BUILDING COMMUNITIES THROUGH BUILDING PROJECTS
GOOD ACRES
The Good Acres Project is a step towards reimagining land for the renewal of communities. We work together with churches to gain a new imagination for how underutilized real-estate assets can be activated for the good of the community.
Through inspiring case studies and project facilitation — churches, community members, real estate professionals, and investors are equipped to create sustainable building projects that also build our communities.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Thousands of acres of church property are underutilized in San Antonio, when instead, they could be activated to provide opportunities and meet needs in our community. Many churches across the country are realizing this and taking steps to make the most of their property for community problem-solving. If one acre of creatively-used church property could improve the lives of 100s of local families a year, imagine how many families can be served with all of our unlocked potential. For many churches, it is not a matter of willingness, but a matter of capacity — having the resources and expertise to deliver such a vision. This is where we can help.
A collaboration of real estate professionals, investors, community organizers and church and denominational leaders — Good Acres is developing a incubator program of capacity-building workshops created to empower churches to realize the full potential of their underutilized property for community good.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Watch our 3-minute
Good Acres pitch
for Philanthropitch San Antonio.
REIMAGINING LAND FOR THE RENEWAL OF COMMUNITIES
Good Acres also focuses on cultivating a network of professionals and resources through case studies, project consultation and a growing network of resources. If you are interested in learning from how other congregations have navigated and launched community benefit projects on their property — Follow our Good Acres Roundtables.
CASE STUDY: THE IMPACT GUILD
A COMMUNITY PROJECT
The Impact Guild is a social innovation coworking space and community center operating in a 6,000 square foot building in the heart of the neighborhood of Beacon Hill. This hybrid project between Mission City Renewal and the congregation of the Park Community Church has activated an unutilized real-estate asset, provided a values-driven enterprise that meets needs in our community and allowed two organizations to build models of financial sustainability.
GOOD ACRES ROUNDTABLE
VIDEO SERIES
The Good Acres Roundtable is a series of conversations featuring case studies of churches around the country that have reimagined their properties. These talks serve as a way to share learnings and experiences with our network of congregations and mission-minded development professionals. Join hosts Ramiro Gonzales and Elizabeth Coffee who respectively bring their real estate congregational leadership expertise to the table as they dive into a different project and set of challenges in each episode.
MISSION-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT
RESOURCES
The MDDS brought together faith-leaders and mission-minded development professionals for a vision summit to reimagine congregation property for affordable housing and other community benefit projects co-hosted as a collaboration with the City of San Antonio and LISC San Antonio. View our resource page to watch the summit and access other resources and technical assistance from the presenting organizations.
LOOKING FOR A VIDEO EDITOR FOR SEASON 2
We are looking for a volunteer video editor to help us tell the story of Good Acres, using Adobe Premiere.
If interested, please email sarah@missioncityrenewal.org.