As the local conversation continues on how to invest millions that remain of nearly $47 million in Mansfield and Richland County ARPA funds, the collective hardship that gave rise to the money is worth remembering.

We think this is especially true when public funding is considered for the proposed North End Community Improvement Collaborative community center on Mansfield’s north end.

Shared sacrifice

American Rescue Plan Act money, all $1.9 trillion of it, is based on shared sacrifice. The once-in-a-generation funding would not exist were it not for the adversity endured by every American as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the responses to it.

At the risk of being too on-the-nose, ARPA funding exists because neighbors and family fell ill and many of them died. The pain of that loss, that ultimate sacrifice, has been shared by all.

Businesses, jobs and opportunities were lost due to regulations and rules and changes required of all of us. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, these losses were also shared sacrifice. 

This is why we’ve reported so extensively on the use of ARPA money. 

Many good ARPA decisions have been made in the last two years.

Leaders from both the City and County were active in the ARPA Steering Committee, convened by The Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development and the Richland County Foundation.

Generational projects have been funded, some setting the stage for additional growth and community benefit. Important infrastructure has been funded. 

Good work is being done all over Richland County as a result of ARPA, but not everywhere.

Decades of denial

That kind of public investment in future growth and community benefit has long been denied to the north end of Mansfield. 

In fact, the north side of Mansfield has seen nothing but disinvestment for decades. It’s a geographic area that’s experienced shared sacrifice long before COVID-19.

The former city-owned Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center has been closed and is now in the process of being razed.

Schools have closed.

Stores have closed.

Medical care is lacking.

Housing stock has been allowed to deteriorate.

Save for a band-aid here and there, there has been no substantial public investment on the north end in decades.

A generational opportunity

That’s why the NECIC, public leaders for the City of Mansfield and Richland County and private philanthropists have to find a way to make the proposed $15 million dollar community center a reality.

The Richland County Foundation and Park National Bank see what this community center means to Mansfield. They’ve stepped up to invest $1 million and $100,000, respectively. The City of Mansfield has pledged $1.5 million in ARPA dollars to the project.

If you’re not acquainted, NECIC is led by its founder, Deanna West-Torrence. Her commitment to the north end in particular and this community in general cannot be questioned. In fact, West-Torrence received the Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development’s highest honor just a few days ago.

Her board is filled with leaders in the business, banking, education and faith community. Their business acumen is deep and a decade of clean financial audits prove it.

Reduce the temperature

Despite all these reasons to be supportive, raw emotions churned up last week during a Richland County commissioners meeting. Hurtful and insulting things were said. Tempers boiled over. Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong.

Attendees at the meeting watched, gobsmacked, as county support of the project seemed to evaporate before their eyes.

So where does this leave us as a community?

We believe we’re back at more shared sacrifice that won’t be easy.

We hope NECIC and the Board of Commissioners can, quietly and at their own pace, let go of damaged pride and come back together by the end of this year. 

We hope each can offer the other the time, grace and curiosity needed to heal, forgive and find common ground and partnership. 

We hope organizations throughout the community rally behind not just this project or NECIC as an organization, but behind their neighbors in the north end.

Finally, we know Richland Source has a role to play, as well.

The easiest thing for us to do right now is excoriate and lambaste the board of commissioners. Those editorials write themselves. They’re easy and publishing one would do exactly nothing to advance the project and others like it. 

In fact, now is the time to follow our own advice and complicate our narrative.

We will continue to report on this project through the year so the community knows what’s happening. We will follow its fundraising. We will talk to its partners. We will report on its progress and its challenges.

We’ll do the same sort of reporting on the Board of Commissioners and the choices they make regarding ARPA funds. 

We’ll do all this with the deep hope that government, philanthropy, and the private sector will step up to put this worthy project over the top for Mansfield and the residents of the North End.

It’s what’s needed and it’s what’s right.