The City of Lewiston and partner, Lewiston Housing Authority, have gained statewide attention as the smallest city in the country to ever receive the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s $30 million Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant. This resident-led transformational project in downtown Lewiston has a clear vision to take Lewiston’s Tree Streets neighborhood from that place in Maine with the highest concentration of childhood lead poisoning and families in poverty, the worst perceptions of crime and racial tension, and the State’s lowest performing schools into a lead-free, economically diverse, and ethnically and socially welcoming community where people want to live, work, play and raise a family. Larger than the several new housing projects currently underway, this presentation will explore Lewiston’s Choice Neighborhood program and the strategic, block-by-block redevelopment of its Tree Streets neighborhood that is strengthening the local economy, reinstating a sense of pride and growing opportunities for families who call this neighborhood home now and in the future. Meet our presenters: Chris Kilmurry, Executive Director, Lewiston Housing Catherine Elliott, Senior Development Officer at Avesta Housing Jacqueline Crucet, Neighborhood Development Planner, City of Lewiston, Maine