DED Recognizes City Impact With COSCDA Sterling Achievement Award

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) shone a sterling light on all of the hard work of City Impact (www.cityimpact.org) in Lincoln, NE, a non-profit organization that has been around for nearly 20 years helping urban youth and families.

The State of Nebraska, Department of Economic Development received the prestigious Sterling Achievement Award for Community Development from the Council of State Community Development Agencies (COSCDA) in Washington, D.C. in October and presented the award to City Impact in November. On hand to present the award were Governor Pete Ricketts and Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler. The award highlighted a project that included two significant revitalization efforts. The first was a collaborative housing project between the housing developer Excel Development, the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority (NIFA), DED, and several other partners. The second was construction of the 24,000 sq. ft. City Impact Center, which was built entirely through private donations.

Brad Bryan and his wife, Carma, founded City Impact in 1997 after he met a family from Nigeria and began walking through life with her two sons and other boys in neighborhood. Bryan offered to tutor and mentor several of the boys. Nineteen years later, the Bryan’s have grown City Impact to offer a variety of services that include a reading center, Bible club, leadership academy, strengths for life mentoring, “Gifts of Love” Christmas store and much more.

For more information about City Impact, visit www.cityimpact.org or call (402) 477-8080.  For more information on the project at DED contact Brian Gaskill at (800) 426-6505, (402) 471-2280, or brian.gaskill@nebraska.gov.