment to prevent displacement of existing residents and businesses.
Russell: A Place of Promise launched in 2018 as a project incubated by Cities United and Louisville Metro Government with fiscal sponsorship by the Community Foundation of Louisville. Through RPOP’s incubation, these partners have provided a variety of resources to support our foundational development.
Fiscal sponsorship refers to a contractual relationship that allows an initiative or a project that lacks its own nonprofit status to advance charitable or other exempt activities with support from a nonprofit sponsor organization. The Community Foundation's fiscal sponsorship of RPOP allowed us to seek and receive grant funding, manage grant dollars, and benefit from the support of an existing nonprofit organization as we grew through our incubation period.
RPOP launched from its status as a fiscally sponsored project starting in 2023 when it incorporated in Kentucky. RPOP became a 501c3 public charity in late 2024. RPOP’s form, a nonprofit that operates a community land trust, and its founding board members were chosen through an extensive, multi-year shared learning experience through which Russell residents collaborated with RPOP to define the future of the organization.
Cities United's Contributions
Louisville Metro Government's Contributions
Community Foundation of Louisville's Contributions
RPOP's Advisory Board was made up of Russell residents, business owners, community members, and partners. During RPOP's incubation, the Advisory Board participated in meetings and decision making and supported community engagement.
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We believe the people of Russell are assets to their community and to our city. They are whole, creative, and capable of maintaining partnerships that lead to equitable investments in Russell that build increased levels of ownership and multidimensional wealth for Black families. Russell residents have co-created RPOP’s values and approach and serve as members of our team and Board, and their opinions, desires, and necessities are reflected in all RPOP’s decisions through a high degree of community outreach and engagement.
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Our place-based investments are a foundation of our connection with and accountability to the people of Russell. We believe investments in Russell must add more value to the community than they extract. As an organization committed to building Black wealth, we must fairly balance risks and rewards among all stakeholders, starting with residents, and give options for multiple types of ownership to guard against displacement.
Our Vision of building Black wealth through investment without displacement includes sharing decision-making and leadership with residents; connecting individuals and families to resources leading to homeownership and traditional and nontraditional business ownership; building pathways and opportunities to strengthen existing Black-owned businesses; creating innovative connections to career-track jobs; and community ownership of neighborhood assets.
Partners
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