PICCED History

PICCED is the oldest university-based advocacy planning and technical assistance organization in the United States. Founded in 1963 with a grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, PICCED's original goal was to create a partnership between Pratt's planning department and local organizations struggling to address issues of urban deterioration and poverty.

One of PICCED's first major projects was to help the Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council evaluate the impact of a proposed urban renewal plan on their neighborhood. The planning model which grew out of that endeavor integrated housing, economic and social planning considerations. This collaborative effort attracted the attention of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and led to the establishment of one of the first Ford Foundation funded community development corporations in the country - the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. With this early experience, PICCED's role as an advocate for community empowerment was established, and the demand for PICCED's program services expanded rapidly.

In 1965, under a federal Higher Education Act grant, PICCED launched a participant education program to assist and train local residents in the process of community development. This was followed by a series of leadership training courses and PICCED's sponsorship of the Central Brooklyn Neighborhood College. Administered by community residents, this "University of the Streets" program was targeted primarily to African-Americans and Latinos who had either dropped out of high school or lacked access to higher education.

A division of PICCED, now the Pratt Planning and Architectural Collaborative, was formed in 1975 to provide direct architectural services to neighborhood-based housing groups who were taking on an increasing number of projects in communities where quality professional assistance was either unavailable or too costly.

In 1984, with the cooperation of the Development Training Institute, PICCED established the Pratt Community Economic Development Internship, a program designed to build the capacity of community-based organizations to carry out housing and community economic development projects.

Over the years PICCED's policy analysis and advocacy initiatives have earned it a national reputation, particularly on issues of community planning, land use, inclusionary zoning, community economic development and affordable housing.

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This page copyright February, 1997, Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development (PICCED).

Questions, comments, or suggestions should be sent to Mannix Gordon