The Beacon Site: A Case Study of Communication across Nonprofit Organizations in a Coordinated Effort to Build A Purpose Built Community called Beacon Ridge in SE Raleigh, NC

Abstract

A year ago, I started this project with the goal of investigating how gentrification in Raleigh, North Carolina was impacting the SE Raleigh neighborhood and my nonprofit partner, the Downtown Housing Investment Corporation or DHIC. I struggled to determine how to shape a meaningful project on the topic of gentrification. After several conversations with my advisor, we both determined that the most pressing challenge for my staff contact at DHIC was her inability to reach the partners in the Beacon Site project because of communication challenges that arose as the world began to face COVID-19 in early 2020. The study found that there were significant challenges related to communication due to some of the changes that COVID-19 ushered in. The data reveals that DHIC used four of the six EESM strategies in communicating with Beacon Site partners and stakeholders. The other two strategies were not used.