Pathways for Parramore Leads Revitalization Efforts
for Parramore Heritage District

Overview of the Pathways for Parramore

In June 2005, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and District 5 City Commissioner Daisy W. Lynum launched Pathways for Parramore, a complete effort to revitalize Orlando’s historic Parramore Heritage community which had become Orlando’s most blighted community. At the time, 73% of Parramore’s 2,000 children lived in poverty, 47% of Parramore adults had neither a high school diploma nor GED and the juvenile arrest rate was 2½ times that of Orlando’s citywide rate.

The Pathways for Parramore initiative came to fruition after a task force was commissioned by Mayor Dyer in 2003 to conduct research and obtain stakeholder input. From those recommendations, the Pathways for Parramore initiative focuses on five key areas: housing, public safety, business development, children and education and quality of life. The goal is to restore the Parramore Heritage community into a safe, livable, sustainable and prosperous place for Orlando citizens, businesses and institutions to thrive.

Since the launch of Pathways for Parramore we have made dramatic strides in the revitalization of the Parramore Heritage Community including:

• The construction of 36 new and rehabilitated single family homes, the opening of 120 new housing units in the past 24 months.
• Opening of 30 new retail and commercial businesses since July 2010.
• A 74% decline in violent crime and increased community involvement in preventing crime by growing the number of Neighborhood Watch Block Captains to 19.
• By engaging more than 2,000 youth living in Parramore, there has been a 80% decline in juvenile arrests and for the first time this year scholarships were provided to youth attending college.
• To assist the most underserved homeless population, men, the City has invested in the Coalition for the Homeless to build the Men’s Service Center.

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