The Catalyst December 2018

Acacia Network: A Community Development Plan Rooted in Entrepreneurship

Your tiny seeds became a mighty tree.. now what?

This time of year, a look back can show progress and what remains to be done. Acacia Network can look back to 1969 to see its growth from a small local non-profit into one of the country's largest CDCs serving the Hispanic community. With over $500 million in assets and serving more than 120,000 people this past year, Acacia is a force that changes lives every day. By creatively acquiring non-profits with compatible missions, today Acacia is a broad network providing health care services, affordable and transitional housing, and an array of related support services. But rolling back the tape reveals when consolidation can hit its limits. Acacia was managing a complex network of 60-plus non-profit boards and corporate entities. The reimbursement structure for healthcare was changing. Their real estate assets, mostly acquired through consolidations of property portfolios, were not fully strategically focused.

Run your non-profit like the enterprise it is.

Acacia Network retained TWG to develop a long-range strategic plan. Our team of specialists in housing acquisition and development, financial forecasting, health care performance evaluation, and community-based health care management helped re-focus Acacia Network back to its founders’ early vision: to build healthy neighborhoods, integrating health care, housing, family stabilization, home ownership, and community reinvestment in predominantly Hispanic communities.  The strategic plan recommended that Acacia Network :   Concentrate on specific neighborhoods to develop with housing, healthcare access, and wrap-around services available to all residents. Streamline its corporate structure to dramatically reduce the number of corporate entities and boards and strengthen overall effectiveness of the large and growing enterprise.  Deliver health services more effectively in a changing and progressively more complex health care reimbursement environment. Optimize the full development potential of their real estate assets for the benefit of the community. Explore strategic partnerships to capture the full value and impact of their health care services, affordable and transitional housing, and their efforts to bring social and economic stabilization to the communities they serve.  Like a mature tree, Acacia now “stands in places where it's needed most, has well developed roots, and nurtures the community to reach its potential.”

To learn more about our plan for Acacia Network,  please visit here. 

2019 is coming... is your non-profit ready?

To our readers, many thanks for welcoming TWG into your inbox this past year. Our monthly newsletter reaches hundreds of top non-profit executives in the NY region. We look forward to another year of providing you the best advice from our experience with non-profits across the country. Best wishes for 2019!

To learn more about The Whelan Group and our services to non-profits, you can reach us by phone at 212-727-7332 or by email at: [email protected] .

‌