With almost 60% of the community renting housing and a poor city-wide perception of Binghampton, the Binghampton Development Corporation adopted a relation building and communication strategy to enhance a sense of community and build awareness for support and employment opportunities. The United Way of the Mid-South and the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis underwrite a community building initiative for Binghampton.  Today community building includes facilitating the organization of residents into block or cluster level associations, offering information referrals to residents on a variety of life and employment opportunities, supporting the community’s seniors with informational seminars and social events and publishing a quarterly community newspaper.

As the program’s cornerstone, the resident association network grew significantly in FY2007 as the four association’s membership increased 76% to 127 members and a new leadership council began operation to coordinate community wide initiatives.   An information referral service provides a vital source of information to the community.  The service was offered over the entire year at the Lester Community Center, with a new location at the new Brewster Elementary School added during the school year.  Combined, the two locations recorded 2,720 incident contacts.   The quarterly Binghampton Times newspaper has grown to a circulation of over 4000 copies and a 12 page format. In FY2007, the BDC delivered 14,000 newspapers to all area households.

Each year the BDC serves as an IRS VITA tax preparation site.  In FY2007 four BDC staff and two volunteers prepared 107 returns that accounted for over $120,000 in tax refunds of which over $50,000 was earned income tax credits for working poor families.  Finally, the BDC provided two seminars for area residents.  The Lester Community Center hosted the BDC’s annual report to the community, attended by 65 residents, and a senior financial seminar with information provided by an area bank, attended by 45.