Hobart’s Run takes step forward
Hill School to spin off $5M revitalization effort
A neighborhood revitalization project that began with small steps and big dreams last year is poised to take a $5 million step forward.
Hobart’s Run, the effort named after the stream that runs through the neighborhood and was kicked off last year by The Hill School, will soon become its own nonprofit entity that will enable it to receive outside funding and grants to expand and advance its goals.
Most visible in the past year sponsoring neighborhood cleanups — in all kinds of weather — improvements to Edgewood Cemetery and providing a weekly outdoor lunch programs for local restaurants on Hill School grounds, Hobart’s Run has also been working quietly to strengthen the bonds and finances of the surrounding residents.
“I’m really excited about the progress we’ve made and the community momentum,” said Twila Fisher, the program’s executive director.
Currently, all Hobart’s Run activities are funded by The Hill School.
But last month, The Hill’s board of trustees voted to transform Hobart’s Run into a non-
profit entity known by its IRS tax designation, a 501(c) (3), as well as to raise “at least $5 million to endow and underwrite Hobart’s Run initiatives that,” according to a statement provided by The Hill School.
That funding effort began with a “substantial gift to jump start” Hobart’s Run in the area of six-figures over the next five years, said Don Silverson, The Hill School’s CFO.
The decision to take this route was made after examining successful efforts in other towns like the one in Lancaster involving Lancaster General Hospital and Franklin & Marshall College, said Michael V. Harris, a Hill class of 1984 alum and member of the board of trustees.
Harris, a managing director with PFM Group, said there are lessons to be learned from the way several efforts in Lancaster were brought together under one umbrella, but stressed that such efforts are always inherently organic and specific to the conditions and people in the neighborhood in question.
“They have had success, but it wasn’t overnight and it’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing,” Harris said. After all, he noted, Hobart’s Run is the only such effort in the country of which he is aware that is using a private high school as its anchor.
“There are realistic differences between the economic impact of a relatively small boarding school and that of larger colleges and/or health systems,” he said.
Which is not to say The Hill School is small potatoes either — certainly not by Pottstown standards.
The school itself is valued at more than $255 million, including investments and real estate, according to its latest tax form.
A tax-exempt entity, The Hill would add $2.2 million a year to the tax rolls of the borough, school district and county tax rolls — if it paid taxes.
It does pay some, voluntarily, said Silverson.
Last year, The Hill paid $89,114 in real estate taxes — an 11 percent increase over the year before, he said.
In 2015, The Hill raised almost $13 million in gifts and its endowment in 2015 stood at $155 million, according to its tax returns.
To help create the new non-profit status for Hobart’s Run, The Hill hopes to file the paper work by March and create a board of directors and launch by July, Harris said.
“After a year in my position, it has become evident that the primary goals of Hobart’s Run will be most effectively realized through the establishment of a separate entity, which will allow increased eligibility for state and federal grants,” said Fisher.
One example is Fisher’s collaboration with Sheila Dugan, executive director of the Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority in making a joint application to the state’s Main Street program — which offers training both Dugan and Fisher are now undertaking — as well as a planning grant through the Elm Street program, which targets residential areas surrounding downtown areas.
Both grant programs are funded through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
The Hill’s involvement is evident in other ways, most visibly through the inclusion of its students in some of the Hobart’s Run efforts.
Not only do Hill students routinely participate in the clean-ups which have touched on more than 250 parcels between April and October; as well as started Saturday programming at the Olivet Boys and Girls Club; but they also helped with a local crime study.
Hobart’s Run also has plans to partner with the borough’s nascent street camera initiative, undertaken with the help of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, to install four additional street cameras for crime prevention and control.
Randy Doaty, The Hill School’s chief of security, said the 12 months of data collected by the students was mapped and overlaid over a map showing rental versus owner-occupied dwellings and showed no correlation between crime and rental properties.
Converting more residential property to owner-occupied is nevertheless one of the initiatives being explored by Hobart’s Run.
One of its stated goals will be the creation of homeownership incentive program. Another possibility is a limited liability corporation being formed to encourage real estate investments by Hill School alumni.
An “investor’s conference” is scheduled for April 20 and 21st at The Hill at which economic development opportunities and strategies will be highlighted.
And on Thursday, Fisher hosted the first meeting exploring the idea of creating a “housing coalition” of groups that address housing issues, ranging from Habitat for Humanity, the TriCounty Community Network, Mosaic Community Land Trust, Goodwills in Chester County to Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc.
The group, hopefully, can find ways to augment and build upon the speciality of each, rather than duplicating services any other provides.
The next meeting will be on March 16 in the Hill School’s Center for the Arts building off Beech Street.
In the meantime, Fisher has also been working to get residents involved beyond simply helping to clean up their block.
In addition to giving out free, low-energy light bulbs for porch lights — aimed at making streets safer at night — Fisher has also recruited several “block captains,” residents familiar with those on their block who can keep an eye out for potential criminal activity to report, as well as organize block-wide events.
“The idea is we would provide them with a small pool of money, like $500, and they would decide how best to make use of it on their block,” Fisher said.
The number of blocks affected by Hobart’s Run’s efforts is not written in stone — or concrete for that matter.
Fisher said the current border for Hobart’s Run is meant to be expanded — when the organization’s capacity has expanded enough to provide services there.
“We call it a dotted line boundary,” she said.
“The Hill School Board is very excited about our renewed and growing focus on our community, especially since Zack Lehman became the new Headmaster in 2012,” said Harris. “And we are encouraged by our neighbors’ willingness to work together to make Hobart’s Run and overall Pottstown improvement a success.”
“The Hill School Board is very excited about our renewed and growing focus on our community.” Michael V. Harris, member of The Hill School Board of Trustees