St. Edmund's Redevelopment Corporation

St. Edmund’s Redevelopment Corporation (SERC) has worked diligently to implement its mission: To engage in housing and community development activities that will improve the diversity and quality of life for people and communities in need. Leaders of St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church established SERC in 1990 as a separate legal entity to serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of the neighborhood’s deteriorating housing stock. SERC's entry into community development was in response to pressing community needs caused by a void of community-based development efforts, a lack of resources for neighborhood improvement and disinvestment in Washington Park. SERC celebrated its 20th year in business in March, 2010.

SERC is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of corporate, civic and neighborhood leaders. Since its conception it has utilized four primary strategies to accomplish its mission, namely: (1) mobilizing resources to address the physical and economic conditions of the neighborhood; (2) initiating collaborative efforts to improve the neighborhood’s social and civic life; (3) formulating planning, revitalization and development strategies for the Washington Park Neighborhood; and (4) utilizing and sometimes creating housing financing models that can be replicated successfully in other impoverished areas.