EGLESTON SQUARE MAIN STREET RECEIVES 2022 MAIN STREET AMERICA ACCREDITATION
For the 25th year in a row, Egleston Square Main Street has been designated as an Accredited Main Street America™ program for meeting rigorous performance standards. Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce the list of Accredited programs to recognize their exceptional commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach™.
“We are extremely proud to recognize this year’s 863 nationally Accredited Main Street America programs that have worked tirelessly to advance economic vitality and quality of life in their downtowns and commercial districts,” said Patrice Frey, President & CEO of Main Street America. “During another incredibly challenging year, these programs demonstrated the power of the Main Street movement to respond to the needs of their communities.”
In 2021, Main Street America programs generated $5.76 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 6,601 net new businesses, generated 30,402 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 10,595 historic buildings, and leveraged 1,427,729 volunteer hours.
Egleston Square Main Street’s performance is annually evaluated by Boston Main Streets, which works in partnership with Main Street America to identify the local programs that meet rigorous national performance standards. Meaningful and sustainable revitalization programs foster strong public-private partnerships, support small and locally owned businesses, and actively preserve historic places, spaces, and cultural assets.
In 2021, Egleston Square Main Street supported the district’s 80+ local small businesses and entrepreneurs with one on one assistance, professional development, promotions, and support to access COVID-19 relief resources. Its Egleston Square Food Access Partnership and Egleston Bucks program brought over $70,000 into the local economy, monthly grocery delivery to 60 households in need, and fostered collaboration between mutual aid groups, volunteers, local bodegas, and a private donor.
Egleston Square Main Street advocated for the revitalization and preservation of the Egleston Square Peace Garden as a City park supported by a public/private partnership. The organization brought over 500 volunteers, artists, small businesses, and neighbors together for successful community events including the 6th Annual Reading Frederick Douglass Together reading at Ula Cafe. In December 2021, crowds came out to dance despite freezing sleet for Egleston Square Main Street’s 1st Annual Night of Churros + Chocolate at Robert G. Lawson Park.
ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA
Main Street America leads a movement committed to strengthening communities through preservation-based economic development in older and historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. For more than 40 years, Main Street America has provided a practical, adaptable, and impactful framework for community-driven, comprehensive revitalization through the Main Street Approach™. Our network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $95.33 billion in new public and private investment, generated 161,036 net new businesses and 717,723 net new jobs, and rehabilitated more than 314,431 buildings. Main Street America is a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit mainstreet.org.