Ownership. Its very nature implies power, direction, focus. For us at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, developing it in others is our daily goal. Working side-by-side with the residents of a formerly-underinvested community of San Diego, ownership means that those same residents must own the vision for redevelopment of their community for it to last. They must own the plans. The must own the processes. And ultimately, they must own the assets. Ownership is a strong force for change. We've experienced it firsthand. More than 2,000 residents came together in working teams to embrace and implement a vision for change. Through countless hours of conversation and debate, they created a vision for an economic and social hub in the center of their community - the Diamond Neighborhoods. On what was once a long-abandoned factory site, bordered by barbed-wire and the very definition of blight, now stands Market Creek Plaza, a vibrant, lively 10-acre, $23.5 million commercial and cultural center. The entire project was planned, designed, built, leased, and is now being operated by residents. Eleven businesses located there are meeting the expressed needs of residents - including a bank, restaurants, multicultural gift items, and the first major chain grocery store to locate in the community in 30 years. Many people said it couldn't be done. But it was. Equipped with a renewed sense of hope, many of those same residents have turned their attention to a new vision for 35 acres which surround the site. The Village Center at Euclid and Market is a resident-led redevelopment plan which transforms mostly unused, untended properties into a $250-million "village" where people will live, work, and play. It includes affordable housing, mixed-use retail, commercial, office, and recreational spaces. The Village Center celebrates and unites cultures, helps develop leadership, promotes creativity and learning, encourages opportunity and ownership, values innovation and risk taking, and promotes cooperation, responsibility, and fellowship. This is our work. The talents, creativity, and vision of the residents of this community will shape every aspect of the Village Center, as they did with Market Creek Plaza. And our role is to partner with them, do with not for, and perhaps in doing so, forge a new pathway for foundations large and small to use their resources for meaningful, long-lasting neighborhood strengthening and community change.